“Teacher, in this tumultuous world…
Have you thought about your will?”^[1]

It was just a joke,
But the scholar still at the Grove,
Answered with extreme caution.

He has much to say about his posthumous affairs,
Exhausting all, fearing the smallest omission.

“Teacher… could it be that… you FEAR death?”^[2]
The assistant asks in concern.
It was a question needed,
Yet he gave no direct reply.

“Philosophy is the inquiry into death,
And I have always considered myself a philosopher.”

The assistant recounts all of the scholar's final wishes.
Each mighty as a mountain, asking what seemed impossible.

“The tombstone must be made of my treasured rare stones,
Carved with dromas patterns.”

But that stone is a miracle of alchemy,
Tough beyond measure, no chisel could have shaken.

“That's also his plan…”^[3]
The assistant softly reveals the hidden plot.
“He hopes that instead of shedding tears over his death,
we will find it in us to smile, even in a moment of sorrow.”