Guan Yin lot 3 of 100
The swallow's nest of mud
Lowest (下下). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
衝風冒雨去還歸
役役勞身似燕兒
啣得泥來成疊後
到頭疊壞復成泥
Through wind and rain you go and you come back,
Toiling on and on like a swallow.
Beak by beak the mud is carried and piled up,
And in the end the pile falls and is mud again.
What this lot says
A swallow flies through wind and rain to carry mud to its nest, beak by beak. At the end of the verse the nest falls apart and the mud is only mud.
This is a hard lot, and what it asks for is an honest look at your effort. Much labor can go into something that cannot hold.
If you keep repairing the same failing project, or a relationship that takes everything and gives little back, ask what the work is resting on. You may need a firmer wall to build against, or a different place to build. Rest before you decide.
A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
The story behind it
Dong Yong meets the immortal (董永遇仙)
Named for this lot in the related Goodfate edition.
Where this text comes from
This verse is a traditional temple text with no known author. No single original edition is known and wording differs between temples, so we compare named witnesses and record where they differ.
Míguāng (覓光) (the text shown above)
衝風冒雨去還歸 / 役役勞身似燕兒 / 啣得泥來成疊後 / 到頭疊壞復成泥
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
衝風冒雨去還歸 / 役役勞身似燕兒 / 啣得泥來呈疊後 / 到頭疊壞復成泥
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
臨風冒雨去還鄉 / 正是其身似燕兒 / 銜得坭來欲作壘 / 到頭壘壞複須泥
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 3 reads 啣得泥來成疊後 in Míguāng and 啣得泥來呈疊後 in Jiěqiān Gé.
- Line 1 reads 臨風冒雨去還鄉 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 2 reads 正是其身似燕兒 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 3 reads 銜得坭來欲作壘 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 4 reads 到頭壘壞複須泥 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.