Guan Yin lot 72 of 100
Seeking honey, risking the sting
Lowest (下下). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
弄蜂須要求他蜜
只怕遭他尾上針
雖是眼前有異路
暗裏深藏荊棘林
Whoever handles bees is after the honey,
Yet fears the needle in the tail.
Though another road lies before your eyes,
A thicket of thorns is hidden deep within.
What this lot says
Everyone who keeps bees wants the honey and knows about the sting. The verse accepts the wish, then points to a side road that looks clear and hides thorns.
The advice is to price the risk before you reach in, and to be wary of any shortcut.
If someone offers a fast route to money, a job through a favor or a deal that skips the usual checks, ask who gets stung if it fails. Read the terms and walk the slower road if the answers stay vague.
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
Wang Mang seeks worthy men (王莽求賢)
Wang Mang built a reputation for humility by supporting scholars and befriending capable people, then used forged prophecies to justify taking the throne. His Xin dynasty fell in AD 23, and he fits a lot about sweetness with a hidden sting.
Source: Wikipedia, Wang Mang
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)
弄蜂須要求他蜜 / 只怕遭他尾上針 / 雖是眼前有異路 / 暗裏深藏荊棘林
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
弄蜂須要求他蜜 / 只怕遭他尾上針 / 雖是眼前有異路 / 暗裏深藏荊棘林
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
弄蜂須要求他蜜 / 猶恐遭他尾上針 / 雖是眼前無異路 / 暗裡深藏荊棘林
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 2 reads 猶恐遭他尾上針 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 3 reads 雖是眼前無異路 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 4 reads 暗裡深藏荊棘林 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.