Wong Tai Sin lot 72 of 100
Waiting by the stump for a rabbit
Middling (中平). Grade as given on the named web transcriptions. We have not seen it on a temple printing, and we do not know that the temple prints one.
兔兒久待意何如
堪嘆愚人獨守株
算是無能令我笑
不須守舊自拘拘
Waiting so long for a rabbit: what can he be thinking?
It is sad that a foolish man alone guards the stump.
He is so incapable that he makes me laugh.
There is no need to stick to old ways and stay so cramped.
What this lot says
The verse retells a familiar tale of a man who waits at a tree stump for another rabbit to run into it. It uses the story to make fun of staying with a method that worked once by chance.
It is a middling lot, and a plain prompt to ask whether you are repeating something out of habit.
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
Waiting by the stump for a rabbit (守株待兔)
A traditional allusion named with this lot. We have not traced the story to a source we could read, so we do not retell it here.
Where this text comes from
This verse is a traditional temple text with no known author, here read from named web transcriptions. We compared the sites character by character and show every difference. We could not establish whether the sites are independent of one another, and we have not read a temple printing.
Fortune Sticks (fortunesticks.org) (the text shown above)
兔兒久待意何如 / 堪嘆愚人獨守株 / 算是無能令我笑 / 不須守舊自拘拘
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Luckeyes (算命眼, luckeyes.com)
兔兒久待意何如 / 堪嘆愚人獨守株 / 算是無能令我笑 / 不須守舊自拘拘
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Andy.hk (加賀風水)
兔兒久待意何如 / 堪嘆愚人獨守株 / 算是無能令我笑 / 不須守舊自拘迂
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- Line 4, character 7: fortunesticks.org and luckeyes.com read 拘; andy.hk reads 迂. This is a different character.
- andy.hk adds its own note to the text: "迂本作拘".
- The allusion in the lot title: fortunesticks.org names it 守株待兔; luckeyes.com and andy.hk name it 高文定守困.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.