Once upon a time, there lived a farmer in a hut outside the village. One day while walking through a market, he saw many baskets and among them was a basket of dates（枣）.
Seeing those dates, the hope of eating them arose in the farmer's mind. He had no money to buy them, so he controlled his wish and went on his way to his hut. But even after reaching his small house, the thoughts of eating dates wouldn't go away. He kept thinking about them only and couldn't even sleep well at night.
The next morning, when he woke up, he started thinking of ways to make money so that he could buy dates and fulfill his wish. Then he got an idea. He decided to go to the nearest forest and collect some dry wood and sell it at the market. He went to the forest and started picking up dry wood, and before evening he collected a lot of dry wood and made a bundle of it. Carrying that bundle on his shoulder, he started walking to the market.
The bundle of wood was so heavy that it was difficult for the farmer to lift it and cover that distance. The farmer was tired because of all the work, so he stopped and rested for a while. Then he continued walking toward the market.
The farmer sold all the wood shortly after he got to the market. With all the money he got, he bought some dates and happily started walking back to his hut.
On his way, he thought, "Today I had the wish to eat dates. Tomorrow some other wishes may come into my mind. If I give in today, then I will become a slave（奴隶） of my desire（欲望）. "
As soon as this idea came, the farmer gave up the idea of eating the dates, which took him so much hard work. Finally, he gave all the dates to a poor man who was passing by at that time.
①He bought some dates. ②He picked up dry wood in the forest.
③He gave his dates to a poor man. ④He made some money by selling the wood.
⑤He saw a basket of dates when passing a market.
