Information heard on the street or from unreliable sources, often without proper verification; rumor or gossip.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
One day, Mao Kong excitedly told Ai Zi, "A single duck laid a hundred eggs at once!" Ai Zi, surprised, didn't believe him.
Mao Kong quickly changed his story, "Then it must have been two ducks that laid them." Ai Zi still shook his head in disbelief. Mao Kong kept increasing the number of ducks, from three to ten, but Ai Zi remained unconvinced.
A while later, Mao Kong approached Ai Zi again, saying, "Last month, a gigantic piece of meat, thirty zhang long and twenty zhang wide, fell from the sky!" Ai Zi expressed his skepticism. Mao Kong immediately reduced the size, claiming it was only twenty zhang long and ten zhang wide, but Ai Zi's doubt persisted.
Ai Zi then asked Mao Kong, "Whose ducks were you referring to earlier, and exactly where did this meat fall?" Mao Kong, looking a bit sheepish, replied, "Oh, all of that was just talk I overheard from people on the road."
Hearing this, Ai Zi turned to his students and advised, "Remember, you must not spread unverified rumors like Mao Kong! Always seek to verify information before believing or sharing it."