Qian Meixi recorded the story of Xue Qingguan, the goat butcher. He ran his own little store selling mutton and mutton soup. The fame of his delicious mutton soup spread far and wide（广泛地，到处） , bringing lots of customers. Some people even traveled for days to taste his soup, and they all went home satisfied.

With business like that, Xue became rich in a short time.

Some of his friends were Buddhists¹（佛教徒） , and told him not to kill any more goats."You've earned enough money. Don't be greedy. We're not beasts in the jungle, you know. Killing² animals is a terrible crime against the universe. You just can't get away with it. Sooner or later your bad deeds will catch up with（赶上，处罚） you, and then no matter how much money you have, it won't do you any good.

"Look, Xue, why don't you just use your money to invest in some other kind of business? You can still make lots of money, and at the same time, you can repent³（忏悔） and do good deeds to make up for all your crimes. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble, and even your children and grandchildren will catch it."

Nobody likes to listen to good advice. Xue just snorted（发哼声） and sneered⁴（嘲笑，冷笑） . "I'm too smart to believe in that kind of old wives' tale. Don't think you're going to spook（惊吓） me with these fairy tales! Crimes against the universe! What nonsense!"

When Xue was about forty, he got a strange disease. His mouth started to jut⁵ out（伸出） , and his jaw⁶ got longer. He had a dumb（哑的，不说话的） look in his eyes. Actually, all in all, he looked just like a goat!

Pretty soon all the local people knew that Xue Qingguan was looking just like a goat. They all came to see for themselves. They wouldn't say anything to him, but every day, crowds of people came to look at Xue. Then they would turn to their friends and whisper to each other and nod their heads. Xue got tired of that in a hurry! None of the doctors could do anything for him, but they all agreed that he sure did look just like a goat.

Xue was so frustrated⁷ that he thought he would lose his mind, but he was too stubborn（顽固的，顽强的） to admit that he might have been wrong. He refused to admit that maybe he shouldn't kill so many goats.

Finally, on a business trip to Anhui, he fell in a river and drowned. They never did find his corpse⁸.

The sad thing is that Xue didn't have to suffer humiliation⁹ and a sudden death. If he had been less greedy, and more willing to consider the requirements of our conscience, he could have lived a long and happy life.

But money, stupidity, and stubbornness were more valuable to him than happiness, good health, and wisdom.