A senior monk had applied for admittance into the temple.
The Abbess Jinyu was called in to investigate the man.
“I will dictate a domain,” she said, gesturing at the
whiteboard with her cane. “You will model an implementation
in Java.”
The monk bowed and uncapped a green marker.
“All soldiers of the Imperial Army must know their rank,”
began the abbess. “The Emperor may order a soldier to fight
to the death, and no one but a soldier can be told to do
this...”
The monk bowed and drew a rectangle, inscribed with instance
variables and methods as was his custom.
“Some soldiers are archers,” continued the abbess, “each of
whom must know the number of arrows in their possession. The
Emperor may order an archer to shoot a distant foe, and no
one but an archer can be told to do this...”
The monk bowed and drew a second rectangle, joined to the
first.
“Some soldiers are horsemen,” continued the abbess, “each of
whom must know the horse they have been assigned. The
Emperor may order a horseman to trample the enemies in his
path, and no one but a horseman can be told to do this...
The monk bowed and drew a third rectangle, similar to the
second.
“Finally,” concluded the abbess, “Some soldiers belong to
the Flying Rain of Fire, a cadre whose members are both
archers and horsemen in every respect. The Emperor may order
his Flying Rain to lead the charge, and no one but the
Flying Rain has this privilege.”
The monk hesitated. For a full minute he did nothing but
frown at the whiteboard; all present could sense the fierce
calculations taking place behind the monk’s calm visage.
A nun of the temple whispered to Jinyu: “This problem has
several solutions, but I dislike all of them.”
“Therein lies its value,” whispered the abbess in reply.
“For we are all of us doomed in this profession: our designs
may aspire to celestial purity, yet all requirements are
born in the muck of a pig-sty. * I trust that this monk can
succeed when the stars align in his favor, but when they do
not, how will he choose to fail? By cowardly surrender? By
costly victory? By erroneous compromise? For it is not he
alone but the temple that must bear the consequences.”
* In Jinyu’s parlance, the “pig-sty” usually meant “the
world outside the temple walls,” or sometimes, “my youngest
son’s bedroom.”
