Zen Pastries

Three scholars on the way to a civil service examination stopped to buy refreshments from a woman who sold pastries. One scholar was calm and quiet while the other two argued over literature. The woman asked where they were going, and the latter two told her. “You two won’t pass the exam,” she said, “but the other man will.” The results turned out just as the woman predicted, and the two who failed went back to find the woman and ask her if she knew some mystic art to predict the outcome. “No,” she said, “all I know is that when a pastry is thoroughly cooked it sits there quietly, but before it’s finished it keeps making noise.” -- A Zen Story