Once the dinner for the state Zen master Fugai and his followers got delayed.

The cook in a hurry, scurried to the garden and cut the tops of green vegetables, chopped them together and prepared soup. In his haste he was not aware that he had added a part of a snake in the soup with the vegetables.

The dinner was served and the followers of Fugai found the soup to be delicious and extraordinary. When Fugai found the head of the snake in his bowl of soup, he called the cook and demanded, “Whats this?," holding up the head of the snake.

Oh, thank you master," said the cook, taking the morsel and eating it quickly.