Tofu teacher

一東道富吝，三餐豆腐供館賓，終歲無兼味。至撤帳日，館賓調《臨江仙》一闋留別，云：“肥雞無數，肥鵝無數，那更肥羊無數。幾回眼飽肚中飢，這齏淡怎生熬過？早間豆腐，午間豆腐，晚來又還豆腐。明年若要請先生，除非是普庵來做。” 

There was a rich but stingy landlord who served his family teacher tofu for all three meals of the day throughout the year with no other dishes. When his term of service came to an end, the teacher wrote a lyric to the tune “Linjiangxian” as a farewell gift, which reads:

Countless fat chickens,

Countless fat geese,

Even more countless are those fat lambs.

How many times were [my] eyes well-fed and [my] stomach empty?

How to endure such bland bits and pieces [on my plate]?

Tofu in the morning,

Tofu at noon,

And tofu again in the evening.

Should [you] need a teacher next year,

Pu'an is the only choice.[1]

* From Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 (1576-1646), Guang xiaofu 廣笑府, in Feng Menglong quanji 馮夢龍全集 (), vol. 10, 1.8.

[1] Pu’an (1115-1169) was a Buddhist master of the Linji school 臨濟 during the Southern Song dynasty. Here he stands for a Buddhist monk, for whom tofu is a staple.

Painting of a tofu seller, by Puqua (ca. 1790)

Image credit: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O407815/a-bean-curd-seller-painting-puqua/