During the Qing Dynasty, there were two scholars from Tainan. One was called Li Shu-guan. He was very clever, but he was ill-natured and unconscientious. The other was called Lin Wen-tang. He was good natured and conscientious, and often gave his left-over food to a stray cat. Li, on the other hand, liked to bully the cat.

While on their way to the capital to take the national exam, they stopped for the night at a dilapidated temple that enshrined Lü Dongbin. Li went to sleep straight after eating his dinner. Lin, on the other hand, swept the temple floor and dusted the altar table. That night, they both dreamt that Lü Dongbin wrote a word in the palm of their hands. The word on Li’s palm was “have”, and the word on Lin’s palm was “have not”. Lü Dongbin said,“When you meet a shepherd along the way, show the word on your palm to him, and he will tell you the results of the coming examination.”Then, Lü Dongbin vanished in a puff of smoke. When both of them woke up, they found that they indeed had the words written on their palms. They paid their respects to Lü Dongbin and went on their way. After a while, they saw a shepherd and decided to show him the words on their palms. Li thought,“Since my word is ‘have’, my name must have been present on the list of graduates who passed the examination.”However, the shepherd took a look at his word and said,“The word ‘have’ means that you have a burden on your shoulders. You will not ride in a palanquin and will have to walk on foot. Your name will not be on the list.”Li was very unhappy when he heard this, and asked Lin to show the shepherd his word. The shepherd said,“The word ‘have not’ resembles a palanquin carried by four people. Only high-ranking officials are allowed to ride palanquins carried by four people. You are sure to top the list.”

The night before the examination, Li made Lin drunk and plucked all the brush from his ink brush so that he would have nothing to write with the next day. After Li fell asleep, the cat that he bullied jumped in from the window and switched their calligraphy sets. During the examination, Li had no pen to write with and had no choice but to hand in a blank sheet of paper, which naturally led to him failing the examination. Lin on the other hand, performed well due to his conscientiousness, and aced the examination. There is a children’s song that people sing,“Li had a bad heart. He wanted his friend to fail the examination, but the grateful cat switched their pens. What one sows one reaps. Don’t blame the shepherd for your misfortune. Don’t blame the god for not helping you. Blame yourself for your unkind heart.”

　　清朝時，臺南有兩位書生，一位叫李書官，非常聰明，可惜心地不好也不用功，另一位叫林文堂，他的心腸好又用功，常常會拿剩菜剩飯給一隻流浪貓吃，而李書官只會打貓。
　　兩人到府城考試的路途中，借住在供奉呂洞賓的破廟，李書官吃完乾糧後倒頭就睡，林文堂卻打掃廟裡及清理神桌。當晚，兩人夢到神仙在他們的手心各寫一個字，李書官是「有」，林文堂是「無」，並說：「在路上碰到牧童後，把手上的字給他看，他會告訴你們考試的結果。」說完便化成一陣煙消失，兩人醒來一看，手心真的有字，拜拜完後又繼續趕路。走沒多久，看到一位放牛的牧童，兩人將手心的字給牧童看，李書官心想：「我是『有』字，一定是上了榜。」但是牧童看完後竟然說：「『有』表示肩膀上有負擔，背後有包袱，沒車坐只能走路，名落孫山。」李書官很不開心，叫林文堂把字給牧童看，牧童：「『無』是由四根柱子構成轎子的樣子，下面有四個人抬轎，大官才有四人大轎，你一定會金榜題名。」
　　考試前一天晚上，李書官把林文堂灌醉，再將他毛筆上的筆毛全拔光，讓他考試時沒筆可寫。李書官睡著後，窗口跳進常被李書官欺負的那隻貓，把兩人的文具袋交換。考試時，李書官沒有筆可以寫字，只好交白卷，結果當然是名落孫山，而林文堂則靠著平時的努力，順利金榜題名。
　　人們便寫了一首童謠：「李書官，壞心眼，想朋友落孫山；貓報恩，偷換筆，害人害己苦果嘗；莫怨牧童信口說，莫恨神仙不幫忙，只怪自己黑心腸。」