The Codeless Code: Case 181 Future Imperfect 
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 This same nun visited Shinpuru in his garden the following
day, where the monk was doing the last of his winter
weeding.

“You spoke to me of looking to the future,” said the nun.
“But what are we in the future but mouldering corpses? Why,
you are practically half a corpse now! I have seen how you
let younger monks lead the projects you are offered. You
voice no objection when these upstarts choose arcane new
technologies that render your decades of knowledge
irrelevant—instead you struggle to catch up, and contribute
less each year than the year before! Why should I follow you
when you walk willingly into your own grave?”

Shinpuru pulled a withered stalk, gave it to the nun, and
said, “This will not suit my garden. For though it still
clings to life, it will steal water from the seedlings and
bear only bitter fruit.”

Shinpuru then put his ear to a second stalk, identical to
the first. After a moment he nodded. “This one can stay, for
it wishes only to be part of a sweet harvest.” He pulled the
second stalk, crumpled it in his hands, and tilled the
flakes deep into the soil to await the coming of spring.
