You Cannot have the Cake and Eat it Too

In the kingdom of Chi lived a beautiful girl named Kan Chin who belonged to a wealthy family. When she reached marriageable age, both her neighbors proposed. Since Kan Chin's parents could not make up their minds in arranging the marriage the parents decided to leave it up to her. They asked her to raise her left hand if she wanted to marry the rich and ugly son living to the east, and to raise her right hand if she wanted to marry the handsome, but poor son living to the west. Kan Chin thereupon raised both hands, explaining: "I want to eat in the house to the east and sleep in the house to the west." Thus the saying "To eat in the east and sleep in the west" has arisen to signify that those who want the best of two worlds often end up with nothing.