| Lie Yu-kou: |
There was a man who, having had an interview with the king of Song, and been presented by him with ten carriages, showed them boastfully to Zhuangzi, as if the latter had been a boy. Zhuangzi said to him, 'Near the He there was a poor man who supported his family by weaving rushes (to form screens). His son, when diving in a deep pool, found a pearl worth a thousand ounces of silver. The father said, "Bring a stone, and break it in pieces. A pearl of this value must have been in a pool nine Zhong deep, and under the chin of the Black Dragon. That you were able to get it must have been owing to your finding him asleep. Let him awake, and the consequences to you will not be small!" Now the kingdom of Song is deeper than any pool of nine Zhong, and its king is fiercer than the Black Dragon. That you were able to get the chariots must have been owing to your finding him asleep. Let him awake, and you will be ground to powder.' |
