The Zhou king Xuanwang had a slave, Bird Perch, as the head of the shepherds. He knew how to handle wild animals and birds and, collecting them, fed them in the yard and garden. He tamed and tamed any predator, even a tiger and a wolf, an eagle or an osprey (fisherman). In his presence, males and females mated and multiplied, forming entire herds. Various types of animals grazed nearby without scratching or biting each other.
Concerned that the secret of the slave's art would not die with him, the king ordered him to train the Gardener of Maogora.
He said to the Gardener:
- I, Zherdochka, am a despicable slave. What art can I pass on to you? But I’m afraid that the sovereign will accuse me of keeping a secret from you, and I’ll tell you briefly how to treat tigers.
It is in the nature of everyone in whom blood flows to rejoice when they indulge and get angry when they contradict. But do joy and anger appear by chance? The wrath of the beast is caused when one goes against its will. During feeding, I don’t dare give the tiger a live animal: by killing it, the tiger will become furious; I don’t dare give the whole carcass: tearing it apart will make him furious. I feed the hungry in a timely manner and understand what makes him furious. Tiger and man belong to different species. The man indulges the tiger, and the tiger caresses him; If he contradicts him, the tiger kills him. But would I dare to contradict the tiger in order to make him angry! I also don’t dare to indulge him in order to make him happy. After all, from joy he will certainly return to anger, and from anger he will return again to joy; I won’t achieve my goal either way.
Now, when I have no thought of either indulging or contradicting them, birds and animals accept me as one of their own. I act according to the law of nature - to leave everyone to themselves, so they wander through my garden, not remembering the heights of mountain forests and the expanses of swamps; they fall asleep in my yard, not rushing into the depths of the mountains and the silence of the valleys.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru