Zhuang Tzu, dressed in a patched linen robe and sandals tied with ropes, passed by the ruler of the kingdom of Wei.
- How bad your life is, dear! - the king exclaimed.
“I live poorly, but not badly,” answered Chuang Tzu. - To have the Path and its power and not put them into practice - this is what it means to live badly. Dressing in a patched robe and wearing holey sandals means living poorly, but not badly. This is called “being born at an evil hour.” Have you ever seen, Your Majesty, how a large monkey climbs trees? She easily climbs a cedar or camphor tree, quickly jumps from branch to branch so that the archer does not have time to take aim at her. Having found herself in a thicket of small and thorny bushes, she steps sideways, awkwardly and looks around, every now and then stumbling and losing her balance. And it’s not that she has to put in more effort or that her muscles have weakened. She just found herself in an environment that was not suitable for her and does not have the opportunity to show what she is capable of. So it is with a person: if he finds himself in the company of a bad sovereign and rogue officials, then even if he wants to live kindly, will he be able to achieve what he wants?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru