Ancient Chinese Fables - Philosophy (VIII)

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43 Shepherd boy catches wolves

One day, two shepherd boys went to the wolf's lair in the mountains. There are two little wolves in the nest, and they plan to catch them separately. So the two climbed a tree each, dozens of steps apart. After a while, the big wolf came, and when he entered the nest, he found that the little wolf was missing, and he was very panicked. The shepherd boy twisted the wolf's hooves and claws and ears in the tree, deliberately making it howl loudly. The great wolf heard the voice and looked up, and ran angrily under the tree and barked and grabbed. Another shepherd boy made the little wolf howl loudly on another tree. The big wolf heard the sound, looked around, and as soon as he saw the little wolf, he left this tree, ran quickly to the other tree, and screamed and scratched like he had just done. The shepherd boy on the previous tree made the little wolf howl again, and the big wolf turned and pounced on it again. The big wolf did not stop howling in its mouth, and did not stop running under its feet, so back and forth dozens of times, running slowly and slowly, and the sound gradually became smaller. Finally the great wolf lay stiffly on the ground, motionless for a long time. The shepherd boy then came down from the tree and looked at the wolf, who had lost his breath.

——From "Chatting with Zhiyi"

·44 · Golden hook gui bait

In ancient times, lu guo had a person who liked to talk about pomp and circumstance. Fishing is a big hobby of his. He used incense-scented laurel wood as bait, made a hook out of gold, and was inlaid with shiny silver wire and turquoise gemstones; and twisted into thin threads from the feathers of an emerald bird. His fishing rod is of the highest order, and he chooses a position and poses when fishing, but he catches very few fish.

So to say: "What is important about fishing is not beautiful decoration, whether things are urgent or not is not about words." ”

——From the Taiping Imperial Records

·45 Bear Canal Zi Shooting Stone

A long time ago, the Chu state Xiongquzi went out to patrol at night, and mistakenly regarded a stone lying on the ground as a crouching tiger, and he opened his bow and shot at the stone, resulting in the arrow shooting into the stone with the feathers of the tail of the arrow. Xiong Quzi dismounted and went to investigate, and when he saw that it was a stone. He stepped back and shot at the stone again, only to have the arrow break and leave no trace on the stone.

- From "New Preface"

·46 · Bian Zhuangzi thorn tiger

Once, bian Zhuangzi wanted to assassinate the tiger, but the boy servant of the hotel stopped him, saying, "Two tigers are eating a cow, and after eating it tasteful, they will definitely fight." Then the result of the fight is that the big tiger is injured, the little tiger dies, and if you stab at the injured tiger again, you will definitely receive the reputation of killing two tigers. Bian Zhuangzi thought that the servants' words were right, so he stood and waited for them to fight. After a while, the two tigers did indeed fight. The big tiger was seriously injured, and the little tiger died, at this time Bian Zhuangzi stabbed at the injured big tiger, and in one fell swoop, he did the credit of killing two tigers.

——From the "Biography of Zhang Yilie"

47 Blind man touching an elephant

Once upon a time there were four blind men who wanted to know what an elephant looked like, but they couldn't see it and had to touch it with their hands. The fat blind man touched the elephant's teeth first, and said, "I know, the elephant is like a big, thick, smooth turnip." The tall blind man touched the elephant's ears, "No, no, the elephant is obviously a big fan!" He yelled. "You fools say that elephants are just big pillars." It turned out that the short blind man had touched the elephant's leg. The old blind man muttered, "Alas, the elephant is so big, it is just a rope of grass." It turned out that what he touched was the tail of an elephant. The four blind men quarreled endlessly, saying that what they touched was the real appearance of the elephant. And actually? None of them were right.

——From the Chang'a Han Sutra

·48 Bou's animal cat

There is a man with the surname Shu in weiguo, who does not like all the things in the world, he only likes to keep cats. The cat is an expert at catching mice, he has more than a hundred cats in his family, and all the rats around the house will be caught. The cat ran out of food and was so hungry that it barked all day. Shu had to buy meat every day to feed the cats. The children and grandchildren born of cats, because they often eat meat, do not know that there are mice in the world. As long as the cat is hungry, it will bark, and after calling, it can get meat to eat. The cat finished eating, walking slowly, lazily, and looking pleasant and happy.

There was a reader in the south of the city who was plagued by rats, and the rats in the family came out in droves, and some even fell into the urn, and he hurriedly borrowed a cat from the Shu family to catch mice.

The cat saw that the mouse's ears were standing tall, the eyes were prominent, bright as black paint, with a red beard, and it squeaked and squeaked, and thought it was a monster, so it just walked around the urn and did not dare to go down to catch it. The reader was so angry that he pushed the cat into the urn. The cat was scared and yelled at the mouse. After a long time, the mouse estimated that the cat had no other ability, so he went to bite its paws, and the cat plunged out of the urn with force.

Officers and soldiers have enjoyed heavy money for generations, and when they encounter thieves, they flee, and they are also the cats.

——From "Dragon Gate Zi Condensation Road Chronicles, Autumn Wind Shu"

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