Chapter 32, Part 12 - Chuang Tzu

There was a man who had an audience with the king of Sung and received from him a gift of ten carriages. With his ten carriages, he went bragging and strutting to Chuang Tzu.

Chuang Tzu said, "There's a poor family down by the river who make their living by weaving articles out of mugwort. The son was diving in the deepest part of the river and came upon a pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold. His father said to him, `Bring a rock and smash it to bits! A pearl worth a thousand in gold could only have come from under the chin of the Black Dragon who lives at the bottom of the ninefold deeps.

"To be able to get the pearl, you must have happened along when he was asleep. If the Black Dragon had been awake, do you think there'd have been so much as a shred of you left?'

"Now the state of Sung is deeper than the ninefold deeps, and the king of Sung more truculent than the Black Dragon. In order to get these carriages, you must have happened along when he was asleep. If the king of Sung had been awake, you'd have ended up in little pieces!"
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online

~ Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.