Monday, August 19, 2013

Bit by Bit - Chapter 20, Part 2

Trey Smith

Down from the mountain, the Master stopped for a night at the house of an old friend. The friend, delighted, ordered his son to kill a goose and prepare it. "One of the geese can cackle and the other can't," said the son. "May I ask, please, which I should kill?"

"Kill the one that can't cackle," said the host.

~ Burton Watson translation ~
As Scott often points out, the authors of the Zhuangzi like to catch us off-guard! Following yesterday's short tale, one would think the host would choose the cackling bird, not the quiet one. Every situation is different.

To view the Index page for this series, go here.

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