6:10

子輿與子桑友，而霖雨十日。子輿曰：「子桑殆病矣！」

裹飯而往食之。至子桑之門，則若歌若哭，鼓琴曰：「父邪母邪！天乎人乎！」有不任其聲，而趨舉其詩焉。

子輿入，曰：「子之歌詩，何故若是？」

曰：「吾思乎使我至此極者而弗得也。父母豈欲吾貧哉？天無私覆，地無私載，天地豈私貧我哉？求其為之者而不得也。然而至此極者，命也夫！」

Mr Drive and Mr Mulberry were friends. When it poured rain for ten days, Mr. Drive said, "Mr. Mulberry might be sick!" 

He grabbed some food and went to feed him. When he arrived at Mr Mulberry's gate--like singing, like crying--someone struck the zither and said, "Father? Mother? Nature! Man!" The voice sounded as though it was giving out and hurried to complete its song.

Mr. Drive entered and said, "Why are you singing like this?"

He said, "I was trying to think of what drove me to this extreme but couldn't find it. Could my parents want me poor? Heaven doesn't cover only some. Earth doesn't support only some. Could heaven and earth impoverish only me? I looked for what did it but couldn't find them. What took me to this extreme must be fate!"[1]

[1]  What a strange little story! In previous episodes of Friends (6:05 and 6:06), they seemed to relish the opportunity to express their indifference to death. Most commentators read this story the same way, as expressing a calm acceptance of fate. Yet Zhuangzi goes out of his way to say here that Mulberry in this unguarded moment is half crying. He seems to be breaking character, but much more human as a result. Why did Zhuangzi feel the need to tell this story?

Show comments