Autumn Floods (7)

1 After Huizi removed his alert mind, he gave Chuang Tzu a warm and friendly welcome. In the meantime, he wanted to show off his achievements to his old friend.

2 That day, he held a feast in honor of Chuang Tzu, after which he invited him to have a walk along Hao River for further warming up their closed friendship.

3 When they stood on a bridge over the river, Chuang Tzu pointed at the turtles and fishes and said, “Huizi! You look at these fishes swimming leisurely and easily. Nothing bothers them. How happy are they!”

4 Huizi’s alertness rose again. He suspected that Chuang Tzu made oblique accusations to laugh at him for bustling everyday but was not happy in his deepest mind. Even though he had fame and worth, a fish was happier than him. Unconsciously, he refuted, “You are not fish. How do you know that the fish is happy? How do you know at what circumstance the fish is happy?”

5 Chuang Tzu replied at once, “You are not me. How do you know that I don’t know the fish is happy and at what circumstance the fish is happy?”

6 Going with at what Chuang Tzu’s way of thinking, Huizi answered, “Of course I am not you, so I don’t know if you have the ability to know fish’s happiness. However, you are not fish for sure. I am not you so I don’t know you. You are not fish so you don’t know fish. The deduction is right, isn’t it?”

7 Chuang Tzu said, “Come. Let’s go back to the original topic. You said that I am not fish and how do I know if the fish is happy and at what circumstance it is happy. Obviously, your meaning is that I certainly know the fish is happy; the only thing you want to clarify is that under what circumstance I know it, don’t you? Let me tell you. I know it on the bridge over Hao River.

8 Huizi had no way out before his genius friend’s eloquence. He had to find another topic to cease this debate.