FABLES PROM THE CHINESE
The Animals' Peace Party
The ancient books say that the pig is a very unclean animal and of no great use to the world or man, and one of them contains this story:
Once upon a time the Horses and Cattle gave a party. Although the Pigs were very greedy, the Horses said: "Let us invite them, and it may be we can settle our quarrels in this way and become better friends. We will call this a Peace Party.
"Generations and generations of pigs have broken through our fences, taken our food, drunk our water, and rooted up our clean green grass; but it is also true that the cattle children have hurt many young pigs.
"All this trouble and fighting is not right, and we know the Master wishes we should live at peace with one another. Do you not think it a good plan to give a Peace Party and settle this trouble?"
The Cattle said: "Who will be the leader of our party and do the inviting? We should have a leader, both gentle and kind, to go to the Pig's home and invite them."
The next day a small and very gentle Cow was sent to invite the Pigs. As she went across to the pigs' yard, all the young ones jumped up and grunted, "What are you coming here for? Do you want to fight?"
"No, I do not want to fight," said the Cow. "I was sent here to invite you to our party. I should like to know if you will come, so that I may tell our leader."
The young Pigs and the old ones talked together and the old ones said: "The New Year feast will soon be here. Maybe they will have some good things for us to eat at the party. I think we should go."
Then the old Pigs found the best talker in all the family, and sent word by him that they would attend the party.
The day came, and the Pigs all went to the party. There were about three hundred all together.
When they arrived they saw that the leader of the cows was the most beautiful of all the herd and very kind and gentle to her guests.
After a while the leader spoke to them in a gentle voice and said to the oldest Pigs: "We think it would be a good and pleasant thing if there were no more quarrels in this pasture.
"Will you tell your people not to break down the fences and spoil the place and eat our food? We will then agree that the oxen and horses shall not hurt your children and all the old troubles shall be forgotten from this day."
Then one young Pig stood up to talk. "All this big pasture belongs to the Master, and not to you," he said. "We cannot go to other places for food.
"The Master sends a servant to feed us, and sometimes he sends us to your yard to eat the corn and potatoes.
"The servants clean our pen every day. When summer comes, they fill the ponds with fresh water for us to bathe in.
"Now, friends, can you not see that this place and this food all belong to the Master? We eat the food and go wherever we like. We take your food only after you have finished. It would spoil on the ground if we did not do this.
"Answer this question—Do our people ever hurt your people? No; even though every year some of our children are killed by bad oxen and cows.
"What is our food? It is nothing; but our lives are worth much to us.
"Our Master never sends our people to work as he does the horses and oxen. He sends us food and allows us to play a year and a year the same, because he likes us best.
"You see the Horses and Oxen are always at work. Some pull wagons, others plough land for rice; and they must work—sick or well.
"Our people never work. Every day at happy time we play; and do you see how fat we are?
"You never see our bones. Look at the old Horses and the old Oxen.
Twenty years' work and no rest!
"I tell you the Master does not honour the Horses and Oxen as he does the Pigs.
"Friends, that is all I have to say. Have you any questions to ask?
Is what I have said not the truth?"
The old Cow said, "Moo, Moo," and shook her head sadly. The tired old
Horses groaned, "Huh, Huh," and never spoke a word.
The leader said, "My friends, it is best not to worry about things we cannot know. We do not seem to understand our Master.
"It will soon be time for the New Year feast day; so, good night. And may the Pig people live in the world as long and happily as the Horses and the Oxen, although our Peace Party did not succeed."
On their way home the little Pigs made a big noise, and every one said,
"We, we! We win, we win!"
Then the old Horses and Oxen talked among themselves. "We are stronger, wiser, and more useful than the Pigs," they said. "Why does the Master treat us so?"
EE-SZE (Meaning): Why have some more power than others? Only one knows. Why have some longer life than others? Only one knows. Why do some try and not succeed; while others do not try and yet they do succeed? Only one knows.
The Proud Chicken
A Widow named Hong-Mo lived in a little house near the market place. Every year she raised many hundreds of chickens, which she sold to support herself and her two children.
Each day the Chickens went to the fields near by and hunted bugs, rice, and green things to eat.
The largest one was called the King of the Chickens, because of all the hundreds in the flock he was the strongest. And for this reason he was the leader of them all.
He led the flock to new places for food. He could crow the loudest, and as he was the strongest, none dared oppose him in any way.
One day he said to the flock, "Let us go to the other side of the mountain near the wilderness to-day, and hunt rice, wheat, corn, and wild silkworms. There is not enough food here."
But the other Chickens said, "We are afraid to go so far. There are foxes and eagles in the wilderness, and they will catch us."
The King of the Chickens said, "It is better that all the old hens and cowards stay at home."
The King's secretary said, "I do not know fear. I will go with you."
Then they started away together.
When they had gone a little distance, the Secretary found a beetle, and just as he was going to swallow it, the King flew at him in great anger, saying, "Beetles are for kings, not for common chickens. Why did you not give it to me?" So they fought together, and while they were fighting, the beetle ran away and hid under the grass where he could not be found.
And the Secretary said, "I will not fight for you, neither will I go to the wilderness with you." And he went home again.
At sunset the King came home. The other Chickens had saved the best roosting place for him; but he was angry because none of them had been willing to go to the wilderness with him, and he fought first with one and then with another.
He was a mighty warrior, and therefore none of them could stand up against him. And he pulled the feathers out of many of the flock.
At last the Chickens said, "We will not serve this king any longer. We will leave this place. If Hong-Mo will not give us another home, we will stay in the vegetable garden. We will do that two or three nights, and see if she will give us another place to live."
So the next day, when Hong-Mo waited at sunset for the Chickens to come home, the King was the only one who came.
And she asked the King, "Where are all my Chickens?"
But he was proud and angry, and said, "They are of no use in the world.
I would not care if they always stayed away."
Hong-Mo answered, "You are not the only Chicken in the world. I want the others to come back. If you drive them all away, you will surely see trouble."
But the King laughed and jumped up on the fence and crowed. "Nga-Un-Gan-Yu-Na" (cock-a-doodle-doo-oo) in a loud voice. "I don't care for you! I don't care for you!"
Hong-Mo went out and called the Chickens, and she hunted long through the twilight until the dark night came, but she could not find them. The next morning early she went to the vegetable garden, and there she found her Chickens. They were glad to see her, and bowed their heads and flew to her.
Hong-Mo said, "What are you doing? Why do you children stay out here, when I have given you a good house to live in?"
The Secretary told her all about the trouble with the King.
Hong-Mo said, "Now you must be friendly to each other. Come with me, and I will bring you and your King together. We must have peace here."
When the Chickens came to where the King was he walked about, and scraped his wings on the ground, and sharpened his spurs. His people had come to make peace, and they bowed their heads and looked happy when they saw their King. But he still walked about alone and would not bow.
He said, "I am a King—always a King. Do you know that? You bow your heads and think that pleases me. But what do I care? I should not care if there was never another Chicken in the world but myself. I am King."
And he hopped up on a tree and sang some war songs. But suddenly an eagle who heard him, flew down and caught him in his talons and carried him away. And the Chickens never saw their proud, quarrelsome King again.
EE-SZE (Meaning): No position in life is so high that it gives the right to be proud and quarrelsome.
The Hen and the Chinese Mountain Turtle
Four hundred and fifty years ago in Lze-Cheung Province, Western China, there lived an old farmer named Ah-Po.
The young farmers all said Ah-Po knew everything. If they wanted to know when it would rain, they asked Ah-Po, and when he said: "It will not rain to-morrow," or, "You will need your bamboo-hat this time to-morrow," it was as he said. He knew all about the things of nature and how to make the earth yield best her fruits and seeds, and some said he was a prophet.
One day Ah-Po caught a fine Mountain Turtle. It was so large that it took both of Ah-Po's sons to carry it home. They tied its legs together and hung it on a strong stick, and each son put an end of the stick on his shoulder.
Ah-Po said, "We will not kill the Turtle. He is too old to eat, and I think we will keep him and watch the rings grow around his legs each year." So they gave him a corner in the barnyard and fed him rice and water.
Ah-Po had many Chickens, and for three months the Turtle and Chickens lived in peace with each other. But one day all the young Chickens came together and laughed at the Turtle. Then they said to him, "Why do you live here so long? Why do you not go back to your own place? This small barnyard corner is not so good as your cave in the wilderness. You have only a little sand and grass to live on here. The servant feeds you, but she never gives you any wilderness fruits. You are very large, and you take up too much room. We need all the room there is here. You foolish old thing, do you think our fathers and mothers want you? No. There is not one of our people who likes you. Besides, you are not clean. You make too much dirt. The servant girl gave you this water to drink, and your water bowl is even now upside down. You scatter rice on our floor. Too many flies come here to see you, and we do not like flies."
The Turtle waited until they had all finished scolding. Then he said, "Do you think I came here myself? Who put me here, do you know? Do you suppose I like to be in jail? You need not be jealous. I never ate any rice that belonged to you or your family. I am not living in your house. What are you complaining about? If our master should take your whole family and sell it, he would only get one piece of silver. Who and what are you to talk so much? Wait and see; some day I may have the honoured place."
Some of the Chickens went home and told their mother, "We had an argument with the Turtle to-day and he had the last word. To-morrow we want you to go with us and show him that a Chicken can argue as well as a Turtle."
The next day all the Chickens of the barnyard went to see the Turtle. And the old Hen said, "My children came here to play yesterday, and you scolded them and drove them away. You said all my family was not worth one piece of silver. You think you are worth many pieces of gold, I suppose. No one likes you. Your own master would not eat you. And the market people would never buy a thing so old and tough as you are. But I suppose you will have to stay here in our yard a thousand years or so, until you die. Then they will carry you to the wilderness and throw you into the Nobody-Knows Lake."
Then the Turtle answered and said, "I am a Mountain Turtle. I come from a wise family, and it is not easy for even man to catch me. Educated men, doctors, know that I am useful for sickness, but if all the people knew the many ways they could use me, I think there would soon be no more turtles in the world. Many Chinese know that my skin is good for skin disease, and my forefeet are good for the devil-sickness in children, as they drive the devil away; and then my shells are good for sore throat, and my stomach is good for stomach-ache, and my bones are good for tooth-ache. Do you remember that not long ago our master brought three turtle eggs to feed your children? I heard him say: 'Those little Chickens caught cold in that damp place, and so I must give them some turtle eggs.' I saw your children eat those three eggs, and in two or three days they were well.
"So you see the Turtle is a useful creature in the world, even to Chickens. Why do you not leave me in peace? As I must stay here against my will, it is not right that your children should trouble me. Sometimes they take all my rice and I go hungry, for our master will not allow me to go outside of this fence to hunt food for myself. I never come to your house and bother you, but your children will not even let me live in peace in the little corner our master gave me. If I had a few of my own people here with me, as you have, I think you would not trouble me. But I have only myself, while you are many.
"Yesterday your children scolded me and disturbed my peace. To-day you come again; and to-morrow and many to-morrows will see generations and still more unhatched generations of Chickens coming here to scold me, I fear; for the length of life of a cackling hen is as a day to me—a Mountain Turtle. I know the heaven is large, I know the earth is large and made for all creatures alike. But you think the heavens and the earth were both made for you and your Chickens only. If you could drive me away to-day you would try to-morrow to drive the dog away, and in time you would think the master himself ought not to have enough of your earth and air to live in. This barnyard is large enough for birds, chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. It makes our master happy to have us all here."
The Chickens went away ashamed. Talking to each other about it, they said: "The Turtle is right. It is foolish to want everything. We barnyard creatures must live at peace with each other until we die. The barnyard is not ours; we use it only a little while."
EE-SZE (Meaning): The Creator made the world for all to use, and, while using it, the strong should not try to drive out the weak.
The Proud Fox and the Crab
One day a Fox said to a Crab: "Crawling thing, did you ever run in all your life?"
"Yes," said the Crab, "I run very often from the mud to the grass and back to the river."
"Oh, shame!" said the Fox, "that is no distance to run. How many feet and legs have you? I have only four. Why, if I had as many feet as you have, I would run at least six times as fast as you do. Did you know that you are really a very slow, stupid creature? Though I have only four feet I run ten times as far as you do. I never heard of any one with so many feet as you have, running so slowly."
The Crab said: "Would you like to run a race with a stupid creature like me? I will try to run as fast as you. I know I am small, so suppose we go to the scales and see how much heavier you are. As you are ten times larger than I, of course you will have to run ten times faster.
"Another reason why you can run so fast is because you have such a fine tail and hold it so high. If you would allow me to put it down, I do not think you would run any faster than I."
"Oh, very well," said the Fox, contemptuously, "do as you like, and still the race will be so easy for me that I will not even need to try. Your many legs and your stupid head do not go very well together. Now, if I had my sense and all of your legs, no creature in the forest could outrun me. As it is, there are none that can outwit me. I am known as the sharp-witted. Even man says, 'Qui-kwat-wui-lai' (sly as a fox). So do what you will, stupid one."
"If you will let me tie your beautiful tail down so it will stay," said the Crab, "I am sure I can win the race."
"Oh, no, you cannot," said the Fox. "But I will prove to even your stupid, slow brain that it will make no difference. Now, how do you wish that I should hold my tail?"
Said the Crab: "If you will allow me to hang something on your tail to hold it down, I am sure you cannot run faster than I."
"Do as you like," said the Fox.
"Allow me to come nearer," said the Crab, "and when I have it fastened to your tail, I will say 'Ready!' Then you are to start."
So the Crab crawled behind and caught the Fox's tail with his pincers and said, "Ready!" The Fox ran and ran until he was tired. And when he stopped, there was the Crab beside him.
"Where are you now?" said the Crab. "I thought you were to run ten times faster than I. You are not even ahead of me with all your boasting."
The Fox, panting for breath, hung his head in shame and went away where he might never see the crab again.
EE-SZE (Meaning): A big, proud, boastful mouth, is a worse thing for a man than it is for a fox.
The Mule and the Lion
One night the Lion was very hungry, but as the creatures of the wilderness knew and feared him even from afar, he could not find food. So he went to visit the young Mule that lived near the farmer's house, and when he saw him he smiled blandly and asked, "What do you eat, fair Lii, to make you so sleek and fat? What makes your hair so smooth and beautiful? I think your master gives you tender fresh grass and fat young pig to eat."
The Mule answered, "No, I am fat because I am gentle. My hair is beautiful because I do not fight with other creatures. But why do you come here, Sii? Are you hungry? I believe you are seeking for food."
The Lion said, "Oh, no, I am not hungry. I only walk around to get the cool, fresh air. And then the night is very beautiful. The moon hangs up in the clear sky with the stars and makes a soft light, and so I came to visit you. Would you not like to take a walk with me? I will take you to visit my friend, the Pig. I never go to his house alone; I always take a friend with me."
The Mule asked, "Shall we go to any other place?"
"Yes," answered the Lion, "I think we will go to visit another friend of mine who lives not far away."
Then the Mule asked his mother, "Will you allow me to go with Sii to see his friend?"
"Who is his friend?" asked the mother.
"The farmer's Pig." said the Mule.
"I think it is no harm if you go only there," said the mother Mule. "But you must not go anywhere else with Sii. The hunter is looking for him, I hear, and you must be careful. Do not trust him fully, for I fear he will tempt you to go to some other place or into some wrong thing. If I allow you to go, you must come home before midnight. The moon will not be gone then and you can see to find your way."
So the Lion and the Mule went to visit the Pig, who lived in a house in the farmer's yard. But as soon as the Pig saw the Lion, he called out in a loud voice to his mother.
The Lion said, "He is afraid of me. I will hide and you may go in first."
When the Pig saw that the Mule was alone, he thought the Lion had gone.
He opened his door wide and was very friendly to the Mule, saying,
"Come in."
But the Lion jumped from his hiding place and caught the Pig as he came to the door. The Pig called to his mother in great fear, and the Mule begged the Lion, saying, "Let the poor little creature go free."
But the Lion said, "No, indeed; I have many Pigs at my house. It is better for him to go with me."
Then the Lion carried the Pig, while the Mule followed. Soon they came to where a fine looking dog lay on some hay behind a net. The Lion did not seem to see the net, for he dropped the Pig and tried to catch the Dog, who cried loudly for mercy.
But the Lion said to the foolish Mule, "See how rude the Dog is to us.
We came to visit him and he makes a loud noise and tries to call the
hunter so that he will drive us away. I have never been so insulted.
Come here, Lii-Tsze, at once and help me!"
The Mule went to the Lion and the net fell and caught them both. At sunrise the Hunter came and found the Mule and the Lion in his net. The Mule begged earnestly and said, "Hunter, you know me and you know my mother. We are your friends and we do no wrong. Set me free, oh, hunter, set me free!"
The Hunter said, "No, I will not set you free. You may be good, but you are in bad company and must take what it brings. I will take you and the Lion both to the market place and sell you for silver. That is my right. I am a hunter. If you get in my net, that is your business. If I catch you, that is my business."
EE-SZE (Meaning): Bad company is a dangerous thing for man or beast.
The Lion and the Mosquitoes
One day Ah-Fou's father said to him, "Come here, my boy, and I will tell you a story. Do you remember the great lion we saw one day, which Ah-Kay caught? You know a strong rope held him, and he roared and tried to free himself until he died. Then when Ah-Kay took him from the net, he looked at the rope and the bamboo carefully, and found five of the great ropes broken.
"How strong is the lion? Twenty children like you could not break one strand of that great rope. But the lion broke five complete ropes. He is the strongest of all animals. He catches many creatures for his food, but once he lost a battle with one of the least of the wilderness creatures. Do you know what it was?"
"A bird could fight and then fly away. Was it a bird?"
"No, my son."
"A man is stronger than a lion."
"No; do you not remember the woodcutter who could put down five strong men? One night a wilderness lion caught and killed him."
"Then what was the smallest of all creatures of the wilderness that battled with a lion?"
The father said, "I will tell you the story: Once in the summer time the Lion was very thirsty. But the sun had taken all the water near the Lion's home and he went to many places seeking for it. In time he found an old well, but the water was not fresh. As the Lion was very thirsty, he said, 'I must drink, even though the water is stale.'
"But when he reached down into the old well, he found that it was the home of all the Mosquitoes of the wilderness.
"The Mosquitoes said to the Lion, 'Go away, we do not want you. This is our home and we are happy. We do not wish the lion, the fox, or the bear to come here. You are not our friend. Why do you come?"
"The Lion roared and said, 'Weak and foolish things! I am the Lion. It is you that should go away, for I have come to drink. This is my wilderness, and I am king. Do you know, weak things, that when I come out from my place and send forth my voice, all the creatures of the wilderness shake like leaves and bow their heads to me? What are you that you should have a place you call your home and tell me that I may or I may not?'
"Then the Mosquitoes answered, 'You are only one. You speak as if you were many. Our people had this old well for a home before your roar was heard in the wilderness. And many generations of us have been born here. This home is ours, and we are they that say who shall come or go. And yet you come and tell us to go out of our own door. If you do not leave us, we will call our people, and you shall know trouble.'
"But the Lion held his head high with pride and anger and said, 'What are you, oh, small of the small? I will kill every one of your useless people. When I drink, I will open my mouth only a little wider, and you shall be swallowed like the water. And to-morrow I shall forget that I drank to-day.'
"'Boastful one,' said the Mosquitoes, 'we do not believe that you have the power to destroy all our people. If you wish battle, we shall see. We know your name is great and that all animals bow their heads before you; but our people can kill you.'
"The Lion jumped high in his rage and said, 'No other creature in the wilderness has dared to say these things to me—the king. Have I come to the vile well of the silly Mosquitoes for wisdom?' And he held his head high, and gave the mighty roar of battle, and made ready to kill all the Mosquitoes.
"Then the Mosquitoes, big and little, flew around him. Many went into his ears, and the smallest ones went into his nose, and the big old ones went into his mouth to sting. A thousand and a thousand hung in the air just over his head and made a great noise, and the Lion soon knew that he could not conquer.
"He roared and jumped, and two of his front feet went down into the well. The well was narrow and deep and he could not get out, for his two hind feet were in the air and his head hung downward. And as he died, he said to himself:
"'My pride and anger have brought me this fate. Had I used gentle words, the Mosquitoes might have given me water for my thirst. I was wise and strong in the wilderness, and even the greatest of the animals feared my power. But I fought with the Mosquitoes and I die—not because I have not strength to overcome, but because of the foolishness of anger."
EE-SZE (Meaning): The wise can conquer the foolish. Power is nothing, strength is nothing. The wise, gentle and careful can always win.