THE ONION
The child who threw away leaf after leaf of the many-coated onion, to get to the sweet heart, found in the end that he had thrown away the heart itself.
THE SEA-SHELL
To the passionate lover, whose sighs come back to him on every breeze, all the world is like a murmuring sea-shell.
THE STUPID KITE
A kite, while devouring a skylark, complained, “Had I known that thy flesh was no sweeter than that of a sparrow I should have listened longer to thy delicious notes.”
THE WINDMILL
The exquisite painter Ko-tsu was often reproached by an industrious friend for his fits of idleness. At last he excused himself by saying, “You are a watermill—a windmill can grind only when the wind blows.”
THE WORD
The first time the emperor Han heard a certain Word he said, “It is strange.” The second time he said, “It is divine.” The third time he said, “Let the speaker be put to death.”