Liezi

Lamb lost at the fork in the road ―― lost in complicated circumstances

Liezi Fu Shuo

Andy's neighbor lost his sheep, so he led his party and asked Andy about his vertical pursuit. Andy said, "Hey! A sheep is dead, why chase the crowd? " The neighbor said, "There are many different roads." Instead, he asked, "Did you get the sheep?" Yue: "I'm dead." Yue: "Wu Hu?" He said: "There are differences in the Tao, and I don't know what it is, so the opposite is true." Andy's face suddenly changed. People who don't talk will move, and those who don't laugh will die.

The host was surprised, so please say, "Sheep, cheap animals, are not owned by the host, which is a joke?" If Andy doesn't answer, his master won't kill him.

Disciple Meng Sunyang went out to tell Du Zi. One day, he walked up to Yang and asked, "Yesterday, three brothers, Kun, swam between Qilu and returned from a benevolent path. His father said,' Where is the way of benevolence and righteousness?' Bo said,' Benevolence and righteousness made me love my body, and later I became famous.' Zhong You:' benevolence and righteousness made me die and become famous.' My uncle said,' benevolence and righteousness make my name complete.' The three techniques are opposite, but they all come from Confucianism. Who is right and who is wrong? "

Andy said, "People who live by the river are accustomed to the water, so they have the courage to swim in the boat, and one hundred people make money. If they are wrapped in food, they will become disciples, and a few people will drown. I don't learn to drown, but I have such a stake. If you think it is right or wrong? " My heart is full of hey.

Meng Sunyang asked him to say, "Why does my son ask pedantic questions and the master answer withdrawn?"? The more confused I am. "

He said to himself, "The road is divided into many ways, and scholars kill many. Learning is not the same, not the same, but the final difference. Only return to the same and turn against one, thinking of death. Mr. Zi Chang's door and Mr. Xi's way can't reach Mr. Xi's position, alas! "

source

Liezi Fu Shuo: "If the Tao kills more, the scholar kills more."

Fables in Liezi Fu Shuo. This fable adopts the method of combining fable with fable in structure. From the story of losing sheep because of too many forks in the road, two fables are drawn. One is that the three brothers have completely different understandings of Confucianism, and the other is that many people learn to swim and nearly half drown, and finally make comments. The full text reveals a truth: things are complex and changeable, and without the correct direction, they will go astray and have serious consequences.

Vernacular translation

Andy's neighbor lost a sheep. The neighbor led his family, friends and others to pursue it, and came to ask the boy servant in Andy to help him pursue it. Andy asked, "Hey, I lost a sheep. Why are so many people chasing? " The neighbor replied, "There are too many forks in the road."

After the sheep chaser came back, Andy asked his neighbor, "Did you find the sheep?" The neighbor replied, "I didn't catch it, I let it get away." Andy asked, "Why did you let it get away?" The neighbor replied, "There is another fork in the road. We don't know which direction it went, so we have to come back. " Hearing this, Andy felt sad and changed his face. He hasn't spoken for a long time and hasn't smiled all day. His students were surprised and asked him, "sheep are worthless animals, not your own, but you don't talk or laugh." Why? " Andy didn't answer, and the students didn't know what Andy really meant.

Meng Sunyang, a student from Andy, came from Andy and told Angel about it. One day, I went to see Yang. Angel asked, "Once upon a time, there were three brothers studying in Qi and Lu. They studied under the same teacher. They didn't go home until they learned the truth of benevolence and righteousness. Their father asked them, "What is the truth of benevolence and righteousness?" The boss said,' Benevolence makes me cherish life and put reputation after life'. The second child said,' Renyi made me give my life for the sake of fame.' The third son said, "benevolence and righteousness can save my life, and my reputation is also good." The answers of these three brothers are different, even on the contrary, all from Confucianism. Who do you think is right or wrong? Andy replied, "There is a man who lives by the river. He is familiar with water and dares to swim across the river. He lives by boating and ferrying, and the profit of ferrying can support 100 people. People who took their own food to learn swimming with him flocked, and almost half of them drowned. They used to learn to swim, not to drown. Profit is the antonym of suffering. Who do you think is right or wrong? "

After listening to the new words, he came out silently with him. After coming out, Meng Sunyang complained in his heart: "You asked the teacher such a circuitous question, how did the teacher answer so strangely?" The more I listen, the more confused I am. " New Angel said: "The road lost sheep because of too many forks in the road, and the learners lost their lives because of too many methods. What I learned is not fundamentally different or inconsistent, but the result is so different. Only by returning to the same root and the essence of consistency will there be no feeling of gain and loss and no loss. You have been under the teacher's door for a long time, and you are the teacher's big disciple. You learned the teacher's theory, but you didn't understand the meaning of the metaphor the teacher said. What a pity! "

translate freely

Fork: A fork in the road.

Death: lost.

Distinguish and appreciate

The fables in Liezi are very distinctive in structure, and the method of combining fables with fables is adopted. The fable of sheep itself leads to two other fables from this fable. One is a fable told by Angel, and the three brothers have completely different understandings of Confucianism. The other is a fable told by Andy. Many people learned to swim, but almost half of them drowned. Finally, Angel's comments. Among some selected fables, only the first half of this fable, that is, the fable of a dead sheep, was selected, while the last two fables derived from this story were not selected, not to mention the last comment. But this excerpt is not very appropriate. Because it is impossible to understand directly from the story itself, at least it is difficult to understand the profound meaning of this fable.

In this story, Andy's neighbor's sheep ran away, and family, relatives, friends and others have been looking for it. They still felt that there were not enough people. They asked the boy servants in Andy to help them, but they still didn't catch up. Because there are too many forks in the road, and there is another fork in the road in the middle, I don't know which fork to chase, so so many people chase it, but they still can't catch it. This incident deeply touched Andy, who was silent for a long time. His students asked him why, but Andy didn't answer.

Judging from the whole fable, Andy didn't answer the students' questions at that time, because Andy was deeply touched by crossing the road, and it was difficult to explain it to the students at the moment. It is necessary to take the form of metaphor, especially the advanced metaphor of fable, so that students can clearly understand the profound implication contained in it, which is the profound feeling caused by Andy's crossing the road.

Hint (revelation)

This article tells people: when studying a subject, we should grasp the direction, pay attention to understand its essence, and don't be confused by various appearances. Lost sheep, because there are too many forks in the road to go. Metaphor things are complex and changeable. Without the correct direction, they will go astray.

Brief introduction of the author

Liezi, whose birth and death are unknown, is called Yu Kou. During the Warring States Period, Zheng advocated quietism. He is another representative figure of Taoist school besides Laozi and Zhuangzi. Believes in the Taoist thought of being detached from things, and advocates duty-bound and inaction. He was content with poverty all his life, not seeking fame and fortune, not entering officialdom. "Liezi lived in Zhengpu, and he was ignorant for forty years." After farming, I was addicted to reading and writing, and devoted myself to writing 20 articles, about100000 words. Liezi spread, and some of his works were lost after the Han Dynasty. There are eight existing works: Tian Rui, Huangdi, Zhou Muwang, Zhong Ni, Tang Wen, Mo Lifeng, Yang Zhu and Fu Shuo. Among them, there are more than 100 well-known fables, such as Yu Gong Yi Shan, Alarming the Worries, Kuafu Chasing the Sun, Two Children Debating the Sun, Chicken Farm Snow Club, Yellow Emperor Shen You, Tang Wen, etc., each of which is full of fun and great influence, which can be described as a household name and widely circulated. Among them, "Two Children Debate Day" was included in the first text of the sixth volume of primary school Chinese.