en français
On the road: Driving his chariot on a road, the Master stopped in front of a
tavern. He asked for some brandy. "In a large cup?" asked the innkeeper. "In a
bucket, please, since it is for my horse". Twelve jugs of brandy went into the
bucket. The horse drank and was satisfied. "Give him half a bucket more". Again,
the horse drank. "Eighteen jugs of brandy amount to three thousand and six hundred
dibo shells", said the innkeeper. Cochonfucius, having paid, was about to
leave. "Please drink something yourself, it is on the house".
"I can't, said the Master. Don't you see that I am driving?".
Wine is not like bread: Cochonfucius re-used an example of twenty years ago.
His follower Fa Yang asked respectfully: "If a baker gave you some bread of last
week, what would you say?"
The master said: "Am I a baker? Am I not rather like a winemaker?".
Bitten: Cochonfucius' follower Yan Ba, once bitten by a hog, immediately hit the
creature.
Cochonfucius instructed him. "The animal was not to be punished. You should have
complained to the farmer."
The follower replied respectfully: "When I hurt the feelings of someone while
discussing, this person usually tells it to me directly, and
abstains from going to the Master and criticizing him
about my behaviour."
Microcosmos :
The priest from Eastern Hill asked unto the Master: "It is said that
all human beings are microcosma, which are like images of the Macrocosmos. If so, what
would you say about wild and
tame
animals?"
Cochonfucius instructed him. "You just mentioned an image. But it is an indistinct and
blurred one, a
dreamlike one. In such conditions, the differences between a given man, and a given beast,
become negligible, and do not prevent them both to be reflections of the same
undescribable Reality, be it a
frog rider, a wild animal, a tame one,
a sententious one, or even a
flying frog".
Ant and elephant: Cochonfucius observed that an elephant protested when
carrying
a load
of a quarter of his own weight. Just at that second, an ant ran merrily
along the path, lifting four times its weight.
Cochonfucius instructed his followers. "My dear students, please note this. The
elephant is grunting, because he carries things for people, who are his masters. The
ant finds its burden quite light, as the ant is working for its fellow ants."
Yan Ba respectfully added: "It can also be explained in this way. The strength of a
creature is in proportion to the square of its size. The mass of an object varies like
the cube of its diameter. Being a thousand times smaller than an elephant, the ant is
one million times weaker. However, objects in its environment, also being a thousand
times smaller, are one billion time lighter. Whoever uses one millionth of the strength to
lift one billionth of the weight can be said to have it easier by a factor of one
thousand."
Cochonfucius asked unto him: "And what is the moral relevance of your argument?"
Yan Ba had no answer.
The tiger and the scroll : Cochonfucius was enjoying a walk with a warrior.
A tiger appeared. The warrior unsuccessfully attempted to frighten it with his weapons. The tiger
was getting closer and closer, without any sign of fear. Cochonfucius threw a bibliographic scroll at it.
The tiger turned its back and went home shivering. Its cubs wanted to know what was so frightening.
« Weapons, said the beast, hunters use them, they do not bother me. But
bibliography!
I haven't
published anything.
How could I not be full of fear? »