山木

Zhuangzi was walking in the mountains when he saw a great tree, its branches and leaves thick and flourishing. A woodcutter stopped beside it but did not touch it. Asked why, he said: 'It has no use.' Zhuangzi said: 'This tree, by being of no material use, will live out the years Heaven gave it.' Coming down from the mountain, Zhuangzi stayed at the house of an old friend. The friend was delighted and told his servant to kill a goose and cook it. The servant asked: 'One goose can cackle, the other cannot — which shall I kill?' The host said: 'Kill the one that cannot cackle.' The next day, a disciple asked Zhuangzi: 'Yesterday the tree in the mountain survived by being useless. Now the host's goose was killed for being useless. Where would you place yourself, Master?' Zhuangzi laughed and said: 'I would place myself between usefulness and uselessness.'

Zi Sang Hu said: 'Those who come together through profit will abandon each other when pressed by poverty, disaster, and trouble. Those who come together through Heaven will sustain each other when pressed by poverty, disaster, and trouble. The difference between sustaining and abandoning is vast indeed. Moreover, the friendship of a gentleman is bland as water; the friendship of a petty man is sweet as wine. The gentleman's blandness leads to affection; the petty man's sweetness leads to rupture. Those who come together for no reason will part for no reason.'