readoldthings

A parable from Chuang Tzu:

Lady Li was the daughter of a border guard. When the duke of a neighboring state sacked her hometown and brought her to his palace, she wept until her robe was soaked. But as time went on and she experienced palace life, eating fine food and sharing the duke's bed, she came to love her new life and wondered why she ever wept.

In the same way, how do we know that loving life isn't a delusion? How do we know that, by hating death, we aren't like someone who wandered from home as a child and forgot the way back? What if the dead, like Lady Li, wonder why they ever longed for life?

And another, quite famous, parable from the Huai Nan Tzu:

Off in the countryside, near the border of the empire, there lived a farmer who was known for being a righteous man. One day, without warning, his only horse ran off into barbarian territory. His neighbors all pitied him for his loss, but he said, “How do you know that this isn’t a blessing?”

Several months later, while working his fields, the farmer found that his horse had wandered back to him, accompanied by a beautiful barbarian stallion. His neighbors all congratulated him for his good fortune, but he said, “How do you know that this isn’t a curse?”

The farmer’s family found itself a fine horse richer, and his son took to riding the stallion in the fields. One day, while doing so, he was thrown from the horse and broke his hip. The farmer’s neighbors all pitied him for his loss, but he said, “How do you know that this isn’t a blessing?”

A year later, the barbarians invaded the frontier, and every able-bodied young man was conscripted for the war effort, and nine-tenths of them died. Due to his injury, however, the farmer’s son was spared.

Thus can blessings become curses and curses become blessings; one cannot predict how events might be transformed.

It is a delight to me how closely the old Taoists and Stoics agree! I haven't studied the latter, but thanks to you I'm interested :)