Zhuang Zhou's family was poor. Once, he went to the official who supervised¹ rivers to borrow some grain. The official said: "Well, wait until the end of the year when I collect the taxes from the people, then I will lend you 300 gold pieces. All right?"

 

When Zhuang Zhou heard this, he was so angry that the colow of his face changed. But he told the official this story: When I came here yesterday, on the way I heard a voice calling 'Help!' I turned my head and saw a small crucian carp in the dried-up carriage ditch²."

 

I went over and asked: "Little crucian carp, why are you calling for help?"

 

The little crucian carp answered: "I am a subject of the Dragon King of the East China Sea. Unfortunately I fell down here. Can you give me a little water to save my life?"

 

I said: "All right, I am just going to the south to sell ideas to the kings of the States of Wu and Yue. I will ask them to stir³ up the water of the Xijiang River to welcome you. Will that do?"

 

When the crucian carp heard this, it got angry and said: "When I lose the water which is always with me, I cannot survive. Now, I want only a little bit of water so that I can survive.Yet you say such things. Then you'd better go to the salt-fish shop to look for me." 

 

庄周家境贫穷。一次，他去监河侯那里借粮食，监河侯说：“好吧！等到年底，我收到了老百姓的税金时，就借给你三百金，行吗？”

 

庄周一听，气得脸色都变了，但是他却对监河侯讲了这样一件事情：我昨天来时，半路上听到‘救命’的呼喊声。我回过头来，看见干涸的车沟里有条小螂鱼。

 

我走过去，问它： “小娜鱼，你为什么喊救命？”

 

小鲤鱼回答说：“我是东海龙王的臣子，不幸落到这里。您能够给我一些水来救我活命吗？”

 

我说：“好吧！我正好要去南方游说吴国和越国的国王，那我就请他们激起西江的大水来迎接您，可以吗？”

 

卿鱼听了，气得不得了，说：“我失去了常跟我在一起的水，就无法生存下去了。现在，我只要得到一些水，就能够生存下去；你却说出这样的话。好吧，你不如趁早到咸鱼店里去找我吧！”

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