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The carp in the dry rut
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When Zhuang Zi had no money, he went to the Lord Keeper of the River to borrow some grain.
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The frog in the crumbling well
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A frog inhabiting a crumbling well boasted to an ocean turtle: “Behold my paradise! I leap upon mossy ledges, bathe in sun-warmed waters, rest in crevices — no creature rivals my joy! Would you not enter my domain?”
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The duke’s fatal hospitality
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A sea-gull alighted in a suburb of the capital of Lu. The Marquis of Lu welcomed it and feasted it in the temple hall, ordering the royal music and grandest sacrifices for it.
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The ointment for chapped hands
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A family in the state of Song made an excellent ointment for chapped hands; so for generations they engaged in laundering. A man who heard of this offered a hundred pieces of gold for their recipe.