When Zhuang Zi had no money, he went to the Lord Keeper of the River to borrow some grain.
”That’s all right,” said the lord. “I shall soon have collected the taxes from my fief; then I’ll lend you three hundred gold pieces. How about that?”
Very indignant, Zhuang Zi told him this story:
As I was coming here yesterday I heard a voice calling me, and looking round I saw a carp lying in a dry rut on the road.
“How did you get there, carp?” I asked.
“I am a native of the Eastern Ocean,” he replied. “Do you have a barrel of water to save my life?”
”That’s all right,” I told him. “I shall soon be visiting the kings of Wu and Yue Kingdoms in the south, and I shall persuade them to unleash the water for you from the West River. How about that?”
The carp was most indignant.
“I am out of my usual element,” he said, “and don’t know what to do. One barrel of water would save me, but you give me nothing but empty promises. With such ‘rescue,’ you’ll find me dead in a dried-fish market tomorrow!”
Allegorical Meaning
Pragmatism vs. Empty Rhetoric
- True virtue: “Give water when thirst cries”
- False virtue: “Orate about oceans to dying fish”
The Cruelty of Deferred Aid
- Fish’s need: Immediate reality (a jar of water)
- Zhuang Zhou’s “solution”: Distant abstraction (West River)
Fish’s retort: “A dead fish cares not for rivers”
Satire of hypocrisy
Zhuang Zhou’s response mirrors rulers who:
- Promise future reforms while ignoring present suffering;
- Prioritize political theater over concrete action.
True compassion measures deeds by their urgency, not their scale.
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