The turtle

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Chuang Tzu with his bamboo pole was fishing in Pu river. The Prince of Chu sent two vice-chancellors with a formal cocument: "We hereby appoint you to prime minister."

Chuang Tzu held his bamboo pole. Still watching Pu river, he said "I am told there is a sacred tortoise, offered and canonized three thousand years ago, venerated by the prince, wrapped in silk, in a precisou shrine on an altar in the temple. What do you think? Would the turtle rather live that life, or to have remained by the river dragging its tail in the mud?"

"It would have preferred to stay by the river."

Chuang Tzu replied "I, too, prefer the river and the mud. Go home."

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I'd just like to say that it's hard to hold open a paperback book and type at the same time. Also, today's post is a blend of two versions of this story I've read. The version that I used for the first half has Chuang Tzu almost being angry by the offer by the end of the tale, and that doesn't seem like it's accurate. So I went from memory to fill out the second half with a more sage-like version.