八七 分 别
大师与他的一羣弟子在河边散步。
他说：「看，这些鱼儿随心所欲地游来游去，这才是真正的快乐。」
一旁的路人听到这话便反唇相激：「你又不是鱼，你怎知鱼快乐与否？」
弟子们惊异地瞪着这鲁莽的家伙。大师却含笑注视这一无所惧地追根究柢的人。
他亲切答复：「我的朋友，你又不是我，你怎么知道我不是鱼？」
弟子们不禁笑了，认为他罪有应得，这位路人却怔在那儿沉思话中深意。
他整天反复咀嚼此言。然后登门造访：「也许你并非如我所想的，与鱼截然不同，而我与你，也非相异过甚。」
DISTINCTION
The Master was strolling with some of his disciples along the bank of a river.
He said. “See how the fish keep darting about when they please. That’s what they
really enjoy.”
A stranger overhearing that remark said. “How do you know what fish enjoy — you‘re
not a fish?”
The disciples gasped at what they took for impudence. The Master smiled at what he
recognized as a fearless spirit of enquiry.
He replied affably. “And you my friend, how do you know I am not a fish — you are
not I?”
The disciples laughed, taking this to be a well-deserved rebuff. Only the stranger was
struck by its depth.
All day he pondered it then came to the monastery to say. “Maybe you are not as
different from the fish as I thought. Or I from you.”