Zhuangzi sighed at a big tree in the forest that escaped the destiny of being chopped due to its uselessness. He said, "it is its uselessness that the tree could have the chance to enjoy its natural span of life."

 

At that night, zhuangzi's friend killed the wild goose that was not able to utter any sound in his home to fete Zhuangzi and his disciples¹. Seeing this, the disciples asked, "Master, the tree in the forest survived due to its uselessness, while the goose lost its life because of its disability. So what kind of attitude shall we take toward this capricious world?"

 

"Choose to be somewhere between usefulness and uselessness! But it is very difficult to tell the threshold between them and not in accordance with the rules of life. Therefore, a person always will be cumbered with something." Zhuangzi answered.

 

庄子对着山中一棵因大而无用而免遭砍伐的大叔叹息说：“这棵树恰巧由其不成材而享有天年。”

 

晚间，庄子的友人杀掉家中那只不会叫的雁来款待庄子师徒。见此情景，学生们问道:“老师，山里的大树因无用而活下来，家养的雁却由于不会而丧失性命，我们将采取什么态度来对待这繁复无序的人世？”

 

庄子回答说：“还是选择有用和无用之间吧！有用无用之间的分寸太难把握，而且也不符合人生的规律，因而人活着难免有拖累。”

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