The Singing Heron

A student asked Master Zhuang: “Master, why do some choose the difficult pathwhen they could live comfortably in luxury?”

Zhuangzi pointed to a heron walking through the marsh. “Do you see that bird over there?”

“Yes, Master.”

“He must take ten steps to find something to peck,and a hundred steps to find water to drink —and yet, he sings.” said Zhuangzi.

The student asked: “And if someone feeds him?”

Zhuangzi replied: “Then he stops singing.”

The student asked again, “But why is that?”

Zhuangzi said: “My student, if you keep him in a cageand treat him like a king,his soul will wither —and he will never reach the spirit of Heaven.”