Respite from the Leviathan - Daoist Parables 

There is a small country. People do not travel far. They have boats and carriages but little use for them. They have armor and weapons but do not display them. Their food is plain, but good. Their clothes are simple, but fit well. Their homes are secure.

Most villages are within earshot of the neighboring village. They can hear each others’ roosters crowing in the morning and dogs barking in the afternoon. Yet they rarely feel the need to visit; they are content where they are, satisfied in place.

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A monk and an old master were once walking in the mountains. They noticed a little hut upstream. The monk said, “A wise hermit must live there.” The master said, “That’s no wise hermit. You see that lettuce leaf floating down the stream? He’s a Waster.” Just then an old man came running down the hill with his beard flying and caught the floating lettuce leaf.

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