One day, Hui Zi met Zhuang Zi and told him this story: "King Hui bestowed1 upon me some bottle gourd2 seeds which I planted in the earth. Soon afterwards a big gourd which could hold 5 dan of rice really grew in the field. Never before have I seen such a big gourd, so I was very happy. But it couldn't solve any of my practical problems. I was so disappointed that I smashed it.
When Zhuang Zi heard this, he felt very sorry and said: "It's really a pity that you smashed such a good gourd so rashly."
Hui Zi couldn't wait for Zhuang Zi to finish to ask: "You feel it is a pity, then what would you use it for?"
Zhuang Zi calmly told Hui Zi a story: "There was a man in our State of Song who could make medicine for preventing chilblains. For generations his family bleached4 and washed cotton wadding for others for a living. Someone heard of this and visited their house. He was willing to pay 100 catties of gold to buy the secret prescription5 handed down from their ancestors. The whole family discussed this matter: `I think we had better sell it to him. We have bleached and washed for others for generations with pitiful income. If we sell the prescription now, we can get a large sum of money at once. We mustn't miss this opportunity!”Consequently
