The Crane and the Clan
Chao was going
to attack Yen. When the king of Yen heard about it, he sent
for his senior officers.
“Can you tell
me what to do?” he asked them.
Su Tai said,
“I have a plan. Let me go and speak to the king of Chao,” The king of Yen
agreed.
When Su Tai
arrived at Chao, he saw the king. Your Majesty,” he said, “When I was coming
here this morning, I passed the River Yi. There I saw a clam lying in the sun.
Suddenly, a crane came along and tried to open its shell and eat it up. The
clam caught the crane’s beak in it shell. The crane tried to free itself but
was unable to do so.”
“ ‘You can try
as hard as you like,’ the clam said, ‘but you cannot escape.”
“ ‘Unless you
let me go,’ the crane answered, ‘you will not be able to return to the river.’”
“Neither of
them wanted to give way. Not long afterwards, a fisherman passed by. He stopped
and caught them both without any trouble.”
The king of
Chao asked Su Tai, “What is the meaning of this story?”
“Your
Majesty,” Su Tai replied, “if Chao and Yen fight each other they: will both
become weak. there are many countries around us waiting to be the fisherman. I
hope Your Majesty will think twice before doing anything.”
“Very well,”
the King replied. Nothing more was heard after that of Chao attacking Yen.
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