The Wiseman's Revolt

Once upon a time in a faraway land there was a Chinese wiseman and his disciple. One day, during his travels, he saw a hut in the distance.

As they approached, they noticed that the house was being lived in even though it was extremely run down.

In that desolate land with no trees and no crops, a man lived with his wife, three young children and an emaciated, tired looking cow.

Hungry and thirsty, the wiseman and his disciple asked to be allowed to rest for a few hours and were well received.

At one point, while he was eating, the wiseman asked:

- This is a very poor land, faraway from everything. How do you survive?

- Do you see that cow? It’s our livelihood, said the head of the family. We drink the milk she gives and also make cheese from it. When there are leftovers, we go to town and exchange the milk and cheese for other foods. This is how we live.

The wiseman thanked them for their hospitality and left. As soon as they had turned the first bend in the road, he said to the disciple:

- Go back, take the cow, lead it over to the cliff over there and push it off.

The disciple could not believe what he was hearing.

- I cannot do that, master! How can you be so ungrateful? The cow is all they have. If I throw it off the cliff, they won’t survive. Without the cow they die!

The man, as all Chinese wisemen do, just took a deep breath and repeated the order:

- Go over there and push the cow over the cliff.

Outraged, but resigned, the disciple returned to the hut and quietly led the animal to the cliff and pushed. And obviously, the cow died from the fall.

Years passed by, yet the regret of the disciple remained.

One spring day, racked with guilt, he abandoned the wise old man and decided to return to that same spot. He wanted to see what had happened to the family, help them, apologize and somehow make amends.

As he came around the turn in the road, could not believe what his eyes saw. In place of the run down hut there was a wonderful house with many trees, a swimming pool, an imported car in the garage, and satellite dish.

Around the barbecue were three robust teenagers along with their parents celebrating the victory of making their first million dollars. The disciple's heart sank.

What happened to the family?

Hunger must have forced them to sell their land and leave. At that very moment, he thought, they must be begging on some city street corner.

He then approached a household servant and asked if he knew the whereabouts of the family that had lived there several years ago.

- Of course I do. You're looking at them - the servant said, pointing to the people around the barbecue.

Amazed, the disciple pushed open the gate and came near to the pool where he recognized the same man as before, only stronger and dignified, a happier woman and children who had turned into healthy adolescents. Startled, he turned to the man and said:

- What happened? I've visited this place with my teacher a few years ago, and this was a miserable place. There was nothing. What did you do to improve your lives in such a short period of time?

The man looked at the disciple, smiled and replied:

- We had a cow that was our livelihood. It was everything we had.

But one day she fell over the cliff and died. To survive, we had to do other things and develop skills that we did not even know we had.

And so, in our search for new ways to survive, we are today much better off than we were before.