Zhuang Zhou's family was poor, so he asked the official in charge of the river to borrow food. He Jian said, "OK, I'll get the rent for the fief, and then I'll lend you 300 gold, okay?" "When I came yesterday, I heard someone shouting in the middle of the road. I looked back and found a fish in the rut. "

I asked it, "Squid! Who are you? " The fish replied, "I am Poseidon's servant." Can you save me with some water? " I said, "Well, I will go south to meet the King of Wu and the King of Yue and fetch water from Xijiang to save you. How about it? "

The fish got angry and said, "I lost the water I used to live in, and there is no place to live." I just need a little water to live. How dare you say that? You might as well come to the shop selling dried fish earlier! " "

The gist of the story:

This story originated from Zhuang Zhou borrowing grain, but Hou He, the supervisor, wrote a blank check until he got the money. Zhuangzi was furious and immediately told a fable to counter the supervisor.

This fable was later translated into an idiom: a lonely boat. Zhuangzi is good at reasoning through fables. This story is used to show that it is difficult to ask for help from others and the ruler is hypocritical.