Quatre amics

Bissier 1960

"Zi Si, Zi Yu, Zi Li  i Zi Lai es van reunir per conversar dient: "Aquell que pot considerar el que no existeix com el seu cap, la seva vida com la seva columna vertebral i la mort com les seves natges, aquell que sap que la vida i la mort, la possessió i la pèrdua, formen part d'un mateix tot, és el nostre amic".

Tots quatre es van mirar i van riure. Van sentir una profunda intimitat entre ells al cor, i sabien que havien format una profunda amistat entre ells.

Un temps després, Zi Yu va emmalaltir i Zi Si va anar a veure com estava.

"Que notable! Això en què m'he convertit, que s'ha tornat tan inflexible i rígid!"

La seva esquena s'havia encorbat, els seus cinc òrgans vitals sobresortien cap a l'exterior, la barbeta estava sobre al melic, les espatlles eren més altes que la part superior del cap i els seus dits estaven corbats en ganxos que apuntaven cap al cel. Tot i que la seva energia vital semblava estar completament fora de joc, el seu cor estava calmat i no semblava preocupat. Es va arrossegar fins al pou, va mirar la seva imatge a l'aigua i va dir: "Uf! Mira aquesta cosa en què m'he convertit, tan inflexible i rígida".

Zi Si va preguntar: "Et sap greu?"

"De què serveix odiar el que m'han pres o el que m'han donat! Suposant que el meu braç esquerre s'anés convertint gradualment en un pollastre, llavors podria utilitzar-lo per saber quan és de nit i cantar anunciant l'alba. Suposant que el meu braç dret s'anés convertint gradualment en una ballesta, llavors podria utilitzar-lo per abatre un ocell per rostir-lo. Suposant que les meves natges es convertissin gradualment en rodes i el meu esperit en un cavall, llavors podria muntar-hi. Quina necessitat tindria de qualsevol altre mitjà de transport!

A més, tot el que es rep arriba en el moment oportú. T'has d'adaptar al que s'ha perdut. Acceptant amb calma i vivint en el compliment, llavors ni el dolor ni l'alegria poden envair-te. Això és el que els antics anomenaven "alliberament del lligam". Per a aquells que no poden trobar aquest alliberament, sempre hi haurà alguna cosa per posar-los en servitud. A més, els éssers vius no poden triomfar sobre allò que la natura ha fet que succeeixi des del principi dels temps. Quina raó podria trobar per a que em sabés greu!"

Un temps després, Zi Lai va emmalaltir, ofegant-se mentre s'apropava la mort. La seva dona i els seus fills estaven aplegats al seu voltant, sanglotant. Zi Li va anar a veure com estava i els va dir: "Vergonya a tots vosaltres! Allunyeu-vos d'ell! No li feu tenir por de la transformació. No mostreu tristesa, només està passant per canvis."

Aleshores es va recolzar al brancal de la porta i va dir al seu amic: "Que notable! Quins canvis que estàs experimentant! Què seràs després, en què et convertiràs? Et convertiràs en el fetge d'una rata, o en la pota d'un insecte?"

Zi Lai va dir: "Quan un pare i una mare produeixen un fill, l'est, l'oest, el sud i el nord convergeixen en un punt que marca el destí que ha de seguir. Quan aquestes múltiples energies dins d'una persona convergeixen, és dirigida per elles com si fossin el seu pare i la seva mare. Si m'han acostat a la mort i intento evitar-ho, estic sent temerari. El gran cúmul de terra (el món) es fa càrrec de la meva forma física, lluita per mantenir-me amb vida, em bressola en la meva vellesa i proporciona un lloc per descansar el meu cos després de la mort. Beneïda sigui la meva vida i beneïda sigui la meva mort!

Agafem el cas d'un gran ferrer ocupat a fondre metall. Si una porció d'aquest metall es separés de la resta i li digués: "Vull esdevenir una espasa cèlebre", el ferrer pensaria que aquella peça de metall era un mal auguri. De la mateixa manera, si un moribund digués: "Vull continuar essent un ésser humà", llavors la mare natura pensaria que aquesta persona era un mal auguri. De fet, el món és com un gran forn, i la mare natura és com un mestre ferrer, i ells fan les transformacions. Sigui quin sigui el resultat, n'hem d'estar contents. Tan naturalment com caiem en un somni profund, ens despertem de sobte".

Zhuangzi, del capítol 6 (versió de Raimon Ribera, a partir de la traducció a l'anglès de Nina Correa i al francès de Liou Kia-hway)

Versió anglesa de Nina Correa:

Zi Si (Great Sacrificial Attendant), Zi Yu (Great Charioteer), Zi Li (Great Plowman) and Zi Lai (Great Messenger) all came together to have a chat saying: "Who can consider what doesn't exist as his head, life as his spine and death as his buttocks? Whoever knows that life and death, surviving and perishing, are part of the same whole, I'd like to take them as a friend."

The four of them all looked at each other and laughed. They felt a profound intimacy with each other in their hearts, and they they knew they'd formed a deep friendship with each other.

Some time later, Zi Yu got sick. Zi Si went to see how he was doing.

"How remarkable! This thing I've been turned into, that's become so inflexible and stiff!"

His back had become curved and hunched, his five vital organs protruded to the outside, his chin was hidden in his bellybutton, his shoulders were higher than the top of his head, and his fingers were curved into hooks that pointed up to the sky. Even though his vital energy seemed to be completely out of whack, his heart was clear and he didn't seem concerned. He dragged himself over to the well, looked at his image in the water and said:

"Ugh! Look at this thing I've been turned into, and how inflexible and stiff it is."

Zi Si asked: "Do you hate it?"

"What's the point in hating what's been taken away or what's been given to me! Supposing my left arm gradually turned into a chicken - then I could use it to tell when it was nighttime. Supposing my right arm gradually turned into a crossbow - then I could use it to shoot down a bird to roast. Supposing my buttocks gradually turned into a wheel and my spirit into a horse - then I could ride on it. What need would I have for any other means of transportation!

"Furthermore, whatever is received comes at the right time. Whatever has been lost must be adapted to. Calmly accepting and dwelling in compliance, then neither grief nor joy would be able to creep in. This is what's been called being released from bondage, and for those who can't find a release, there will always be something to put them into bondage. Besides, living things can't be victorious over what Nature has been causing to occur since the beginning of time. What reason could I find for hatred!"

Some time later, Zi Lai became ill, panting and gasping while near death. His wife and children were grouped around him sobbing. Zi Li went to see how he was doing and said to them: "Shame on you! Get away from him! Don't show sadness - he's merely going through changes."

He then leaned against the door jamb and said to his friend: "How remarkable! The changes you're experiencing! What will you become next - what will you turn into? Will you become a rat's liver? Will you become an insect's arm?"

Zi Lai said: "When a father and mother produce a child, east, west, south and north converge at a point that sets the destiny he must follow. When those multiple energies within a person converge, he's directed by them as though they were his father and mother. They've brought me close to death, and if I try to prevent it then I'm being foolhardy. How silly to look at this as some sort of crime that's been committed! The great clump of earth (the world) is loaded down with my physical form, struggles to keep me alive, cradles me in my old age, and provides a place to rest my body after I die. Therefore, that which is good at keeping me alive will also be good at providing a place for me to die. Now if a great blacksmith was pounding some metal, and the metal jumped up at him and said: 'I absolutely must be made into Mo Ye (a famous ancient Chinese double edged sword)', the blacksmith would think that piece of metal was an ill omen. Now, if I were ever to try to go against the shape my form has taken and say: 'Make me a whole person, nothing but a whole person', then Mother Nature would think that this person was an ill omen. Now, if the universe is like one great big oven, and Mother Nature is like a master blacksmith, where is it that we shouldn't go? As naturally as we fall into a sound sleep, we just as naturally suddenly wake up."