Tisoč zlatnikov za pozneje

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Tisoč zlatnikov za pozneje

He was so poor that he had nothing to eat that day. Now, a man named Kan Atō lived next door, and Zhuangzi went to him to ask for enough millet for the day’s meal. Atō said, “Come back in five days. I am to receive a thousand pieces of gold, and I shall give them to you. How could I offer a person of your standing a mere handful of millet, enough for only today? It would be a disgrace to me in every way.” Zhuangzi replied, “Yesterday, as I was walking along the road, I heard a voice calling behind me. I turned, but there was no one there. There was only a crucian carp floundering in a little water that had collected in the hollow of a cart rut. Wondering what sort of fish it could be, I went closer and saw an enormous carp in that tiny puddle. ‘What manner of carp are you?’ I asked. The carp said, ‘I am a messenger of the River God, on my way to the rivers and lakes. I mistimed a leap and fell into this rut. I am dying of thirst. I called out in the hope that you would save me.’ I answered, ‘In two or three days I am going on an excursion to a place called Kōkomoto. I shall take you there and release you.’ But the fish said, ‘I cannot possibly wait until then. Just bring me a pitcherful of water today to moisten my throat.’ And so I saved it. Now I know for myself what that carp meant. Unless I eat something today, I cannot live. A thousand pieces of gold later will be of no use at all.” From this, the saying “a thousand gold pieces later” became well known.