The Stone Cutter.

So, the parable I promised. It's Taoist, rather than Confuscianist. Suits me.

Once, in a mountainous area of China, a lowly stone cutter hacked away at the hard rock. Shards of jagged stone spat off his chisel, stinging his skin. He rested and said

“I tire of being a stone cutter. I have no power or influence. I am poor, my hands are sore, my arms hurt and my back aches. If only I could have a little more comfort in my life.”

No sooner had he said this than a tax collector rode by.

“I would like to be a tax collector,” said the stone cutter. “He has plenty of money and power, and people respect him. He has an easy life.”

His wish was granted and he became a tax collector. He rode around the countryside collecting money from the peasants, and took it to the Governor of the province. He was tired after his long day and envied the Governor who was relaxing in his garden.

“I wish I could be a Governor,” said the tax collector. “He doesn’t have to spend long, hard days collecting money from people who hate him. People bow to him, and look up to him. He has an easy life.”

And so he became the Governor of a province.

He sat in his garden being waited on by servants; but he was uncomfortable. The sun was hot and burned his skin. He looked at the sky through half closed eyes.

“Being a Governor is not perfect,” he said. “I wish I could be the sun, for everything and everybody is subject to the sun. The sun is truly powerful.”

He became the sun, and looked down on the earth and the small people who toiled in the heat. After a while a cloud drifted by and blocked his view.

“Surely,” he said, “the cloud is more powerful than me, for it can block out my light and hide things from me. I wish I were a cloud.”

He became a cloud, and drifted serenely around the sky until he reached a mountain where he stopped. Despite his best efforts to move on, he was held firmly on top of the mountain.

“It seems I am not so powerful,” said the cloud. “This mountain has the means to stop my progress, and so it must be greater than me. I wish I were a mountain.”

In an instant he became a mountain.

“Now I am the largest and hardest thing in the world,” he said. “Surely, I am the most powerful.”

But then he heard a chipping sound, and felt his very foundation being hacked away. Being a mountain, he was unable to move. He looked down to see a lowly stone cutter with a hammer and chisel.