涸辙之鲋 — “Fish in a dry rut”

Zhuangzi, deeply engrossed in his writings, neglected daily production, leading his family to poverty and frequent hunger. One day, with nothing left to eat, he reluctantly went to the supervisor of the river, Jianhe Hou, to borrow grain.

Jianhe Hou, a usually stingy man, surprisingly agreed to help the esteemed Zhuangzi. However, he added, 'Of course I can lend you grain, but I'll have to wait until I've collected the taxes from the common folk. Does that work for you?'

Zhuangzi was furious that Jianhe Hou wouldn't provide immediate assistance. Annoyed, he told Jianhe Hou, 'Yesterday, as I was walking a long distance from my home, I suddenly heard cries for help. I immediately followed the sound and found a small fish lying in a dry cart rut, calling out for rescue.'

Zhuangzi sighed and continued, 'It looked at me as if I were its savior, pleading for help. I quickly asked, 'Little fish, how did you end up here?' The fish replied, 'I used to live in the East Sea, but today, unfortunately, I've fallen into this cart rut and am about to dry out and die. Please, just give me a sheng or a dou of water to save my life!''

Jianhe Hou listened and asked if Zhuangzi had given the fish any water. Zhuangzi said coldly, 'I told it, 'Alright, when I travel south, I will persuade the kings of Wu and Yue to divert water from the West River to save you, so you can joyfully swim back to the East Sea with the river water. How does that sound?''

Jianhe Hou was dumbfounded, finding Zhuangzi's proposed solution absurd. He exclaimed, 'How can that possibly work?'

'Indeed,' Zhuangzi replied, 'the carp widened its eyes in anger and indignantly said, 'I have lost my life-giving water and cannot survive. I just need a sheng or a dou of water right now to live. If I wait for you to bring water from the West River, I will have long been dead here. By then, you'll only find me in a dried fish shop!''