| Qin: Liars With beaming face, Huang-Ti at last sat on the porch of Lao-Tze's hut, the goal of some years' work. "On the way up the mountain, I saw a bird that couldn’t sing." "How do you know it couldn’t sing?" "I can talk to birds." "I see." "I also saw a flower that couldn’t bloom." "How do you know it couldn’t bloom." "I can talk to flowers." "I see." "Within sight of your house, I saw a man who couldn’t walk." "How do you know he couldn’t walk?" "His legs were horribly crippled." "You didn’t ask him?" "Actually, yes, I did, and he said he couldn’t walk." "Did you believe him?" "Yes." "Just as you believed the bird and the flower." "Yes." "Do you think the man was lying?" "No." "Do you think the bird and the flower were lying." "No. They can’t lie." Whereupon Lao-Tze got up and shook Haung-Ti’s hand. "Have a good trip back. There is no reason for you to stay here. My experience is that birds and flowers lie precisely as much as people do." Back to Qin
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