Zen Parable
A man walking across a field encounters a
tiger. He fled, with the tiger chasing after him. Coming to a
cliff, he caught hold of a wild
vine and swung himself over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Terrified, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger had come, waiting to eat him. Two
mice, one white and one black, little by little began to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious
strawberry near him. Grasping the vine in one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!