him to this pass?―some statesman who plunged his country in ruin and perished in the fray?―some wretch who left behind him a legacy of shame?―some beggar who died in the pangs of hunger and cold? Or didst thou reach this state by the natural course of old age?”
When he had finished speaking, he took the skull, and placing it under his head as a pillow, went to sleep. In the night, he dreamt that the skull appeared to him and said, “You speak well, sir; but all you say has reference to the life of mortals, and to mortal troubles. In death there are none of these. Would you like to hear about death?”
Chuang Tzŭ having replied in the affirmative, the skull began:―“In death, there is no sovereign above, and no subject below. The workings of the four seasons are unknown. Our existences are bounded only by eternity. The happiness of a king among men cannot exceed that which we enjoy.”
Chuang Tzŭ, however, was not convinced, and said, “Were I to prevail upon God to allow your body to be born again, and your bones and flesh to be renewed, so that you could return to your parents, to your wife, and to the friends of your youth, would you be willing?”
At this, the skull opened its eyes wide and knitted its brows and said, “How should I cast aside happiness greater than that of a king, and mingle once again in the toils and troubles of mortality?”[1]
IV.
Life is a state which follows upon Death. Death is a state which precedes Life. Which of us understands the laws that govern their succession?
The life of man is the resultant of forces. The aggregation of those forces is life: their dispersion, death. If, then, Life and Death are but consecutive states of existence, what cause for sorrow have I?
And so it is that all things are but phases of unity. What men delight in is the spiritual essence of life. What they loathe is
- ↑ Reminding us strangely of Hamlet.
