medicine of immortality
Apr. 15th, 2009 02:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ximenstuff:
-Chu, a large and powerful warring state to the south. This story calls it by its old name of Jing.
-Mid-level archery official, one of those guys who hangs around court.
Someone offered up medicine of immortality to the king of Chu. The usher held it and brought it inside. The mid-level archery official asked him, "Can it be eaten?" and the usher said, "It can." Thus the mid-level archery official grabbed the medicine and ate it. The king was angry and dispatched someone to kill the official. The archery official dispatched someone to persuade the king and say, "Your vassal asked the usher, and the usher said, 'it can be eaten.' Your vassal therefore ate it. In this, I am guiltless, while the guilt lies with the usher. Furthermore, the guest offered up medicine of immortality. Since I ate it, and now the king wants to kill me, this is medicine of death. Your majesty will kill a guiltless vassal and thus make it clear that someone has tricked you." The king thus did not kill him.
-Chu, a large and powerful warring state to the south. This story calls it by its old name of Jing.
-Mid-level archery official, one of those guys who hangs around court.
Someone offered up medicine of immortality to the king of Chu. The usher held it and brought it inside. The mid-level archery official asked him, "Can it be eaten?" and the usher said, "It can." Thus the mid-level archery official grabbed the medicine and ate it. The king was angry and dispatched someone to kill the official. The archery official dispatched someone to persuade the king and say, "Your vassal asked the usher, and the usher said, 'it can be eaten.' Your vassal therefore ate it. In this, I am guiltless, while the guilt lies with the usher. Furthermore, the guest offered up medicine of immortality. Since I ate it, and now the king wants to kill me, this is medicine of death. Your majesty will kill a guiltless vassal and thus make it clear that someone has tricked you." The king thus did not kill him.
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 07:51 am (UTC)Here's story from recent political news, with a couple dramatic liberties taken with it and an ending tacked on that may or may not actually come to pass. Not quite parallel, but has the same self-fulfilling prophecy quality to it.
John Cornyn, whose job was to make the Republicans the dominant party in the Senate, came to the moderate Arlen Specter and offered him his endorsement, saying that with it Specter could survive any primary challenge. The Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele, was angered by this, for Steele had already sworn to support primary challengers against moderate Republicans. Steele therefore made preparations to bankroll a challenger against Specter. Specter came to Steele and said, "I asked John for his endorsement and he has given it to me. Since I took it, and now you want to primary me out of office, his endorsement was nothing but electoral poison. If you challenge me now you may lose a Republican seat and all will see how the Republican leadership is powerless to protect its own senators." Steele thus did not bankroll Specter's challenger.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-16 05:23 pm (UTC)