But the problem was to find out where the great sage lived, or to meet someone who had gone to the great sage’s house, returned and had had the presence of mind to map out the road. He chose the second option, walked a long way, and met someone who had gone, seen the great sage, returned and had the presence of mind to make a plan of the road. And because he had seen the great sage, he was generous, and so gave him the plan. The young man then set out to see the great sage.
He walks for a long time and comes to a forest. When he got to the forest, what did he see? He sees a lion, and he gets scared. The lion said to him: “Don’t be afraid, I won’t eat you, I assure you, I won’t eat you. Look at me, I haven’t eaten in six months.
He looked at the lion and, yes, the lion was very thin, but he remembered some proverbs. There’s one that says, for example, that “when you tie the goat to the grass or when you tie the grass to the goat, it’s the grass that’s always eaten”. A man may be strong, but he’s small in front of a lion. The lion said to him: “But I assure you I won’t eat you…”.
He finally said to the lion, “Oh, so you lions have problems, then?”
The lion replies: “Everything that lives has problems. And since animals live, animals have problems too.” So the young man says: “That’s good, because I’m going to see the great sage to ask him where my luck is; I can ask the great sage what you need to do to regain your appetite.”
The lion: “Would you do that for me?”
He: “Of course, I’ll do it for you, because, since I’ll be staying with the great sage, it won’t cost me anything.”
The lion said to him, “I’ll wait for you here.” The lion sat down and the young man continued on his way.
As he was tired, he sat down in the shade of a tree and leaned against it. No sooner had he leaned against it than the tree said to him: “Hey, oh! Don’t lean against me like that, you’ll make me fall!”
The young man looks at the tree and replies, “But you’re such a strong tree!”
But the tree says: “I look solid. You human beings are so deceived by appearance. Take a good look at my leaves. If you had looked, you’d have seen that I’m sick.”
He looks at the leaves on the tree and says: “Oh, so you trees have problems too.
The tree told him, “Everything that lives has problems, and as plants live, plants have problems too.”
“That’s good timing,” replies the young man, “I’m going to see the great sage to ask him where my luck lies; I can ask the great sage what you need to do to get well.”
Tree: “Would you do that for me?”
“Of course I’ll do that for you since it won’t cost me anything.”
The tree said, “I’ll wait for you here; in any case, I have no choice.”
The young man continued on his way. He came to a cave. He hears sobbing in the cave, and there he sees a very pretty woman, extremely pretty. He says to her: “But how can such a pretty woman be as sad as you are?”
She replies, “I’m pretty, but I’m lonely.
“Oh really, you’re lonely and sad?”
She: “Yes, the proof.”
He: “That’s good, I’m going to see the great sage to ask him where my luck lies; I can ask the great sage what you need to do to be happy.”
The woman: “Would you do that for me?”
He: “Of course I’ll do it for you since it won’t cost me anything.”
He continued on his way, and when he arrived at the wise man’s house, he knocked on the door. The wise man was asleep. Yes, you laugh, but when you see what’s happening on Earth, sometimes you think he’s even sleeping a deep sleep.
And the great sage finally wakes up: “Hello there, what do you want?”
“I came to seek my luck, but on the road I met a lion who had no appetite, then I saw a tree that was sick, then a woman who was lonely and sad.”
The great sage replies: “We’ll start with the woman. You tell the woman that if she wants to be happy, all she has to do is marry the first man she meets: she’ll be very, very happy, and the man will be very, very happy.
And you will tell the tree that it is someone who has buried a box full of gold under its roots, and that it is this box of gold that is preventing it from feeding: if you remove the box, it will feed itself and heal.
And you tell the lion that all he has to do to regain his appetite is to eat the first idiot he meets: then he’ll regain his appetite.”
So the young man asks the great sage, “But what about me, what are you telling me?”
The great sage: “But for you, it’s even simpler, just run, your chance is right in front of you.”
Then he began to run: “My chance is before me, my chance is before me, my chance is before me!”
He arrived at the woman’s side. The woman said to him: “So, you’ve seen the great sage?” He replies, “All you have to do is marry the first man you meet, you’ll be very happy and the man will be very happy.” The woman: “You’re the first man I meet, we’ll just have to get married together.” But he: “No, my chance is ahead of me…”
“My chance is before me, my chance is before me, my chance is before me!”
He runs, and comes to the tree.
The tree says to him, “So, you’ve met the great sage?”
“Yes. It’s someone who buried a crate full of gold in your roots; this crate of gold is preventing you from feeding yourself, all we have to do is remove the crate and you’ll feed yourself and heal.” The tree said, “But remove the box and keep it with its contents.”
“You think I’m crazy? When my chance is right in front of me? I’ve got no time to lose!”
“My chance is in front of me! My chance is in front of me! My chance is in front of me! My chance is before me!”
And he came to the lion. The lion said to him: “So, you’ve seen the great sage?” “Yes, I saw the great sage, but it’s going to be more complicated for you.
The lion: “Is it going to be complicated for me? Why is it going to be complicated?”
“The great sage said that all you have to do is eat the first idiot you meet and you’ll regain your appetite, but where are you going to meet this idiot?…”
And the lion regained his appetite by eating it.
That’s why we’d be wise to learn to seize the opportunities that are right in front of our eyes; sometimes we overlook them and look for them further afield, and then fall into the jaws of lions.