Gems of Chinese Literature/Chuang Tzŭ-The Death of Chuang Tzŭ's Wife
When Chuang Tzŭ's wife died, Hui Tzŭ went to condole. He found the widower sitting on the ground, singing, with his legs spread out at a right angle, and beating time on a bowl.
“To live with your wife,” exclaimed Hui Tzŭ, “and see your eldest son grow to be a man, and then not to shed a tear over her corpse,―this would be bad enough. But to drum on a bowl, and sing; surely this is going too far.”
“Not at all,” replied Chuang Tzŭ. “When she died, I could not help being affected by her death. Soon, however, I remembered that she had already existed in a previous state before birth, without form, or even substance; that while in that unconditioned condition, substance was added to spirit; that this substance then assumed form; and that the next stage was birth. And now, by virtue of a further change, she is dead, passing from one phase to another like the sequence of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. And while she is thus lying asleep in Eternity, for me to go about weeping and wailing would be to proclaim myself ignorant of these natural laws. Therefore I refrain.”