A very alchemical tale with a commentary from Benjamin Hoff’s The Tao of Pooh
“In the state of Chu, a thief became a soldier under General Wu Tzu-fa, a man renowned for his remarkable ability to make use of other people’s capacities. After some time, Chu was attacked by the army of Qi. In response, Wu Tzu-fa’s men rushed to attack, but they were repelled three times.
While the strategists of Chu were wondering what to do, the enemy’s forces kept growing. At that moment, the thief stepped forward and asked to be given the chance to do something for the defense of Chu. The general accepted his request.
At night, the thief slipped into the camp of Qi, entered the general’s tent, and unhooked the curtains of his bed. In the morning, Wu Tzu-fa sent them back by special messenger with a note explaining that they had been found by some people who were gathering firewood.
The next day, the thief took the general of Qi’s pillow. In the morning, it too was returned with a note similar to the first.
On the third night, the thief stole the general’s jade hairpin. In the morning, it was returned.
That day, the general of Qi gathered his officers and warned them: ‘Next night they will take my head!’ The army was ordered to break camp and return home.
So there is no skill that is too useless, too improper, or too insignificant. It depends on what you do with it…
The bad can be the raw material for the good. Sometimes you will find that certain traits you stubbornly try to eliminate later return in some form. But if you do the right things, they will return in the right way. And sometimes precisely those tendencies you hate the most can reveal themselves in their true light and somehow save your life.”
*Translation from Bulgarian
