Chinese Fables
Selected and Retold by Mary W. Ng
The Formula
From Zhuang Zi
In the State of Song there was once a launderer who was skilled in making a protective cream that helped to prevent chilblains. His family had been launderers for generations.
When a customer heard about the protective cream, he made an attractive offer to buy the formula. The launderer gathered his family together and said, “We have been launderers for generations, yet we barely manage to eke out a living for ourselves. If we sell this formula, we will be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. Let us sell it.”
The customer bought the formula and presented himself before the Prince of Wu. It so happened that the State of Yue was sending troops to invade the State of Wu. The Prince told the man to make protective cream for his army.
It was winter. The two armies fought on the river. With the help of the protective cream, the Wu army did not have chilblains and handily defeated the Yue army.
After the war, the man received land as a reward for his services.
For the man who made good use of the formula, his fortune took a turn for the better. For the man who merely used the formula to make a protective cream for his own use, he remained a launderer for life. One’s fortune depends on how well one makes use of what one has.