Post 46 To have sympathy with people of the same fate
Long time ago, an old man saw a fox weeping in a jungle and asked why he cried. The fox answered by saying that his friend, the hare, was killed by a hunter. In between sobs, the fox said that the next to be hunted down would be him. How could he not feel sad? The old man then sighed and said that fellow sufferers would surely commiserate with each other.
Hares are not carnivores or flesh-eating animals; foxes are. When hares die, foxes will have meat to eat. Why then should foxes grieve when hares die? The fact is that both hares and foxes are hunting targets of human beings. So when hares die, foxes will become the next target for hunters. There is every reason for foxes to feel anxious. However, no matter whether hares and foxes are enemies or friends, they cannot escape the fate of being chased and hunted.
This Chinese idiom is therefore used to show that when a person of the same fate dies, the others will worry about the imminent danger or misfortune befalling them.
Self-pity came so naturally for the fox.
18 May 2010
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