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"Once upon
a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither
and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious
only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I
awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether
I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly,
dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily
a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material
things."
Excerpt of the translation of
On Levelling All Things from Chuang-tzu by Lin Yutang
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