To the cockroach - The Snake Renter

The Snake Renter, is loosely written in response to the teachings of yu dan on zhuang zi. Bought a set of 5 vcd that was on sale ($15) that featured 10 half hour lectures, on taoist philosophy. I figured I'd never get down to reading it, and the internet doesn't say much. and even when I'm going to read, i need to read in english, and when zhuangzi was in mandarin, it's actually nicer to understand it by the mandarin language first hand...etc. it was a good purchase.

The snake renter is inspired by what yu dan said about this zen teaching:

(禅宗有这样一句话，叫做)“眼内有尘三界窄，心头无事一床宽”。眼睛里要是有事，心中就有事，人就会看得“三界窄”。三界是什么？前生，此际，来世。只要你眼里的事化不开，心里成天牵挂着，你就会把前生来世、上辈子下辈子都抵押进去。但是，如果你胸怀开朗，心头无事，用不着拥有多大的地盘，坐在自 家的床上，你都会觉得天地无比宽阔。

Which translates loosely like this:
眼 eye 内 inside 有 have 尘 dust 三 three 界 world (lives) 窄 narrow，
心 heart 头 head 无 no have 事 things 一 one 床 bed 宽 wide.
If you have a little thing bothering you, then even the three lives (past life, present life, future life) will seem narrow. If you have no care in your heart, then even the bed will be wide to you.

Then one recent night, i lost sleep because before I slept, I saw a baby cockroach at the foot of my bed. I tried to catch it with a box, but it was too fast for the little box and my clumsy frantic incompetent self.

Snake renter because renter means:

rent·er (rntr)

n.

1. One that receives payment in exchange for the use of one's property by another.

2. One that pays rent for the use of another's property; a tenant.

He is one that receives payment - for the cockroach's money and the woman's company.
But he pays rent too - to the woman by being her food. And that he dies - he never owned the cave - he was also renting it.

I don't think it's because the snake is stupid, but he was just acting according to his nature/character (as a personality not the attributed stereotyped characteristics of a snake), as was the cockroach, as was the woman. And the story developed in this way because nature took its course.

I dedicate this story to the cockroach that was under my bed, and as is in my nature/character, I wish for it to be gone by yesterday!