Elixir

NMH

13-02-2026

Generated by ChatGPT

Has anyone ever seen a kingfisher lying on its back on the grass? When a bird lies on its back, it’s usually dead. But there are exceptions.

One day, Zhuangzi sees Kingfisher lying on his back on the grass, yet his whole body still seems lively. He steps closer and sees Kingfisher’s eyes bulging, his beak unable to close. Kingfisher’s belly is swollen as if he has just swallowed an entire chicken egg. Of course, Kingfisher doesn’t eat chicken eggs. It’s a kingfisher, not a hawk!

Zhuangzi takes a small bottle from his pouch, pours out three tiny red pills, and slips them into Kingfisher’s throat. Then he drips a few drops of water into his beak. After a while, Kingfisher smacks his beak, then closes his eyes. He snores softly for half an hour. When he awakes, he looks at Zhuangzi with half-gratitude, half-admiration.

Kingfisher says, “People say Daoist elixirs are all-powerful. It seems that’s true. Master Zhuang has just pulled me back from the underworld. And now I feel fine—yet I don’t even know what illness I had!”

Zhuangzi replies, “You ate too much fish and got indigestion. It’s no illness. Just look at your belly!”

Kingfisher looks and sees that the belly has indeed flattened. Assuming it is thanks to the elixir, he asks: “What divine substance is your elixir, Master Zhuang?”

Zhuangzi laughs: “Nothing complicated. It’s made from the red fruit on that tree over there. Haven’t you perched on it all the time?”

Kingfisher looks and sees that it is indeed a familiar tree. Who would have thought it was a miraculous medicine?

[…]

A few days later, Zhuangzi again sees Kingfisher sprawl on the grass. But this time his belly is not swollen. Instead, his legs and wings are stretched out, his eyes tightly shut, his beak closed, yet he is making strange, twisted groaning sounds…

Zhuangzi understands. He takes out a green bottle, puts a few green pills into Kingfisher’s mouth, and again drips in a few drops of water.

Soon, Kingfisher stops groaning, draws his legs and wings back in, and fully regains consciousness.

Again, he asks about the elixir. Zhuangzi says, “The pills are nothing more than fish powder. The ripe red fruits you have eaten have fermented into alcohol, so you have become drunk. Fish powder cures drunkenness. That is all.”

Understanding this, Kingfisher wonders: “How did you always know in advance and have the elixir ready?”

Zhuangzi answers: “People nowadays, once they have a bit of wealth, keep falling into this. They overindulge, compete to eat all sorts of things, and bloat their stomachs over time—everywhere it’s the same. Then they pressure one another to drink to show sophistication. The whole crowd ends up dead drunk, vomiting into the gutters… It happens every day, everywhere. Nothing strange about it.”

Kingfisher nods and asks: “But why don’t you treat them instead of me?”

Zhuangzi says, “Both times you fell ill, it was out of ignorance. So, it will only happen once. Humans are very different. They know that overeating leads to indigestion, and they know that drinking leads to drunkenness. Yet because of vanity and rivalry, they keep repeating it again and again. That is self-destruction. The elixir can cure only those who want to live; it cannot save those who wish to die.”

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://books.google.com/books?id=N10jEQAAQBAJ

[2] Zhuang Zhou. (1964). Zhuangzi.

[3] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/