A Parable

There was a man who studied the art of disappearing.
Before he had mastered the technique, he boasted to his wife:
" Tell me, can you see my body now? "
The wife laughed: " My eyes have not been taken by a ghost!
Your face is right in front of mine, just inches away;
it's not as though you're at the neighbor's or behind a fence!
Since you have a body, why shouldn't I be able to see it,
unless you were clever enough to pull off some trick! "
The man was outraged at his wife's frank words;
he kicked her, slapped her, and cursed her out.
Then he asked the same thing of his concubine, and she pretended to be amazed:
she looked all around behind her, then stared straight ahead.
Lying, she said, " Master, what art is this!
Your body is hidden away — I only hear your voice! "
The man, delighted, went to town, and stole something from a shop.
At first the shopkeeper was too startled to move — then he became furious,
and gave the man a worse beating than the man had given his wife,
screaming and cursing with a voice like a thunderclap.
As for the " master of invisibility, " he yelled too: " Go ahead, beat me up,
but if you want to see my body, you'll have a hard time! "
Now I once lived in the capital, where I became stuck-in-the-mud.
I was afraid to visit the ministers and high officials.
I was rejected, sent away — but still I didn't change . . .,
Until I escaped, and held my old fishing rod again.
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Author of original: 
Li K'ai-hsien
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