Tian Qi was holding a feast for a thousand guests. Fish and geese were being served at the head table. Tian looked at the fare and sighed as he said,
“Heaven is so indulgent to humans! For our use it generated the five grains and gave birth to the fish and fowl!”
The guests all responded their echoing approval. But a Mr. Bao’s twelve year-old son stepped forward from the group and said,
“Sir, what you say is mistaken; all the kinds of beings of heaven and earth are the same as humans. No species is intrinsically precious or mean. It is simply a matter of size, cunning, or strength that lets one dominate the others, that lets one eat the others.
It is not that one particular being is born designated for another’s use. Humans catch what is suitable to eat, and eat it. But can we take that to mean that heaven created them specifically for man’s benefit?
On the other hand, mosquitoes and gnats bit his skin; tigers and wolves eat his flesh. But we don’t assume that heaven created man for the good of the mosquitoes and gnats or to provide meat for the tigers and wolves.”
齊田氏祖于庭，食客千人。中坐有獻魚雁者。田氏視之，乃
