But do you know the story?
Mr. Chabuduo’s appearance resembled yours and mine. He had two eyes - but did not see things very clearly. He had two ears - but they didn't listen very well. He had a nose and a mouth, but did not distinguish much between different smells and tastes. His head wasn't particularly small - however - his memory wasn't very good.
The time came when Mr. Chabuduo suddenly became very sick. He hurriedly asked his family to go get Dr. Wong who lived on East Street. A family member ran off for a short while looking for this Dr. Wong, but got confused in the excitement and ended up on West Street where he happened to find Dr. Wong the veterinarian.
Since, after all, the doctor's name was "Wong" and it was necessary to find somebody with a medical background back to deal with this emergency, Dr. Wong the veterinarian was persuaded to make a house call at the Chabuduo residence.
Mr. Chabuduo – was now so ill that he could not get out of bed – knew that his family had fetched the wrong Dr. Wong. Nevertheless, since his condition had become so desperate, his pain so great, and his heart so anxious for relief, Chabuduo said to himself, "Luckily this Dr. Wong the veterinarian is "chabuduo" the same as Dr. Wong the M.D. – I might as well let him take a look at me."
At this point, Dr. Wong the veterinarian, knowing that there was little time left to try anything else, approached the bed and attempted to cure his patient with the same methods used to treat sick cattle.
As Mr. Chabuduo was dying, he uttered in an uneven breath, "The living and the dead are cha.. cha... buduo – just about the same – so everything will be fine. Why... be... so serious?"
After these final words, he took his last gasp of air.
After his death, people began to praise Mr. Chabuduo for his outlook on life and his capability of reasoning with himself despite the circumstances. It was declared that the equanimity that he displayed in the face of death was due to his not being overly conscientious nor hung up on details such as balancing books and settling accounts. Because he never made a fuss about things being exactly right, he was considered a model of morality and virtue.
Dr Hu Shih penned this essay in 1924 as a protest against adopting mediocrity as an institutional idea. He moved to Taiwan and died in 1962. - michaeledits.com
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