EP.13 - THE KUNG-FU LESSON

Our little yellow pal couldn’t stop complaining about how sick he was of ending in the bathtub every single time so Blake, is corvine rubber bro, decided (as a Christmas present) to introduce him to Quack-Quack Sensei and pay for a kung-fu lesson, in order to improve Yellow’s skills.

Quack-Quack Sensei was a very strict teacher.  Legend was he’d never smiled, not even when he’d been a baby duck. Some people said he was born in a storm and with his very first cry he’s stopped it.

Every word coming out of his beak was wise, he could kill with his eyebrow, enemies melted in front of him: he was the almighty Quack-Quack Sensei.

Yellow quickly explained his problem.

“One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it[1]” the great master replied “You have to endure and improve yourself in every aspect because that stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind[2] and you must know in your heart that failure is the key to success: each mistake  teaches us something[3]”

Somewhere between the bamboo, the willow, the birch , the elm, the juniper and the rosemary, Yellow fell asleep. He’d been supervising the rehearsal for the Christmas play all night and he was really tired.  Quack-Quack Sensei’s voice was steady and pleasing, it was just like a lullaby in his rubber ears.

At one point he opened his eyes and the Quack-Quack Sensei was looking at him in anger. No one had never dared sleep in his presence. The master eyes were gloving with fire and Yellow was a bit scared. He’d seen all Bruce Lee movie though, he knew kung-fu.

The master scoffed “I was paid for a lesson and I’m a duck of my word my little kohai Yellow. Since the best teachers are  those who show you where to look but don’t tell what to see,[4] here’s my lesson: Your mind is like the water” and while saying it Quack-Quack Sensei threw Yellow into the almost empty bathtub “when it is agitated it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle the answer become clear.[5] ”

Yellow was wondering what was the question to the answer in the bottom of the bathtub but for once he stayed quiet.

And, just for the record, there was nothing written in the bathtub. He’d probably missed a joke.

Bottom line: if it’s written in the sand or in the bottom of a bathtub or wherever there is water, don’t bother search for answers. Water always washes them off.

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[1] Maestro tartaruga

[2] Bruce Lee

[3] Morihei Ueshiba

[4] smw in the web

[5] Master Oogway