# ID this fable/koan/folktale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838 "2015-04-29T20:17:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/1 "2015-04-29T20:17:05Z")
I recently encountered a story that may or may not be original. Even if it’s not, that’s fine, but I’m interested to see if anyone else has encountered it before. Roughly, it goes like this: A seed wants to grow. A fox offers to take it to a good spot to grow in, but then gets hungry and drops the seed. The wind offers to blow it to a good spot, but then gets distracted and drops the seed. A stream offers to move it to a good spot, but then, I dunno, pursues another branch or something, and leaves it high and dry. Finally an oak tree notices the seed and tells it to stop moving around already. The seed stays where it is and grows into a beautiful tree. Does this sound remotely familiar to anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/2 "2015-04-29T20:43:50Z")
Sounds very Japanese, along the lines of “the nail that sticks out is the one that gets hammered down.” ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/3 "2015-04-29T20:46:31Z")
Sounds a little like the tale of the stonecutter. I couldn’t find exactly the story you talk about but I would look at Zen stories as a good starting place. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/4 "2015-04-30T02:06:20Z")
Interesting. The story was written in about 20 minutes by a kid, with much better structure and prose than my example above. In talking with her mom, we realized she’d been hanging around a Buddhist monk for a bit, and maybe either was adapting a story she’d heard there or was just telling an original story with a fairly Buddhist flavor to it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/5 "2015-04-30T02:13:12Z")
It’s an interesting illustration of one of my favorite expressions: Don’t just do something, stand there! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/6 "2015-04-30T17:45:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Interesting. The story was written in about 20 minutes by a kid, with much better structure and prose than my example above. In talking with her mom, we realized she’d been hanging around a Buddhist monk for a bit, and maybe either was adapting a story she’d heard there or was just telling an original story with a fairly Buddhist flavor to it. Well an oak isn’t an East Asian tree, I don’t believe. So if she lifted a story from Buddhism, she seems to have done at least some modification. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/7 "2015-04-30T18:57:31Z")
It’s a stretch, but maybe the kid recently read [this little science book (PDF)](http://alphaliteracy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/AlphaWorld-L7-TE-Seeds-On-Move.pdf) and melded it with some Buddhist concepts? It has a similar structure: seeds move by animals, wind, and water, and the book closes with “When the seeds stop moving, they can start growing.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/8 "2015-04-30T19:18:52Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Well an oak isn’t an East Asian tree, I don’t believe. So if she lifted a story from Buddhism, she seems to have done at least some modification. From [Wikipedia’s entry on oak trees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak): “The second greatest center of oak diversity is China, which contains approximately 100 species.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/9 "2015-04-30T19:25:01Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > From [Wikipedia’s entry on oak trees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak): > > “The second greatest center of oak diversity is China, which contains approximately 100 species.” Well I suppose it’s not as monumental as changing my stance on economics or politics, but my beliefs have now been changed by the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/10 "2015-04-30T19:56:57Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Interesting. The story was written in about 20 minutes by a kid, with much better structure and prose than my example above. In talking with her mom, we realized she’d been hanging around a Buddhist monk for a bit, and maybe either was adapting a story she’d heard there or was just telling an original story with a fairly Buddhist flavor to it. Nice! **Amateur Barbarian** - I couldn’t disagree more; it doesn’t appear to advocate conformity with the group. It reminds me of a piece of advice a mentor of mine gave me: “Quit trying to be what you already are.” Be patient; find your own voice. Smart kid. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/11 "2015-04-30T21:02:52Z")
The fox accidentally swallows the seed. The seed is tortured as it passes through acid and bile, finally being deposited in a pile of waste. Which is exactly what it needs to grow into a big tree. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-fable-koan-folktale/718838/12 "2015-05-01T10:37:09Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > It’s a stretch, but maybe the kid recently read [this little science book (PDF)](http://alphaliteracy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/AlphaWorld-L7-TE-Seeds-On-Move.pdf) and melded it with some Buddhist concepts? It has a similar structure: seeds move by animals, wind, and water, and the book closes with “When the seeds stop moving, they can start growing.” That’s very interesting! I doubt she read that book recently–she’s likelier to be reading Harry Potter or Hunger Games–but she may have read it or something similar in the past and have been thinking about it.