Everyone knows his shortcuts.
The Shortcut
A Zhuang knew the forest well.
He knew where the first mushrooms appeared after rain, which branch creaked beneath a monkey’s feet, and the quickest way to the great fig tree.
That morning, three friends wanted to reach the fig tree before the next shower.
“There’s a shortcut,” A Zhuang told them.
“A dry one?” asked the rabbit.
“It was dry yesterday.”
“That’s a useful beginning,” said the tortoise.
A small bird fluttered down onto a branch above them. “Is there room for all of us?”
“Of course,” said A Zhuang.
He adjusted the straps of his pack and led them into the trees. The rabbit hopped at his side. The tortoise followed at a steady pace, while the bird flew from branch to branch overhead.
The rain had stopped, but drops still fell from the leaves. One landed on A Zhuang’s nose. He wiped it away and looked up.
“Was that you?” he asked the bird.
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
A Very Small Puddle
They came to a fallen branch across the path. A Zhuang stepped over it. The rabbit jumped, and the bird flew across.
The tortoise stopped.
A Zhuang turned back. The tortoise was examining one end of the branch.
“I think I can go around,” she said.
They waited while she made her way between the branch and a clump of ferns. On the other side, she found the path again and continued without a word.
A little farther on, A Zhuang walked through a shallow patch of mud. When he reached the other side, he heard the rabbit call his name.
The rabbit stood at the edge of a wide puddle.
“Is this the shortcut?”
“Yes.”
“Does it go through the water?”
“Only a little.”
The rabbit pointed at A Zhuang’s footprints. They were filled with brown water.
“That depends on whose feet you’re measuring.”
A Zhuang looked at his own feet, then at the rabbit’s. The tortoise arrived beside her and stopped.
“I could walk through,” the tortoise said, “but I’m not sure what the ground is like underneath.”
The bird circled above the puddle.
“There are roots along the left side,” he called. “Some of them look dry.”
A Zhuang went back around the edge, testing the ground with one hand. At the first root, his fingers sank into soft mud.
“Not that one,” he said.
“Was that the dry part?” the rabbit asked.
“It looked dry from above,” said the bird.
“Then we’ve learned something from below,” said the tortoise.
Around the Roots
The bird landed on a low branch where he could see the whole puddle.
“The next root is wider,” he said.
A Zhuang pressed it gently. It held.
The rabbit hopped onto it, then stopped where the root disappeared beneath the water.
“There’s another one just ahead,” she said. “But it’s too far for the tortoise.”
The tortoise looked at the gap. “I can reach the stone between them.”
A Zhuang had not noticed the stone. Only its top showed above the mud.
He placed his hand on it. It did not move.
The rabbit crossed first. The tortoise followed, resting on the stone before stepping onto the second root. A Zhuang went last, after making sure the bird had found a branch beyond the puddle.
On the other side, the rabbit shook a drop of water from one foot.
“One wet foot,” she announced.
The tortoise looked down. “Four.”
A Zhuang lifted one hand. Mud covered his fingers.
“Five, if we count that,” said the bird.
“I’d rather we didn’t,” A Zhuang said.
They followed the roots until they rejoined the path. The fig tree stood ahead, its broad leaves moving in the breeze.
A Zhuang checked the sky through the branches. The clouds were still there, but the rain had not begun.
“We made it in time,” he said.
One More Turn
Several animals were already beneath the fig tree. They moved aside to make room as the four friends arrived.
“Did you take A Zhuang’s shortcut?” a young monkey asked.
“We did,” said the rabbit.
“With one more turn,” said the tortoise.
The bird hopped onto a low branch. “I found the roots.”
“I found the stone,” said the tortoise.
“And I found the puddle,” said the rabbit.
A Zhuang looked at her.
“You all walked past it,” she said. “Someone had to notice.”
The monkey leaned forward. “Is it a large puddle?”
“Very,” said the rabbit.
“Small,” said A Zhuang.
They looked at each other.
The monkey glanced from the rabbit’s feet to A Zhuang’s.
“Perhaps I’ll go and see.”
“Take the left side,” said the bird.
“And look for the stone,” said the tortoise.
The rabbit settled beneath a fig leaf. “If you reach the water, you’ve gone too far.”
A Zhuang took a cloth from his pack and cleaned the mud from his hand. Before he put the cloth away, the first drops of rain began to fall.
The rabbit held out her wet foot.
“Would you mind?”
A Zhuang wiped it carefully. Then the tortoise raised one foot, followed by another.
The bird looked down at his own feet.
“I stayed dry,” he said.
A drop fell from the branch onto his head.
The rabbit held out the cloth.
“Now you haven’t.”
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