A king who loves cockfighting gave a cock to a famous fighting cock trainer and asked him for training it. After ten days, the king asked, “Is the cock ready?” The trainer replied, “He has a long way to go. He’s too fierce and arrogant that he believes he’s the best.” The king waited ten more days and asked the same question. He replied, “Not quite yet. He threw away arrogance, but he reacts too sensitively to the sounds and shadow of the opponent.” After ten more days, he said to the king who inquired again, “He is no longer reliant on temper, but he still glares at the opponent with too much fight spirit.” After ten more days, the king asked again. The trainer finally replied, “He is almost ready. Even when he hears his opponent crowing, he shows no excitement but keeps calm. His qualities are complete just like a cock made of wood.”
This is a story from Chuang Tzu’s Mastering Life. A fighting cock that reached the highest level is compared to a cock made of wood. He is not arrogant without reacting sensitively to his opponent, and has gentle eyes. He looks far from the appearance of general fighting cocks, but no cocks were his match as they ran away on seeing him. No matter how people around you provoke you, if you tolerate and treat them with generosity and peaceful mind, you are truly a real winner.