3 bananas in the Morning and 4 in the Afternoon. Zhuangzi told this story to his disciples to make a point. Once a zookeeper said to his monkeys: "You'll get 3 bananas in the Morning and 4 in the afternoon." All monkeys are upset. "OK. How about 4 bananas in Morning and 3 in the afternoon?" Hearing this, the monkeys are content. One should realize that sometimes a change in phrasing does not represent a real change. ZhuangZi (369?-286? b.c.) Chinese text | Story Page | Classics Page