魚與熊掌 - Fish And Bear's Paw

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I brought my family for a tour in Hong Kong last November - my second Hong Kong trip. As would any goldfish fanatic, I looked forward to visiting the Goldfish Pagoda and Tung Choi Street (Goldfish Street) again.

It was a great disappointment to find out that the Goldfish Pagoda was demolished to make way for an elaborate panda display! Why can't the goldfish co-exist with the panda? I could only think of how coincidentally it gels with the Chinese idiom: 魚與熊掌不可兼得 (fish and bear's paw, you can have either one but not both#).

Luckily, Tung Choi Street was still as vibrant as ever. I went there almost everyday even though my hotel was quite a distance away :) You can revisit the Goldfish Pagoda and Tung Choi Street in the Vermillion Goldfish Club website.


#"Fish and Bear's Paw" equivalent to the English idiom: "One can't have one's cake and eat it too."

The Chinese philosopher Mencius mapped virtue to an analogy of fish and bear's paw: I love fish and bear's paw; If I cannot have both I'll forgo fish for bear's paw. I love life and righteousness; If I cannot have both I'll forgo life for righteousness.

孟子曾借「魚與熊掌」為喻:魚和熊掌都是美食，但在不能同時得到的時候，我們會放棄魚而取更難得的熊掌；孟子借此以喻，生和義都是重要的，但在不能同時得到的時候，我們會放棄性命而取更可貴的義。

PS: I am not advocating bear or goldfish for dinner :)