Zhuang Zi slept with a skull1 as his pillow. In midnight, he dreamt that the skull old him how happy it was after death.

　　The skull said, "After death, there is no emperor or liege（臣民） any longer, and it saves you a lot of trouble. There is no hard work in summers and winters any longer. You are free and easy, and can live as long as the heaven and earth do, even if you were the emperor, your pleasure wouldn't exceed this," Zhuang Zi did not believe this and said he hoped that the skull could come to life again, and go back to his parents and wife and friends.

　　The skull frowned melancholy2（憂郁的） and said, "How could I leave behind the imperially happy life here and go back to the painful life on earth?"

　　莊子枕著髑髏入眠，半夜夢(mèng)見(jiàn)骷髏對(duì)自己講述死后的快樂(lè)。

　　“人死后，上面沒(méi)有君主，下面沒(méi)有臣仆，少了不少麻煩，更沒(méi)有春夏秋冬四時(shí)的種種勞苦，從容自在，并且能像天地那樣長(zhǎng)壽，即使身為帝王，快樂(lè)也不能超過(guò)這啊。”莊子不相信這些話，說(shuō)希望他死而更生，回到他過(guò)去的父母妻子鄰居和朋友身邊去。

　　骷髏卻憂愁地皺著眉頭說(shuō)：“我怎能拋棄帝王一般的快樂(lè)生活，再去忍受人世的艱難苦痛呢？”