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Watching them calls to mind the ancient Chancellor Li Si, and his famous parable of the rats: one starving in a filthy latrine, the other feasting fearlessly in a granary. Chasing that granary, he climbed to the very pinnacle of the empire, only to be executed by the Second Emperor. In his final moments, he wept, wishing only that he could lead his hunting dog out the eastern gates of his hometown one last time. Had Li Si seen the squirrels of West Lake, he surely would have traded his courtly robes for the life of a modestly wealthy man, living quietly among the lakes and mountains. Yet, wealth must have its limits. When a squirrel grows too fat, it loses its lightning grace and becomes an easy mark for the circling falcon. For all his brilliance, Li Si failed to recognize his own heavy burden until the talons had already struck.