Shuo Shan Xun (Teachings on Discoursing on Mountains)

魄問於魂曰：「道何以為體？」曰：「以無有為體。」魄曰：「無有有形乎？」魂曰：「無有。」「何得而聞也？」魂曰：「吾直有所遇之耳！視之無形，聽之無聲，謂之幽冥。幽冥者，所以喻道，而非道也。」魄曰：「吾聞得之矣！乃內視而自反也。」魂曰：「凡得道者，形不可得而見，名不可得而揚。今汝已有形名矣，何道之所能乎！」魄曰：「言者，獨何為者？」「吾將反吾宗矣。」魄反顧，魂忽然不見，反而自存，亦以淪於無形矣。人不小學，不大迷；不小慧，不大愚。人莫鑑於沫雨，而鑑於澄水者，以其休止不蕩也。詹公之釣，千歲之鯉不能避；曾子攀柩車，引輴者為之止也；老母行歌而動申喜，精之至也。瓠巴鼓瑟，而淫魚出聽；伯牙鼓琴，駟馬仰秣；介子歌龍蛇，而文君垂泣。故玉在山而草木潤，淵生珠而岸不枯。螾無筋骨之強，爪牙之利，上食晞堁，下飲黃泉，用心一也。清之為明，杯水見眸子；濁之為闇，河水不見太山。視日者眩，聽雷者聾，人無為則治，有為則傷。無為而治者，載無也。為者，不能有也；不能無為者，不能有為也。人無言而神，有言者則傷。無言而神者載無，有言則傷其神。之神者，鼻之所以息，耳之所以聽，終以其無用者為用矣。物莫不因其所有而用其所無，以為不信，視籟與竽。念慮者不得臥，止念慮，則有為其所止矣。兩者俱忘，則至德純矣。聖人終身言治，所用者非其言也，用所以言也。歌者有詩，然使人善之者，非其詩也。鸚鵡能言，而不可使長。是何則？得其所言，而不得其所以言。故循跡者，非能生跡者也。神蛇能斷而復續，而不能使人勿斷也。神龜能見夢元王，而不能自出漁者之籠。四方皆道之門戶牖嚮也，在所從闚之。故釣可以教騎，騎可以教御，御可以教刺舟。越人學遠射，參天而發，適在五步之內，不易儀也。

The po asked the hun: "What does the Way take as its substance?" The hun said: "It takes non-being as its substance." The po said: "Does non-being have form?" The hun said: "No." "Then how can it be heard of?" The hun said: "I merely happened to meet it! Look at it, it has no form; listen to it, it has no sound; it is called the dim and obscure. The dim and obscure is used to illustrate the Way, but it is not the Way." The po said: "I have heard it, I have obtained it! It is looking within and turning back to oneself." The hun said: "Whoever attains the Way, his form cannot be seen and his name cannot be spread. Now you already have form and name, what Way could you still have!" The po said: "What, then, is the point of speaking?" The hun said: "I am going to return to my source." The po looked back and the hun suddenly vanished; turning back to examine himself, he too sank into the formless. Without small learning one will not have great confusion; without small wisdom one will not have great foolishness. People do not look at their reflection in foam or rain water but in clear still water, because it stops and does not shake. When Zhan Gong fished, even a thousand-year-old carp could not hide; when Zengzi clung to the hearse, those pulling the cart stopped; when an old mother walked along singing and moved Shen Xi, it was the utmost of sincerity. When Hu Ba played the zither, fish came out to listen; when Bo Ya played the qin, the horses pulling the carriage lifted their heads from the fodder; when Jie Zitui sang the Song of the Dragon and the Snake, Wen Jun shed tears. So when jade is in a mountain, the plants and trees are moist, and when pearls are born in the depths, the banks do not wither. The earthworm has no strength of sinew and bone or sharpness of claw and tooth, yet above it eats dry earth and below it drinks the Yellow Springs, because it is single in its mind. When clear it is bright, so one cup of water reveals the pupils; when muddy it is dark, so the Yellow River cannot reflect Mount Tai. One who looks at the sun is dazzled, and one who hears thunder is deafened. Man governs by non-action and harms by action. Governing by non-action is bearing non-being. One who acts cannot preserve; one who cannot be without action cannot act either. Man is spiritual without speech and harmed by speech. Being spiritual without words bears non-being; speech harms his spirit. As for this spirit, the nose uses it to breathe and the ears use it to hear, yet in the end it takes what is useless as the use. Nothing does not rely on what it has in order to use what it lacks; if you do not believe it, look at the pipes and the reed organ. One who is full of thoughts cannot sleep; if he stops the thoughts, there is again the action of stopping. Forgetting both, supreme virtue becomes pure. The sage speaks of governing all his life, but what he uses is not his words but that by which he speaks. A song has a poem, but what makes people feel it is good is not the poem. A parrot can speak but cannot be made to govern long. Why? It obtains the words spoken but cannot obtain that by which one speaks. So one who follows footprints is not the one who can produce footprints. The divine snake can be cut and joined again, but cannot make people not cut it. The divine tortoise could appear in a dream to Lord Yuan but could not escape the fisherman's basket by itself. The four directions are all gates and windows of the Way; it depends on which side one peeps from. Thus fishing can teach riding, riding can teach driving a carriage, and driving a carriage can teach punting a boat. The man of Yue learning distant archery shot toward the sky, but the arrow fell within five paces, because he did not change the model.

世已變矣，而守其故，譬猶越人之射也。月望，日奪其光，陰不可以乘陽也。日出星不見，不能與之爭光也。故末不可以強於本，指不可以大於臂。下輕上重，其覆必易。一淵不兩鮫。水定則清正，動則失平。故惟不動，則所以無不動也。江、河所以能長百穀者，能下之也。夫惟能下之，是以能上之。天下莫相憎於膠漆，而莫相愛於冰炭。膠漆相賊，冰炭相息也。牆之壞，愈其立也，冰之泮，愈其凝也，以其反宗。泰山之容，巍巍然高，去之千里，不見埵堁，遠之故也。秋豪之末，淪於不測。是故小不可以為內者，大不可以為外矣。蘭生幽谷，不為莫服而不芳。舟在江海，不為莫乘而不浮。君子行義，不為莫知而止休。夫玉潤澤而有光，其聲舒揚，渙乎其有似也。無內無外，不匿瑕穢，近之而濡，望之而隧。夫照鏡見眸子，微察秋豪，明照晦冥。故和氏之璧，隨侯之珠，出於山淵之精，君子服之，順祥以安寧，侯王寶之，為天下正。陳成子恆之劫子淵捷也，子罕之辭其所不欲而得其所欲，孔子之見黏蟬者，白公勝之倒杖策也，衛姬之請罪於桓公，子見子夏曰「何肥也」，魏文侯見之反被裘而負芻也，兒說之為宋王解閉結也，此皆微眇可以觀論者。人有嫁其子而教之曰：「爾行矣，慎無為善！」曰：「不為善，將為不善邪？」應之曰：「善且由弗為，況不善乎！」此全其天器者。拘囹圄者以日為脩，當死市者以日為短。日之脩短有度也，有所在而短，有所在而脩也，則中不平也。故以不平為平者，其平不平也。嫁女於病消者，夫死則後難復處也。故沮舍之下不可以坐，倚牆之傍不可以立。執獄牢者無病，罪當死者肥澤，刑者多壽，心無累也。良醫者，常治無病之病，故無病。聖人者，常治無患之患，故無患也。夫至巧不用劍，善閉者不用關楗。淳于髡之告失火者，此其類。以清入濁必困辱，以濁入清必覆傾。

The world has already changed, but if one still keeps the old law, it is like the man of Yue shooting. When the moon is fullest the sun takes its light, and yin cannot press on yang. When the sun comes out the stars disappear, and they cannot contend with it in light. Therefore the branch cannot be stronger than the root, and the finger cannot be larger than the arm. When the bottom is light and the top heavy, overturning is surely easy. One deep pool cannot hold two crocodiles. Water, when still, is clear and level; when moved, it loses its level. Therefore only non-movement is the basis for all that moves. The reason the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers can be chiefs of a hundred valleys is that they can dwell below them. Because they can dwell below, they can dwell above. In the world nothing hates each other more than glue and lacquer, and nothing loves each other more than ice and charcoal. Glue and lacquer harm each other, and ice and charcoal put each other to rest. A wall that has collapsed is better than when it stood, and ice that has melted is better than when it was frozen, because it has returned to its source. The appearance of Mount Tai is lofty and towering, yet from a thousand li one cannot see a single clod of earth of it, because of the distance. At the tip of an autumn hair, one sinks into the unmeasurable. So the small cannot be made more inward, and the great cannot be made more outward. Orchids grow in secluded valleys and are not less fragrant because no one wears them. A boat on the rivers and seas does not cease to float because no one rides it. The noble man practices righteousness and does not stop because no one knows. Jade is moist and has luster, its sound is extended and gentle, and it flows as if resembling something. It has no inside or outside and hides no flaw or stain; approach it and it moistens you, look at it and it is deep. Look into a mirror and you see the pupils, minutely examine the autumn hair, and brightness reaches into darkness. So the jade disc of He and the pearl of the Marquis of Sui come from the essence of mountains and abysses; the noble man who wears them is auspicious and at peace, and marquises and kings treasure them and make them the standard of the world. Chen Chengzi Heng coerced Ziyuan Jie; Zihan declined what he did not want and obtained what he wanted; Confucius saw the man catching cicadas with glue; Lord Bai Sheng held his whip upside down; Ji of Wei begged pardon of Duke Huan; Confucius saw Zixia and said, "Why have you grown fat?"; Marquis Wen of Wei saw a man wearing a fur coat inside out and carrying fodder; Er Yue untied a knot for the King of Song: all these are subtle things that can be observed and discussed. Someone, marrying off his daughter, instructed her: "Go, and do not do anything good!" The daughter said: "If I do not do good, shall I do bad?" He replied: "If you do not even do good, how much less bad!" This is one who preserves the heavenly vessel. A man shut in prison feels the days are long, and a man sentenced to execution in the marketplace feels the days are short. The length of days has a measure; because of what one is in, they seem short or long, owing to the lack of balance in the mind. So one who takes what is unbalanced as balanced does not have a balance that is balanced. If one marries a daughter to a man with diabetes, once the husband dies it is hard to live with him again. So one should not sit under a house about to fall, and one should not stand beside a leaning wall. The man in charge of the prison is not ill, the man condemned to death is plump, and those who have suffered mutilation often live long, because their minds have no burdens. A good physician often treats the illness that has not yet become illness, so there is no illness. The sage often treats the trouble that has not yet become trouble, so there is no trouble. A truly skilled man does not use a sword, and one who is good at closing does not use a bolt. Chunyu Kun's telling people about the fire was of this kind. To enter the muddy with clear surely brings hardship and humiliation; to enter the clear with muddy surely overturns.

君子之於善也，猶採薪者見一芥掇之，見青蔥則拔之。天二氣則成虹，地二氣則洩藏，人二氣則成病。陰陽不能且冬且夏；月不知晝，日不知夜。善射者發不失的，善於射矣，而不善所射。善釣者無所失，善於釣矣，而不善所釣。故有所善，則不善矣。鐘之與磬也，近之則鐘音充，遠之則磬音章，物固有近不若遠，遠不若近者。今曰稻生於水，而不能生於湍瀨之流；紫芝生於山，而不能生於盤石之上；慈石能引鐵，及其於銅，則不行也。水廣者魚大，山高者木脩。廣其地而薄其德，譬猶陶人為器也，揲挻其土而不益厚，破乃愈疾。聖人不先風吹，不先雷毀，不得已而動，故無累。月盛衰於上，則蠃蛖應於下，同氣相動，不可以為遠。執彈而招鳥，揮梲而呼狗，欲致之，顧反走。故魚不可以無餌釣也，獸不可以虛氣召也。剝牛皮，鞟以為鼓，正三軍之眾，然為牛計者，不若服於軛也。狐白之裘，天子被之而坐廟堂，然為狐計者，不若走於澤。亡羊而得牛，則莫不利失也；斷指而免頭，則莫不利為也。故人之情，於利之中則爭取大焉，於害之中則爭取小焉。將軍不敢騎白馬，亡者不敢夜揭炬，保者不敢畜噬狗。雞知將旦，鶴知夜半，而不免於鼎俎。山有猛獸，林木為之不斬；園有螫蟲，藜藿為之不採。為儒而踞裡閭，為墨而朝吹竽，欲滅跡而走雪中，拯溺者而欲無濡，是非所行而行所非。今夫闇飲者，非嘗不遺飲也，使之自以平，則雖愚無失矣。是故不同於和而可以成事者，天下無之矣。求美則不得美，不求美則美矣；求醜則不得醜，求不醜則有醜矣；不求美又不求醜，則無美無醜矣，是謂玄同。申徒狄負石自沉於淵，而溺者不可以為抗；弦高誕而存鄭，誕者不可以為常。事有一應，而不可循行。人有多言者，猶百舌之聲。人有少言者，猶不脂之戶也。六畜生多耳目者不詳，讖書著之。

The noble man regards goodness as a woodcutter does a blade of grass: when he sees one he picks it up, and when he sees green onions he pulls them out. If Heaven has two qi, it makes a rainbow; if Earth has two qi, it releases what it stores; if man has two qi, he becomes ill. Yin and yang cannot be both winter and summer at once; the moon does not know the daytime and the sun does not know the night. One who is good at shooting does not miss the target when he shoots; he is good at shooting but not good at what he shoots at. One who is good at fishing does not lose anything; he is good at fishing but not good at what he fishes. So where there is something one is good at, there is something one is not good at. With bells and chimes, near by the sound of the bell fills, while far away the sound of the chime is clear; things naturally have those that are not as good near as far, and not as good far as near. Now it is said that rice grows in water but cannot grow in a swift rapid; purple lingzhi grows on mountains but cannot grow on top of a boulder; magnet can attract iron but fails on copper. Where waters are wide fish are large, and where mountains are high trees grow long. To broaden the land while thinning virtue is like a potter making vessels: he throws and kneads the clay without adding thickness, and it breaks all the faster. The sage does not blow ahead of the wind or destroy ahead of the thunder; he moves only when he must, and so has no burdens. The moon above waxes and wanes and the shellfish below respond; qi of the same kind move one another, and one cannot say it does not count because of distance. If you hold up a slingshot to call birds or wave a stick to call dogs, you wish to summon them but they run away. So fish cannot be caught without bait, and beasts cannot be called out of nothing. A flayed ox hide stretched into a drum can bring order to the multitude of three armies, but if one reckons for the ox, it would be better to remain under the yoke. A white fox fur coat worn by the Son of Heaven as he sits in the temple hall, but if one reckons for the fox, it would be better to run in the marshes. Losing a sheep but gaining an ox, there is none who does not take the loss as gain; cutting off a finger to save one's head, there is none who does not take it as gain. So human nature, in profit, competes to take the larger; in harm, competes to take the smaller. A general does not dare ride a white horse, a fugitive does not dare carry a torch at night, and a bodyguard does not dare keep a biting dog. A rooster knows the dawn is coming and a crane knows midnight, but they cannot avoid going into the cauldron and onto the chopping board. In mountains with fierce beasts, the trees are not cut for that reason; in gardens with stinging insects, the goosefoot is not picked for that reason. To be a Confucian but squat at the village gate, to be a Mohist but play the reed organ in the morning, to want to erase traces but run into the snow, to save the drowning but not want to get wet, is to do what should not be done and what one opposes. Now one drinking wine in the dark has not failed to spill it; let him steady it himself, and even a fool would not lose it. So there is no one in the world who can achieve what differs from harmony. Seeking beauty, one does not obtain beauty; not seeking beauty, one is beautiful; seeking ugliness, one does not obtain ugliness; seeking not to be ugly, one has ugliness; neither seeking beauty nor seeking ugliness, there is no beauty or ugliness; this is called mysterious sameness. Shentu Di carried a stone and sank himself into the abyss, but the drowning cannot take him as a model of lofty uprightness; Xian Gao told a lie and saved Zheng, but liars cannot take him as a constant rule. A matter may happen to correspond once, but one should not copy it. Some people speak much, like the cry of a mockingbird. Some people speak little, like a door without oil. When the six domestic animals bear many ears or many eyes, it is an ill omen, as written in the books of prognostication.

百人抗浮，不若一人挈而趨。物固有眾而不若少者，引車者二六而後之。事固有相待而成者，兩人俱溺，不能相拯，一人處陸則可矣。故同不可相治，必待異而後成。千年之松，下有茯苓，上有兔絲；上有叢蓍，下有伏龜；聖人從外知內，以見知隱也。喜武非俠也，喜文非儒也，好方非醫也，好馬非騶也，知音非瞽也，知味非庖也，此有一概而未得主名也。被甲者，非為十步之內也，百步之外則爭深淺，深則達五藏，淺則至膚而止矣。死生相去，不可為道里。楚王亡其猿，而林木為之殘；宋君亡其珠，池中魚為之殫；故澤失火而林憂。上求材，臣殘木；上求魚，臣乾谷。上求楫，而下致船；上言若絲，下言若綸。上有一善，下有二譽；上有三衰，下有九殺。大夫種知所以強越，而不知所以存身；萇弘知周之所存，而不知身所以亡；知遠而不知近。畏馬之闢也不敢騎，懼車之覆也不敢乘，是以虛禍距公利也。不孝弟者或詈父母，生子者所不能任其必孝也，然猶養而長之。范氏之敗，有竊其鐘，負而走者，鎗然有聲，懼人聞之，遽掩其耳。憎人聞之，可也；自掩其耳，悖矣。升之不能大於石也，升在石之中；夜之不能修其歲也，夜在歲之中；仁義之不能大於道德也，仁義在道德之包。先針而後縷，可以成帷；先縷而後針，不可以成衣。針成幕，虆成城。事之成敗，必由小生，言有漸也。染者先青而後黑則可，先黑而後青則不可。工人下漆而上丹則可，下丹而上漆則不可。萬事由此，所先後上下，不可不審。水濁而魚噞，形勞則神亂。故國有賢君，折沖萬裡。因媒而嫁，而不因媒而成；因人而交，不因人而親。行合趨同，千里相從；行不合趨不同，對門不通。海水雖大，不受胔芥。日月不應非其氣，君子不容非其類也。人不愛倕之手，而愛己之指；不愛江、漢之珠，而愛己之鉤。以束薪為鬼，以火煙為氣。

A hundred men holding gourds to float are not as good as one man carrying one and walking fast. Things naturally are such that many men are sometimes not as good as few; a cart that needs twelve men to pull still falls behind. And affairs are naturally such that they succeed only by waiting on each other: if two men both drown, they cannot save each other, but one man on the bank is enough. So things that are the same cannot govern one another; one must wait for difference before success. Under a thousand-year-old pine there is poria and above it dodder; above there are clustered milfoil, and below there is a hidden tortoise; the sage knows the inside from the outside, and knows the hidden from what is seen. One who likes martial arts is not necessarily a knight-errant, one who likes letters is not necessarily a Confucian, one who likes technique is not necessarily a physician, one who likes horses is not necessarily a horse officer, one who knows music is not necessarily a blind music master, and one who knows flavors is not necessarily a cook; this is having only a rough outline and not yet gaining the master name. Those who put on armor do not do so for within ten paces; beyond a hundred paces they contend over deep or shallow wounds, deep reaching the five viscera and shallow reaching only the skin. The distance between death and life cannot be measured by road miles. When the King of Chu lost a gibbon, the forest trees were cut down because of it; when the Lord of Song lost a pearl, the fish in the pond were all drained out for it; so when a marsh catches fire the forest worries. If the superior seeks timber, the subordinates ruin the trees; if the superior seeks fish, the subordinates dry up the streams. If the superior seeks a boat paddle, the subordinates deliver a whole boat; the words of the superior are like silk and the words below are like thick rope. If there is one part of goodness above, there are two parts of praise below; if there are three parts of cutting above, there are nine parts of reduction below. Minister Zhong knew how to make Yue strong but not how to preserve himself; Chang Hong knew why Zhou survived but not why he himself would perish; he knew the far but not the near. Those who fear a horse might bolt do not dare ride it, and those who fear a cart might overturn do not dare ride in it; this is blocking public benefit with an empty misfortune. Among the unfilial there are those who will curse their parents; one who has a child cannot guarantee that he will certainly be filial, yet still raises him to grow up. When the Fan family was defeated, someone stole their bell and ran off carrying it; the bell rang clang, and fearing people would hear, he hurriedly covered his own ears. To hate others hearing it is understandable; to cover one's own ears is absurd. A sheng cannot be larger than a shi, since the sheng is within the shi; a night cannot be longer than a year, since the night is within the year; benevolence and righteousness cannot be greater than the Way and virtue, since benevolence and righteousness are enclosed within the Way and virtue. Using the needle first and thread after, one can make a curtain; using thread first and needle after, one cannot make a garment. A needle can complete a tent, and a basket of earth can complete a wall. The success or failure of things surely arises from the small, which means there is gradual progress. For a dyer, blue first and black after is possible, but black first and blue after is not. For a craftsman, lacquer first and red after is possible, but red first and lacquer after is not. All affairs are like this; before and after, above and below, one must examine them. When water is muddy fish gasp at the surface, and when the body is toiled the spirit is disordered. Therefore a state with a worthy ruler can break the enemy's thrust ten thousand li away. One marries through a matchmaker but is not made close by the matchmaker; one makes friends through others but does not become intimate through others. When conduct agrees and direction is the same, they follow each other even from a thousand li; when conduct does not agree and direction differs, they do not even communicate from opposite doors. Though the sea is vast, it does not accept rotten flesh and scraps. The sun and moon do not respond to what is not of their qi, and the noble man does not take in what is not of his kind. People do not love Chui's hand but love their own fingers; they do not love the pearls of the Jiang and Han but love their own belt hooks. They take a bundle of firewood for a ghost and the smoke of a fire for qi.

以束薪為鬼，朅而走；以火煙為氣，殺豚烹狗。先事如此，不如其後。巧者善度，知者善豫。羿死桃部，不給射；慶忌死劍鋒，不給搏。滅非者戶告之曰：「我實不與我諛亂。」謗乃愈起。止言以言，止事以事，譬猶揚堁而弭塵，抱薪而救火。流言雪汙，譬猶以涅拭素也。矢之於十步貫兕甲，於三百步不能入魯縞；騏驥一日千里，其出致釋駕而僵。大家攻小家則為暴，大國並小國則為賢。小馬非大馬之類也，小知非大知之類也。被羊裘而賃，固其事也；貂裘而負籠，甚可怪也。以潔白為汙辱，譬猶沐浴而抒溷，薰燧而負彘。治疽不擇善惡醜肉而並割之，農夫不察苗莠而並耘之，豈不虛哉！壞塘以取龜，發屋而求狸，掘室而求鼠，割唇而治齲，桀、蹠之徒，君子不與。殺戎馬而求狐狸，援兩鱉而失靈龜，斷右臂而爭一毛，折鏌邪而爭錐刀，用智如此，豈足高乎！寧百刺以針，無一刺以刀；寧一引重，無久持輕；寧一月饑，無一旬餓。萬人之蹪，愈於一人之隧。有譽人之力儉者，舂至旦，不中員呈，猶謫之。察之，乃其母也。故小人之譽人，反為損。東家母死，其子哭之不哀。西家子見之，歸謂其母曰：「社何愛速死，吾必悲哭社。」夫欲其母之死者，雖死亦不能悲哭矣。謂學不暇者，雖暇亦不能學矣。見窾木浮而知為舟，見飛蓬轉而知為車，見鳥跡而知著書，以類取之。以非義為義，以非禮為禮，譬猶裸走而追狂人，盜財而予乞者，竊簡而寫法律，蹲踞而誦詩、書。割而舍之，鏌邪不斷肉；執而不釋，馬氂截玉。聖人無止，無以歲賢昔，日愈昨也。馬之似鹿者千金，天下無千金之鹿；玉待礛諸而成器，有千金之璧而無錙錘之礛諸。受光於隙照一隅，受光於牖照北壁，受光於戶照室中無遺物，況受光於宇宙乎？天下莫不藉明於其前矣！由此觀之，所受者小則所見者淺，所受者大則所照者博。

Mistake a bundle of firewood for a ghost and one gets up and runs; mistake the smoke of a fire for a vapor omen and one slaughters pigs and cooks dogs. To be like this beforehand is not as good as afterward. The skillful are good at measuring and the wise are good at anticipating. Yi died beneath a peachwood club and had no time to shoot; Qingji died on a sword's point and had no time to grapple. One who wants to put out gossip goes door to door saying: "I truly had no part in it; others used me to talk nonsense." Slander only rises more. To stop words with words and stop affairs with affairs is like throwing up earth to stop dust or embracing firewood to save from fire. To wash off filth with rumor is like using black dye to wipe white silk. An arrow within ten paces can pierce a rhinoceros hide, but at three hundred paces it cannot even go through thin Lu silk; a fine horse runs a thousand li a day, but when it spends all its strength and is unharnessed it collapses stiff. When a big family attacks a small family, it is called violence; when a big state annexes a small state, it is considered worthy. A small horse is not of the same kind as a large horse, and small knowledge is not of the same kind as great knowledge. To be hired wearing a sheepskin coat is one's proper lot; to carry a basket wearing a sable coat would be very strange. To regard whiteness as a stain is like bathing and then going to clean a latrine, or lighting incense and then carrying pigs on one's back. To treat an abscess by cutting out good and bad flesh together, or for a farmer to hoe seedlings and weeds together, is that not absurd! To drain a pond to catch a turtle, tear down a house to seek a wildcat, dig up a room to seek a rat, or cut a lip to cure a cavity, are the acts of men of Jie and Zhi's kind, in which the gentleman takes no part. To kill a war horse to seek a fox, to catch two terrapins and lose the spirit turtle, to cut off the right arm to fight over a hair, to break the Moye sword to fight over an awl or knife; using wisdom like this, what is worth esteeming! It is better to be pricked a hundred times by a needle than stabbed once by a knife; better to pull one heavy load than to hold something light for a long time; better to be hungry for a month than to starve for ten days. Ten thousand people stumbling is better than one person falling to death. There was one who praised a person for being diligent and thrifty, pounding rice until dawn without reaching the quota, and was still scolded. Looking into it, it was his mother. So when petty people praise others, it ends up as harm. When the mother in the east house died, her son wept without grief. The son of the west house saw it and went home and said to his mother: "Mother, why be stingy; hurry up and die, and I will surely weep sorrowfully for you." One who wants his mother to die cannot weep sorrowfully even if she dies. One who says he has no leisure for study cannot study even if he has leisure. Seeing an empty log float, one knows it can be made into a boat; seeing a tumbleweed turn, one knows it can be made into a cart; seeing bird tracks, one knows one can write books; these are inferences by kind. To treat what is not righteousness as righteousness and what is not ritual as ritual is like running naked to chase a madman, stealing goods to give to a beggar, stealing bamboo slips to write laws, or squatting while reciting the Odes and Documents. If you cut once and then put down the blade, even the Moye sword cannot cut flesh through; if you hold on without letting go, even a horse's tail can saw through jade. The sage never stops; he does not take the years to feel that the worthies of the past were better, but that today surpasses yesterday. A horse that resembles a deer is worth a thousand in gold, but in the world there is no deer worth a thousand in gold; jade waits for whetstones to become a vessel, yet one may have a jade disk worth a thousand in gold but no whetstone worth a bit. Light received from a crack illuminates only one corner, light from a window illuminates the north wall, light from a door illuminates everything in the room without omission, let alone light from the cosmos! Nothing in the world does not borrow the brightness before it! From this we see that where what is received is small, what is seen is shallow; where what is received is great, what is illuminated is broad.

江出岷山，河出昆侖，濟出王屋，潁出少室，漢出嶓冢，分流舛馳，注於東海，所行則異，所歸則一。通於學者若車軸，轉之中，不運於己，與之致千里，終而復始，轉無窮之源。不通於學者若迷惑，告之以東西南北，所居聆聆，背而不得，不知凡要。寒不能生寒，熱不能生熱，不寒不熱能生寒熱。故有形出於無形，未有天地能生天地者也，至深微廣大矣！雨之集無能霑，待其止而能有濡；矢之發無能貫，待其止而能有穿；唯止能止眾止。因高而為臺，就下而為池，各就其勢，不敢更為。聖人用物，若用朱絲約芻狗，若為土龍以求雨。芻狗待之而求福，土龍待之而得食。魯人身善制冠，妻善織履，往徙於越而大困窮。以其所修而遊不用之鄉，譬若樹荷山上，而畜火井中。操釣上山，揭斧人淵，欲得所求，難也。方車而蹠越，乘桴而入胡，欲無窮，不可得也。楚王有白蝯，王自射之，則搏矢而熙；使養由基射之，始調弓矯矢，未發而蝯擁柱號矣，有先中中者也。咼氏之璧，夏後之璜，揖讓而進之，以合歡；夜以投入，則為怨；時與不時。畫西施之面，美而不可說；規孟賁之目，大而不可畏；君形者亡焉。人有昆弟相分者，無量，而眾稱義焉。夫惟無量，故不可得而量也。登高使人慾望，臨深使人慾闚，處使然也。射者使人端，釣者使人恭，事使然也。曰殺罷牛可以贖良馬之死，莫之為也。殺牛，必亡之數，以必亡贖不必死，未能行之者矣。季孫氏劫公家，孔子說之，先順其所為，而後與之入政，曰：「舉枉與直，如何而不得？舉直與枉，勿與遂往。」此所謂同汙而異塗者。眾曲不容直，眾枉不容正，故人眾則食狼，狼眾則食人。欲為邪者必相明正，欲為曲者必相達直。公道不立，私慾得容者，自古及今，未嘗聞也。此以善託其醜。眾議成林，無翼而飛，三人成市虎，一里能撓椎。

The Yangtze comes from Mount Min, the Yellow River from Kunlun, the Ji from Wangwu, the Ying from Shaoshi, and the Han from Bozhong; they branch, flow, and cross, and all pour into the Eastern Sea; the roads they take differ but where they return is one. One who penetrates learning is like an axle: in the revolving (the base text's character here is an obscure one, lost in transcription) it does not turn by itself, yet follows it to a thousand li, ending and beginning again, turning at an endless source. One who does not penetrate learning is like one deluded: tell him east, west, south, north, and at the moment he hears and understands, but once he turns around he has lost it and does not grasp the essentials. Cold cannot produce cold, heat cannot produce heat; only what is neither cold nor hot can produce cold and heat. So the formed comes from the formless, and what was before Heaven and Earth could produce Heaven and Earth, which is the utmost depth, subtlety, and vastness! Rain cannot wet while it is gathering, but only when it stops can there be moisture; an arrow cannot pierce while it is being shot, but only when it stops can there be piercing; only stopping can stop the many stoppings. One builds a terrace on what is high and makes a pond on what is low, each following its circumstance and not daring to alter it. The sage uses things like binding a straw dog with red silk, or making an earthen dragon to ask for rain. The straw dog depends on it to seek blessing, and the earthen dragon depends on it to get food. A man of Lu who was himself good at making caps and whose wife was good at weaving shoes moved to Yue and was greatly impoverished. To roam with what one has cultivated into a land where it has no use is like planting lotus on a mountain or keeping fire in a well. To go up a mountain with a fishing rod or enter a deep pool with an axe, wanting to obtain what one seeks, is hard. To go to Yue with carts side by side, or to enter the Hu lands on a raft, and hope not to be in hardship, cannot be obtained. The king of Chu had a white ape, and when the king himself shot at it, it grasped the arrows and played; when he had Yang Youji shoot, he had only just adjusted the bow and straightened the arrow, before it was released the ape was clinging to a pillar and wailing, because there was a hit before the hit. The jade disk of Mr. He and the jade half-disk of the Xia ruler, presented with bows and yielding, were used to unite in joy; thrown at someone at night, they would create resentment; this is about timing and untimeliness. If one paints Xi Shi's face, it is beautiful but not lovable; if one outlines Meng Ben's eyes, they are large but not frightening; what governs the form is lost. When brothers divide property and there is no limit, people call them righteous. Precisely because there is no limit, it cannot be measured. Climbing a height makes one want to look out, and standing at a depth makes one want to peer in, because of the place. Archery makes people upright and fishing makes people reverent, because of the activity. To say that killing an exhausted ox can redeem a fine horse's death, no one does it. Killing the ox is a number of certain loss, and using certain loss to redeem what may not die cannot be put into practice. When the Jisun clan coerced the ducal house, Confucius went to persuade him, first following what he did and then entering government with him, saying: "If you promote the crooked together with the straight, how could you fail? If you promote the straight together with the crooked, do not go along straight to the end." This is what is called sharing the same filth but taking different roads. A multitude of crooked things cannot tolerate the straight, and a multitude of the bent cannot tolerate the upright, so when people are many they eat wolves, and when wolves are many they eat people. Those who want to do evil will surely praise uprightness to each other, and those who want to be crooked will surely recommend straightness to each other. That when the public way is not established private desires can be tolerated has never been heard from antiquity to the present. This is entrusting ugliness to goodness. Many opinions can gather into a forest, wingless they fly, three people can say there is a tiger in the market, and one li can bend a mallet.

夫遊沒者，不求沐浴，已自足其中矣。故食草之獸不疾易藪，水居之蟲不疾易水，行小變而不失常。信有非禮而失禮：尾生死其梁柱之下，此信之非也；孔氏不喪出母，此禮之失者。曾子立孝，不過勝母之閭；墨子非樂，不入朝歌之邑；曾子立廉，不飲盜泉；所謂養志者也。紂為象箸而箕子唏，魯以偶人葬而孔子嘆，故聖人見霜而知冰。有鳥將來，張羅而待之，得鳥者，羅之一目也；今為一目之羅，則無時得鳥矣。今被甲者，以備矢之至；若使人必知所集，則懸一札而已矣。事或不可前規，物或不可慮，卒然不戒而至，故聖人畜道以待時。髡屯犁牛，既犐以㹋，決鼻而羈，生子而犧，尸祝齊戒以沉諸河，河伯豈羞其所從出，辭而不享哉！得萬人之兵，不如聞一言之當。得隋侯之珠，不若得事之所由。得咼氏之璧，不若得事之所適。撰良馬者，非以逐狐狸，將以射麋鹿。砥利劍者，非以斬縞衣，將以斷兕犀。故「高山仰止，景行行止」，鄉者其人。見彈而求鴞炙，見卵而求晨夜，見黂而求成布，雖其理哉，亦不病暮。象解其牙，不憎人之利之也；死而棄其招簀，不怨人取之。人能以所不利利人，則可。狂者東走，逐者亦東走，東走則同，所以東走則異。溺者入水，拯之者亦入水，入水則同，所以入水者則異。故聖人同死生，愚人亦同死生，聖人之同死生通於分理，愚人之同死生不知利害所在。徐偃王以仁義亡國，國亡者非必仁義；比干以忠靡其體，被誅者非必忠也。故寒顫，懼者亦顫，此同名而異實。明月之珠出於蛖蜄，周之簡圭生於垢石，大蔡神龜出於溝壑。萬乘之主，冠錙錘之冠，履百金之車。牛皮為賤，正三軍之眾。欲學歌謳者，必先徵羽樂風；欲美和者，必先始於陽阿、採菱；此皆學其所不學，而欲至其所欲學者。燿蟬者務在明其火，釣魚者務在芳其餌。明其火者，所以燿而致之也；

One who can swim and dive does not seek to bathe, since he is already sufficient in the water. So grass-eating beasts do not hurry to change marshes, and water-dwelling insects do not hurry to change water; they walk small changes without losing constancy. There is faithfulness that does not accord with ritual and so loses ritual: Weisheng died under a bridge pillar, which was a mistake of faithfulness; the Kong family did not mourn for a divorced mother, which was a lack of ritual. Zengzi established filial piety and did not pass through the lane named Shengmu; Mozi condemned music and did not enter the city of Zhaoge; Zengzi established integrity and did not drink from the Dao Spring; these are what are called those who nourish their aims. When Zhou made ivory chopsticks, Jizi sighed; when Lu used effigies for burial, Confucius lamented; so the sage sees frost and knows ice. If a bird is about to come and one spreads a net to wait for it, what catches the bird is one mesh of the net; if one makes a net of a single mesh, there will be no time to catch a bird. Putting on armor now is to guard against arrows coming; if one made people certain to know where they would be hit, one plate of armor would suffice. There are matters that cannot be planned in advance and things that cannot be thought of; they arrive suddenly without warning, so the sage accumulates the Way to await the time. A brindled plow ox, already castrated, with its nose cut and a halter put on, may yet bear a calf used for sacrifice; the officiants fast and sink it in the river; would the River Earl be ashamed of its origin and decline to accept it! To obtain an army of ten thousand is not as good as hearing one fitting word. To obtain the pearl of the Marquis of Sui is not as good as obtaining the reason for a matter. To obtain the jade of Mr. He is not as good as obtaining what suits the affair. One who selects a fine horse does so not to chase foxes but to shoot elk and deer. One who sharpens a keen sword does so not to cut silk garments but to cut rhinoceroses. So 'the high mountain is looked up to; the bright road is walked on' is aspiration for that person. Seeing a bow one seeks roasted owl, seeing an egg one seeks a rooster that crows at dawn and roosts at night, seeing hemp one seeks woven cloth; though the principle is there, one need not blame it for being late. The elephant takes off its tusks and does not hate that people are greedy for profit; when a person dies the mattress is thrown away and he does not resent others taking it. When a person can use what is not beneficial to himself to benefit others, that is fine. A madman runs east and those chasing him also run east; running east is the same, but why they run east is different. A drowning man enters the water and those saving him also enter the water; entering the water is the same, but why they enter differs. So the sage regards death and life as the same, and the fool also regards death and life as the same; the sage's sameness of death and life penetrates the principle of distinction, while the fool's sameness of death and life is not knowing where benefit and harm lie. King Yan of Xu lost his state because of humaneness and righteousness, but those who lose their states are not necessarily humane and righteous; Bi Gan had his body cut open for loyalty, but those who are killed are not necessarily loyal. So one shivers when cold and shivers when frightened; this is the same name for different realities. The bright moon pearl comes from a clam, the jade tablet of Zhou is born from filthy stone, and the great Cai spirit turtle comes from a ditch. The lord of ten thousand chariots wears a cap worth a trifle and treads a carriage worth a hundred in gold. Oxhide is cheap, yet it can bring the multitudes of the three armies into order. One who wants to learn songs must first learn the zhi and yu modes of music; one who wants to harmonize beauty must begin from Yang'e and Cailing; all these are learning what one is not trying to learn in order to reach what one wants to learn. One who lights up cicadas must make the fire bright, and one who fishes must make the bait fragrant. Making the fire bright is to illuminate and summon them;

芳其餌者，所以誘而利之也。欲致魚者先通水，欲致鳥者先樹木。水積而魚聚，木茂而鳥集。好弋者先具繳與矰，好魚者先具罟與罛，未有無其具而得其利。遺人馬而解其羈，遺人車而稅其𨏢，所愛者少而所亡者多，故里人諺曰：「烹牛而不鹽，敗所為也。」堯有遺道，嫫母有所美，西施有所醜。故亡國之法有可隨者，治國之俗有可非者。琬琰之玉，在洿泥之中，雖廉者弗釋；弊箄甑瓾，在袇茵之上，雖貪者不搏。美之所在，雖汙辱，世不能賤；惡之所在，雖高隆，世不能貴。春貸秋賦民皆欣，春賦秋貸眾皆怨；得失同，喜怒為別，其時異也。為魚德者，非挈而入淵，為蝯賜者，非負而緣木，縱之其所而已。貂裘而雜，不若狐裘而粹，故人莫惡於無常行。有相馬而失馬者，然良馬猶在相之中。今人放燒，或操火往益之，或接水往救之，兩者皆未有功，而怨德相去亦遠矣。郢人有買屋棟者，求大三圍之木，而人予車轂，跪而度之，巨雖可，而修不足。蘧伯玉以德化，公孫鞅以刑罪，所極一也。病者寢席，醫之用針石，巫之用糈藉，所救鈞也。貍頭愈鼠，雞頭已瘻，虻散積血，斲木愈齲，此類之推者也。膏之殺鱉，鵲矢中蝟，爛灰生蠅，漆見蟹而不乾，此類之不推者也。推與不推，若非而是，若是而非，孰能通其微！天下無粹白狐，而有粹白之裘，掇之眾白也。善學者，若齊王之食雞，必食其蹠數十而後足。刀便剃毛，至伐大木，非斧不剋，物固有以剋適成不逮者。視方寸於牛，不知其大於羊；總視其體，乃知其大相去之遠。孕婦見兔而子缺唇，見麋而子四目。小馬大目，不可謂大馬；大馬之目眇，可謂之眇馬；物固有似然而似不然者。故決指而身死，或斷臂而顧活，類不可必推。厲利劍者必以柔砥，擊鐘磬者必以濡木，轂強必以弱輻，兩堅不能相和，兩強不能相服。故梧桐斷角，馬氂截玉。

making the bait fragrant is to lure them so that it is advantageous to get them. If you want to bring in fish, first open the water channel; if you want to bring in birds, first plant trees. When water accumulates, fish gather; when trees are lush, birds assemble. One who likes shooting with a cord first prepares cords and arrows; one who likes fishing first prepares nets and fish traps; no one has gained the benefit without preparing the equipment. To give someone a horse but untie its halter, or give someone a cart but remove its axle bearings, is to love little and lose much, so the village saying goes: "Cooking an ox without salt ruins what you did." Yao had a lapse in the Way, Momu had a beautiful part, and Xi Shi had an ugly part. So the laws of a perished state have things that can be followed, and the customs of a well-governed state have things that can be criticized. Jade of wan and yan kinds, if in filthy mud, even an incorruptible person will not let go of; a broken basket and a cracked steamer, if placed on a brocade cushion, even a greedy person will not grab. Where beauty lies, though in disgrace, the world cannot despise it; where ugliness lies, though high and eminent, the world cannot honor it. Lending in spring and collecting in autumn, the people are glad; collecting in spring and lending in autumn, everyone resents it; gain and loss are the same, but joy and anger differ, because the timing differs. To bestow virtue on fish is not to lift them and put them into a deep pool; to give to an ape is not to carry it up a tree; one just releases them to where they belong. A mottled sable coat is not as good as a pure fox coat, so nothing is more hateful in a person than having no constant conduct. There are horse appraisers who err, but the fine horse is still among the ones he appraised. Now when a fire is set, some add fire to it and some fetch water to save from it; neither has yet achieved merit, but the distance between resentment and gratitude is also far. A man of Ying who wanted to buy a roof beam sought a large timber of three armspans in thickness; another gave him a cart hub, and he knelt to measure it; the thickness was acceptable, but the length was insufficient. Qu Boyu transformed with virtue, Gongsun Yang governed crimes with punishments, but where they arrived was one. A sick person lies on a mat; the doctor uses needles and stones, the shaman uses fine rice and straw pads; what they save is the same. A wildcat's head can cure mouse fistulas, a chicken's head can stop fistula sores, gadflies can disperse stagnant blood, and the woodpecker can cure cavities; these can be inferred by kind. Oil can kill terrapins, magpie dung can hit hedgehogs, rotten ashes breed flies, lacquer meeting crab does not dry; these cannot be inferred by kind. Inferring or not inferring, seeming wrong yet right, seeming right yet wrong, who can penetrate its subtlety! In the world there are no pure white foxes, but there are pure white fur coats, gathered from many white pieces. One who is good at learning is like the king of Qi eating chicken: he must eat dozens of chicken feet before being satisfied. A knife is convenient for shaving hair, but when it comes to felling a great tree nothing but an axe will do; things inherently have what is suited to overcome that others cannot reach. Looking only at one square inch of an ox, one does not know it is bigger than a sheep; looking at its whole body, one knows how greatly it differs. A pregnant woman who sees a rabbit has a child with a harelip, and one who sees an elk has a child with four eyes. A small horse with large eyes cannot be called a large horse; a large horse with blind eyes can be called a blind horse; things inherently seem like this and also seem not like this. So some die when a finger is cut off, and some live when an arm is cut off; categories cannot be inferred in fixed fashion. To sharpen a keen sword one must use a soft whetstone; to strike bells and chime stones one must use soft, moist wood; for a hub that is hard one must use soft spokes; two hard things cannot harmonize and two strong things cannot subdue each other. So paulownia can cut horn and a horse's tail can saw jade.

媒但者，非學謾也，但成而生不信。立慬者，非學鬥爭也，慬立而生不讓。故君子不入獄，為其傷恩也；不入市，為其侳廉也；積不可不慎者也。走不以手，縛手走不能疾；飛不以尾，屈尾飛不能遠；物之用者必待不用者。故使之見者，乃不見者也；使鼓鳴者，乃不鳴者也。嘗一臠肉，知一鑊之味；懸羽與炭，而知燥溼之氣；以小明大。見一葉落，而知歲之將暮；睹瓶中之冰，而知天下之寒；以近論遠。三人比肩，不能外出戶；一人相隨，可以通天下。足蹍地而為跡，暴行而為影，此易而難。莊王誅裡史，孫叔敖制冠浣衣；文公棄荏席，後黴黑，咎犯辭歸，故桑葉落而長年悲也。鼎錯日用而不足貴，周鼎不爨而不可賤，物固有以不用而為有用者。地平則水不流，重鈞則衡不傾，物之尤必有所感，物固有以不用為大用者。先裸而浴則可，以浴而裸則不可；先祭而後饗則可，先饗而後祭則不可；物之先後各有所宜也。祭之日而言狗生，取婦夕而言衰麻，置酒之日而言上冢，渡江、河而言陽侯之波。或曰知其且赦也而多殺人，或曰知其且赦也而多活人，其望赦同，所利害異。故或吹火而然，或吹火而滅，所以吹者異也。烹牛以饗其裡，而罵其東家母，德不報而身見殆。文王汙膺，鮑申傴背，以成楚國之治。裨諶出郭而知，以成子產之事。朱儒問徑天高於脩人，脩人曰：「不知。」曰：「子雖不知，猶近之於我。」故凡問事，必於近者。寇難至，躄者告盲者，盲者負而走，兩人皆活，得其所能也。故使盲者語，使躄者走，失其所也。郢人有鬻其母，為請於買者曰：「此母老矣！幸善食之而勿苦。」此行大不義，而欲為小義者。介蟲之動以固，貞蟲之動以毒螫，熊羆之動攫搏，兕牛之動以觝觸，物莫措其所修而用其短也。治國者若鎒田，去害苗者而已。今沐者墮髮，而猶為之不止，以所去者少，所利者多。

One who is a matchmaker and falsifies is not learning deception; once falsification is established, he is no longer trusted. One who establishes himself as brave and fierce is not learning to fight; once bravery and ferocity are established, he does not yield. So the gentleman does not enter a prison, fearing it injures kindness; he does not enter a market, fearing it blunts integrity; accumulated habits must be handled carefully. Running is not done with the hands, but if the hands are tied one cannot run fast; flying is not done with the tail, but if the tail is bent one cannot fly far; what is used certainly waits on what is not used. So what enables people to see is that which cannot be seen; what makes a drum sound is that which does not resound. Tasting one piece of meat, one knows the flavor of the whole pot; hanging up feathers and charcoal, one knows the qi of dryness and dampness; this is using the small to clarify the great. Seeing one leaf fall, one knows the year is drawing late; seeing ice in a jar, one knows the cold of the world; this is using the near to discuss the far. Three people shoulder to shoulder cannot get out of a door; one person following can go through the whole world. When feet step on the ground they form tracks, and walking in sunlight forms a shadow; this is easy and yet hard. After King Zhuang of Chu killed his village historian, Sun Shu'ao made caps and washed clothes; Duke Wen discarded his mat, which later grew moldy and black, and Jiu Fan took leave to return; so when mulberry leaves fall, the elderly grieve. A tripod used daily is not valuable, while the tripod of Zhou, not used for fire, cannot be despised; things inherently become useful by being unused. When the ground is level, water does not flow; when the weights are equal, the balance does not tilt; when things reach the extreme, there is surely a response; things inherently become of great use by being unused. It is permissible to be naked first and then bathe, but not to bathe and then be naked; to sacrifice first and then partake, but not to partake and then sacrifice; for things, before and after each have their appropriateness. On the day of sacrifice one says the dog has had pups; on the evening of a wedding one speaks of mourning garments; on the day of a feast one speaks of tomb-sweeping; when crossing the Yangtze or Yellow River one speaks of the waves of Marquis Yang. Some say that knowing a general amnesty is coming, one should kill more people; others say that knowing a general amnesty is coming, one should save more people; the hope for amnesty is the same, but benefit and harm differ. So some blow on fire and it burns, some blow on fire and it goes out; so the blowing differs. To cook an ox to entertain the villagers but curse the east house's mother, virtue is not repaid and one's own person sees danger. King Wen had a sunken chest and Bao Shen was hunchbacked, yet they brought about the good governing of Chu. Pi Chen knew once he went out beyond the outer wall, and so accomplished Zichan's affairs. A short man asked a tall man how high Heaven is, and the tall man said: "I don't know." The short man said: "Though you don't know, you are still closer than I am." So in asking about anything, one must ask those who are near. When bandits and calamity came, a lame man told a blind man, and the blind man carried him on his back and ran; both lived, each getting what he was able to do. So if one made the blind man speak and the lame man run, they would lose their place. A man of Ying who sold his mother begged the buyer: "This mother is old! I hope you will feed her well and not make her suffer." This is one doing a great unrighteousness yet wanting to do a small righteousness. The shelled insect's movement uses its hardness, the bee's movement uses its poisonous sting, the bear's movement uses its seizing and grappling, and the wild ox's movement uses its butting; no creature sets aside its strength to use its weakness. One who governs a state is like one hoeing a field, merely removing what harms the seedlings. Now one who washes his hair loses hairs, yet still washes without stopping, because what is lost is little and what is gained is much.

砥石不利而可以利金，擏不正而可以正弓，物固有不正而可以正，不利而可以利。力貴齊，知貴捷。得之同，速為上；勝之同，遲為下。所以貴鏌邪者，以其應物而斷割也。𠟣靡勿釋，牛車絕轔。為孔子之窮於陳、蔡而廢六藝，則惑；為醫之不能自治其病，病而不就藥，則勃矣。

A whetstone that is not sharp can sharpen metal, and a bow frame that is not straight can straighten bows; things inherently include those that are not straight yet can straighten and not sharp yet can sharpen. In strength uniformity is valued, in wisdom quickness is valued. When what is gained is the same, the quick one is superior; when what is won is the same, the slow one is inferior. So the Moye sword is valued because it cuts through whatever it meets. (An obscure character in the base text.) Grinding without letting go can even wear through a doorsill with an ox cart. To abandon the Six Arts because Confucius was in trouble in Chen and Cai is to be deluded; to refuse medicine when ill because a doctor cannot cure his own illness is to be perverse.

以一世之度制治天下，譬猶客之乘舟，中流遺其劍，遽契其舟桅，暮薄而求之，其不知物類亦甚矣！夫隨一隅之跡，而不知因天地以遊，惑莫大焉。雖時有所合，然而不足貴也。譬若旱歲之土龍，疾疫之芻狗，是時為帝者也。曹氏之裂布，蛷者貴之，然非夏后氏之璜。無古無今，無始無終，未有天地而生天地，至深微廣大矣。足以蹍者淺矣，然待所不蹍而後行；智所知者褊矣，然待所不知而後明。遊者以足蹶，以手㧊，不得其數，愈蹶愈敗；及其能遊者，非手足者矣。鳥飛反鄉，兔走歸窟，狐死首丘，寒將翔水，各哀其所生。毋貽盲者鏡，毋予躄者履，毋賞越人章甫，非其用也。椎固有柄，不能自椓；目見百步之外，不能自見其眥。狗彘不擇甂甌而食，偷肥其體而顧近其死；鳳皇高翔千仞之上，故莫之能致。月照天下，蝕於詹諸；騰蛇遊霧，而殆於蝍蛆；烏力勝日，而服於鵻禮；能有修短也。莫壽於殤子，而彭祖為夭矣。短綆不可以汲深，器小不可以盛大，非其任也。怒出於不怒，為出於不為。視於無形，則得其所見矣；聽於無聲，則得其所聞矣。至味不慊，至言不文，至樂不笑，至音不叫，大匠不斲，大豆不具，大勇不鬥，得道而德從之矣。譬若黃鐘之比宮，太簇之比商，無更調焉。以瓦鉒者全，以金鉒者跋，以玉鉒者發，是故所重者在外，則內為之掘。逐獸者目不見太山，嗜慾在外，則明所蔽矣。聽有音之音者聾，聽無音之音者聰；不聾不聰，與神明通。卜者操龜，筮者端策，以問於數，安所問之哉！舞者舉節，坐者不期而𢬵皆如一，所極同也。日出暘谷，入於虞淵，莫知其動，須臾之間，俛人之頸。人莫欲學御龍，而皆欲學御馬，莫欲學治鬼，而皆欲學治人，急所用也。解門以為薪，塞井以為臼，人之從事，或時相似。水火相憎，鏏在其間，五味以和。骨肉相愛，讒賊間之，而父子相危。

To govern the world by the institutions of one age is like a passenger on a boat who loses his sword in midstream and hurriedly carves a mark on the gunwale, planning to look for it after landing at dusk; he does not understand the nature of things, which is quite excessive! To follow only the traces of one corner and not know how to roam by relying on Heaven and Earth: no confusion is greater than this. Although one may sometimes hit the mark, it is not worth valuing. It is like the clay dragon in a year of drought and the straw dog at a time of plague, which are treated as emperors only at that time. A cloth torn by Master Cao is valued by a man who is bitten by the qiu insect, but it is not the jade of the House of Xia. There is no ancient and no modern, no beginning and no end; before there were Heaven and Earth it produced Heaven and Earth, and it is of utmost depth, subtlety and vastness. The ground one stands on is shallow, yet one must wait for the ground one does not stand on before one can walk; what wisdom knows is narrow, yet one must wait for what it does not know before one can be bright. A swimmer who kicks with his feet and paddles with his hands without getting the knack fails the more he kicks; only when he really can swim does he no longer rely on his hands and feet. Birds fly back to their native land, hares run back to their burrows, a dying fox points its head toward its hill, and the cold-general bird soars above the water, each mourning and thinking of the place where it was born. Do not give a mirror to a blind man, do not give shoes to a lame man, and do not bestow ceremonial caps on the people of Yue, for they are not what they use. A mallet has a handle but cannot strike itself; eyes can see a hundred paces away but cannot see their own corners. Pigs and dogs eat without choosing between basins and jars, and fatten their bodies by stealth only to draw closer to death; the phoenix soars above a thousand ren, and so no one can bring it in. The moon shines on the world yet is eaten by the toad; the flying serpent roams in the mist yet is endangered by the centipede; the crow's strength surpasses the sun's, yet it submits to the zhuili bird; they have what is long and what is short. No one lives longer than one who died young, and Peng Zu became one who died early. A short rope cannot draw from a deep well, a small vessel cannot hold great affairs; they are not what they can bear. Anger comes out of not being angry, and action out of non-action. Look at the formless and you obtain what is seen; listen to the soundless and you obtain what is heard. The utmost flavor is not greedy for sating, the utmost speech is not ornamented, the utmost joy does not laugh, the utmost sound does not shout, the great craftsman does not hack and cut, the great bean is not fully prepared, the great courage does not fight; when one obtains Way and virtue, they follow. It is like the Huangzhong note matched with gong and the Taicu note matched with shang, with no need to change the tuning. One who gambles with tiles keeps them whole, one who gambles with gold goes crooked, one who gambles with jade scatters; so what is valued lies outside, and within one is hollowed out. One who chases beasts cannot see Mount Tai with his eyes; with desires outside, brightness is covered. One who hears the sound that has sound becomes deaf, and one who hears the sound that has no sound becomes keen; neither deaf nor keen, he communicates with the spirits. Those who divine hold the tortoise and those who consult yarrow hold the stalks, and having gone to ask about the numbers, what more is there to ask? Dancers raise their hands according to the beat, and those who sit, without agreeing, all look like one, arriving at the same place. The sun comes out from the Sunny Valley and enters the Abyss of Yu, and no one knows it is moving, yet in a moment it lowers people's necks. No one wants to learn to drive a dragon, but everyone wants to learn to ride a horse; no one wants to learn to manage ghosts, but everyone wants to learn to manage people; this is from hurrying toward what is used. People take down a door for firewood and plug a well as a mortar; in doing things, people are sometimes like this. Water and fire hate each other, but with a cauldron between them the five flavors are harmonized. Bone and flesh love each other, but when slander and thieves sow discord, father and son harm each other.

夫所以養而害所養，譬猶削足而適履，殺頭而便冠。昌羊去蚤蝨而來蚙窮，除小害而致大賊，欲小快而害大利。牆之壞也，不若無也，然逾屋之覆。璧瑗成器，礛諸之功；鏌邪斷割，砥礪之力。狡兔得而獵犬烹，高鳥盡而強弩藏。虻與驥，致千里而不飛，無糗糧之資而不飢。失火而遇雨，失火則不幸，遇雨則幸也，故禍中有福也。鬻棺者欲民之疾病也，畜粟者欲歲之荒饑也。水靜則平，平則清，清則見物之形，弗能匿也，故可以為正。川竭而谷虛，丘夷而淵塞，唇竭而齒寒。河水之深，其壤在山。鈞之縞也，一端以為冠，一端以為𥿉，冠則戴致之，𥿉則蹍履之。知己者不可誘以物，明於死生者不可卻以危，故善遊者不可懼以涉。親莫親於骨肉，節族之屬連也，心失其制，乃反自害，況疏遠乎！聖人之於道，猶葵之與日也，雖不能與終始哉，其鄉之誠也。宮池涔則溢，旱則涸；江水之原，淵泉不能竭。蓋非橑不能蔽日，輪非輻不能追疾，然而橑輻未足恃也。金勝木者，非以一刃殘林也；土勝水者，非以一墣塞江也。躄者見虎而不走，非勇，勢不便也。傾者易覆也，倚者易軵也。幾易助也，濕易雨也。設鼠者機動，釣魚者泛杭，任動者車鳴也。芻狗能立而不能行，蛇床似麋蕪而不能芳。謂許由無德，烏獲無力，莫不醜於色，人莫不奮於其所不足。以兔之走，使犬如馬，則逮日歸風；及其為馬，則又不能走矣。冬有雷電，夏有霜雪，然而寒暑之勢不易，小變不足以妨大節。黃帝生陰陽，上駢生耳目，桑林生臂手，此女媧所以七十化也。終日之言必有聖之事，百發之中必有羿、逢蒙之巧，然而世不與也，其守節非也。牛蹄彘顱亦骨也，而世弗灼，必問吉凶於龜者，以其歷歲久矣。近敖倉者不為之多飯，臨江、河者不為之多飲，期滿腹而已。蘭芝以芳，未嘗見霜；鼓造闢兵，壽盡五月之望。舌之與齒，孰先礱也？

What is used to nourish harms what is nourished, like cutting the foot to fit the shoe or cutting the head to suit the cap. The fragrant plant that removes fleas and lice invites centipedes; removing a small harm invites a great thief, wanting small pleasure but harming great benefit. A broken wall is worse than no wall, but still better than a collapsed house. A jade disc becomes a vessel by the work of a gritty stone; Moye can cut because of the strength of the whetstone. A cunning hare, once the hunting dog is obtained, is cooked; a high-flying bird, once the strong crossbow is exhausted, is put away. A gadfly following a fine horse reaches a thousand li without flying and is not hungry without provisions. A fire breaks out and it rains: the fire is a misfortune and the rain a fortune, so within misfortune there is fortune. One who sells coffins hopes people will fall ill, and one who hoards grain hopes for a famine year. When water is still it is level, level it is clear, clear one sees the shape of things which cannot hide, so it can serve as a standard. When rivers dry up, valleys are empty; when hills are leveled, abysses are filled; when lips are gone, teeth are cold. The depth of the Yellow River has its soil on the mountains. The same white silk, made into a cap at one end and into socks at the other: the cap is worn on the head and the socks are trodden on. One who knows himself cannot be lured by things, and one who understands life and death cannot be driven back by danger, so a good swimmer cannot be made afraid by fording water. No one is closer than flesh and blood, and sinews and joints and the clan are connected; if the heart loses its restraint, one then harms oneself, how much more distant people! The sage's relation to the Way is like the sunflower's relation to the sun: although it cannot end and begin together with it, its yearning is sincere. A palace pond overflows when rain accumulates and dries up in drought; the source of the river, the abyssal spring, cannot be exhausted. A carriage canopy without ribs cannot shade the sun, and a wheel without spokes cannot run fast, yet ribs and spokes are not enough to rely on. Metal overcomes wood, but it is not with one blade that a forest can be destroyed; earth overcomes water, but it is not with one clod that a river can be blocked. A lame man who sees a tiger and does not run is not brave; it is that the circumstance is not convenient. What leans is easily overturned and what props is easily turned. What is near is easily helped and what is damp easily rains. When the mousetrap is triggered, when the fishing float shakes, when a load moves, the cart creaks. A straw dog can stand but cannot walk, and snake-bed grass resembles angelica but is not fragrant. To say that Xu You had no virtue or that Wu Huo had no strength, no one would fail to look displeased; people always rise up at the point where they feel their own lack. With the running of a hare, if one made a dog like a horse, it could catch up with the sun and chase the wind; but when it really becomes a horse, it cannot run like that anymore. There is thunder and lightning in winter and frost and snow in summer, but the tendency of cold and heat does not change; small changes are not enough to harm the great measure. The Yellow Emperor produced yin and yang, Shangpian produced ears and eyes, Sanglin produced arms and hands; this is why Nuwa had seventy transformations. Someone who talks all day is bound to say something of a sage's matters; of a hundred shots there is bound to be a skill of Yi and Pang Meng; but people of the world do not praise it because the restraint he observes is not right. An ox hoof and a pig skull are also bones, yet the world does not use them for scorching; they always ask the tortoise about good and ill fortune, because it has passed through many years. Those who live near the Ao Granary do not eat more because of it, and those who live by the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers do not drink more because of it, hoping only to fill their bellies. Orchid and ganoderma, because they are fragrant, have never seen frost; the Gu Zao creature can ward off weapons, but its lifespan ends at the full moon of the fifth month. The tongue and the teeth: which is worn out first?

錞之與刃，孰先獘也？繩之與矢，孰先直也？今媆之與蛇，蠶之與蠋，狀相類而愛憎異。晉以垂棘之璧得虞、虢，驪戎以美女亡晉國。聾者不歌，無以自樂；盲者不觀，無以接物。觀射者遺其𠙜，觀書者忘其愛，意有所在，則忘其所守。古之所為不可更，則推車至今無蟬匷。使但吹竽，使氐厭竅，雖中節而不可聽，無其君形者也。與死者同病，難為良醫；與亡國同道，難與為謀。為客治飯而自藜藿，名尊於實也。乳狗之噬虎也，伏雞之搏狸也，恩之所加，不量其力。使景曲者，形也；使響濁者，聲也。情洩者，中易測。華不時者，不可食也。蹠越者，或以舟，或以車，雖異路，所極一也。佳人不同體，美人不同面，而皆說於目；梨橘棘栗不同味，而皆調於口。人有盜而富者，富者未必盜；有廉而貧者，貧者未必廉。蔐苗類絮而不可為絮，黂不類布而可以為布。出林者不得直道，行險者不得履繩。羿之所以射遠中微者，非弓矢也；造父之所以追速致遠者，非轡銜也。海內其所出，故能大；輪復其所過，故能遠。羊肉不慕螘，螘慕於羊肉，羊肉羶也；醯酸不慕蚋，蚋慕於醯酸。嘗一臠肉而知一鑊之味，懸羽與炭而知燥濕之氣，以小見大，以近喻遠。十頃之陂可以灌四十頃，而一頃之陂可以灌四頃，大小之衰然。明月之光可以遠望，而不可以細書；甚霧之朝可以細書，而不可以遠望尋常之外。畫者謹毛而失貌，射者儀小而遺大。治鼠穴而壞裡閭，潰小皰而發痤疽，若珠之有纇，玉之有瑕，置之而全，去之而虧。榛巢者處林茂，安也；窟穴者託埵防，便也。王子慶忌足躡麋鹿，手搏兕虎，置之冥室之中，不能搏龜鱉，勢不便也。湯放其主而有榮名，崔杼弒其君而被大謗，所為之則同，其所以為之則異。呂望使老者奮，項託使嬰兒矜，以類相慕。使葉落者風搖之，使水濁者魚撓之。虎豹之文來射，蝯狖之捷來乍。

The mouth of a bell and a blade: which is destroyed first? The cord and the arrow: which is straight first? Now eels and snakes, silkworms and caterpillars look alike but are loved and hated differently. Jin used the jade of Chuiji and obtained Yu and Guo; the Li Rong used beautiful women and destroyed the state of Jin. A deaf person does not sing, having nothing with which to please himself; a blind person does not look, having nothing with which to meet things. One who watches archery forgets his own wine vessel (the source text has a rare character here), and one who reads forgets what he loves; when the mind is on something, one forgets what one guards. If what the ancients did could not be changed, then pushing carts would to this day not have developed into carriages shed like cicada shells. Have an entertainer blow the yu and an Di person stop the holes; although they keep the beat, it is not worth listening to, since the master of form is missing. To suffer the same illness as the dead makes it hard to be a good doctor; to be of the same way as a perishing state makes it hard to plan with him. To cook for a guest and eat goosefoot oneself is a name that is more honored than the reality. A suckling dog bites a tiger and a brooding hen fights a wildcat; when favor is added from above, one does not measure one's strength. What makes a shadow bend is the form; what makes an echo muddy is the sound. When feelings leak out, what is inside is easy to measure. Flowers that bloom out of season cannot be eaten. Those who go to Yue, some by boat and some by cart; although the roads differ, where they arrive is one. Fair women have different bodies and beauties different faces but all please the eye; pears, oranges, jujubes and chestnuts have different tastes but all suit the mouth. Some people get rich by theft, but the rich are not necessarily thieves; some are poor by integrity, but the poor are not necessarily honest. Reed sprouts look like cotton wool but cannot serve as cotton, and hemp does not look like cloth but can be made into cloth. One who comes out of a forest cannot walk on a straight road, and one who walks on a dangerous road cannot tread on the ink line. What makes Yi shoot far and hit the tiny is not the bow and arrow; what makes Zaofu chase fast and reach far is not the reins and bit. The sea holds what flows into it and so can be great; a wheel turns over what it passes and so can go far. Mutton does not envy ants, but ants envy mutton, for mutton is rank; vinegar's sourness does not envy gnats, but gnats envy vinegar's sourness. By tasting one piece of meat one knows the flavor of a whole pot; by hanging feathers and charcoal one knows the dryness and moisture of the air; one sees the large by the small and illustrates the far by the near. A pond of ten qing can irrigate forty qing, and a pond of one qing can irrigate four qing; such is the graded difference of large and small. The light of the bright moon can be seen from afar but cannot be used to write fine characters; on a very foggy morning one can write fine characters but cannot see beyond the ordinary distance. A painter who is cautious about hairs loses the appearance, and an archer who aims at small things misses the large. If one treats a rat hole and wrecks the lanes, or squeezes a small boil and causes a carbuncle, it is like a pearl with a flaw or jade with a blemish: leave it and it is whole, remove it and it is damaged. Those in a thicket nest, dwelling in a dense forest, are at ease; those in burrows, relying on embankments and earth mounds, find it convenient. Prince Qingji could tread on elk and deer with his feet and fight rhinoceroses and tigers with his hands, but placed in a dark room he could not fight a turtle, because the circumstances were not convenient. Tang banished his lord and had glorious fame, while Cui Zhu murdered his ruler and was greatly condemned; what they did was the same but why they did it was different. Lü Wang made old men rouse themselves and Xiang Tuo made infants proud; it is mutual envy by category. What makes leaves fall is the wind shaking them, and what makes water muddy is fish stirring it. The patterns of tigers and leopards invite arrows, and the agility of apes and monkeys invites spears.

行一棋不足以見智，彈一弦不足以見悲。三寸之管而無當，天下弗能滿；十石而有塞，百鬥而足矣。以篙測江，篙終而以水為測，惑矣。漁者走淵，木者走山，所急者存也。朝之市則走，夕過市則步，所求者亡也。豹裘而雜，不若狐裘之粹；白璧有考，不得為寶；言至純之難也。戰兵死之鬼憎神巫，盜賊之輩醜吠狗。無鄉之社易為黍肉，無國之稷易為求福。鱉無耳，而目不可以瞥，精於明也。瞽無目，而耳不可以察，精於聰也。遺腹子不思其父，無貌於心也；不夢見像，無形於目也。蝮蛇不可為足，虎豹不可使緣木。馬不食脂，桑扈不啄粟，非廉也。秦通崤塞，而魏築城也。飢馬在廄，寂然無聲；投芻其旁，爭心乃生。引弓而射，非弦不能發矢，弦之為射，百分之一也。道德可常，權不可常，故遁關不可復，亡犴不可再。環可以喻員，不必以輪；絛可以為繶，不必以紃。日月不並出，狐不二雄，神龍不匹，猛獸不群，鷙鳥不雙。循繩而斲則不過，懸衡而量則不差，植表而望則不惑。損年則嫌於弟，益年則疑於兄，不如循其理，若其當。人不見龍之飛，舉而能高者，風雨奉之。蠹眾則木折，隙大則牆壞。懸垂之類，有時而隧；枝格之屬，有時而弛。當凍而不死者，不失其適；當暑而不暍者，不亡其適；未嘗適，亡其適。湯沐具而蟣蝨相弔，大廈成而燕雀相賀，憂樂別也。柳下惠見飴，曰可以養老；盜蹠見飴，曰可以黏牡；見物同，而用之異。蠶食而不飲，二十二日而化；蟬飲而不食，三十日而脫；蜉蝣不食不飲，三日而死；人食礜石而死，蠶食之而不飢；魚食巴菽而死，鼠食之而肥；類不可必推。瓦以火成，不可以得火；竹以水生，不可以得水。揚堁而欲弭塵，被裘而以翣翼，豈若適衣而已哉！槁竹有火，弗鑽不燃；土中有水，弗掘無泉。蛖象之病，人之寶也；人之病，將有誰寶之者乎？

A single move at chess is not enough to see wisdom, and plucking a single string is not enough to see sorrow. A three-inch pipe without a bottom cannot be filled even by the whole world; a ten-shi vessel with a stopper needs only a hundred dou. Measuring a river with a pole, when the pole reaches its end one takes the water as measured out; that is confusion. Fishermen run to the deep abyss and woodcutters run to the mountains, because what they urgently need is there. One who goes to market in the morning runs, and one who passes through the market in the evening walks, because what he seeks is gone. A leopard-fur coat that is mottled is not as good as a pure fox-fur coat; a white jade disc with a flaw cannot be treasured; this speaks of the difficulty of utmost purity. The ghosts of soldiers killed in battle hate shamans, and bandit gangs dislike barking dogs. A village-less altar finds it easy to prepare millet and meat, and a state-less grain-god finds it easy to seek blessing. A turtle has no ears yet its eyes cannot glance aside, being refined in sight. A blind person has no eyes yet his ears cannot observe, being refined in hearing. A posthumous child does not long for his father, having no appearance in his heart; he does not dream of an image, having no shape in his eyes. One cannot add feet to a viper, nor make a tiger or leopard climb a tree. Horses do not eat fat and the sangu bird does not peck millet, but that is not integrity. Qin opened the Xiao Pass and Wei built a wall. A hungry horse in a stable is silent; when fodder is thrown to one side, the spirit of contention arises. When drawing a bow and shooting, without a string there is no arrow shot, but the string makes up only one hundredth of the shooting. Way and virtue can be constant, but expedient measures cannot be constant, so one who escapes through a pass cannot come again, and one who escapes from prison cannot offend again. A ring can be a metaphor for the round without needing a wheel; a braid can serve as a rope without needing a strong cord. The sun and moon do not come out together, a fox does not have two males, a divine dragon does not pair, fierce beasts do not form herds, and raptors do not form pairs. Cutting along a line does not overshoot, hanging a balance to weigh does not err, and setting up a gnomon to look does not confuse. If one subtracts years, one is disliked by one's younger brother, and if one adds years, one is suspected by one's elder brother; it is better to follow the principle, as it should be. People do not see a dragon fly yet it ascends high, because wind and rain support it. If worms are numerous, the wood breaks; if cracks are wide, the wall collapses. Things that hang down sometimes fall, and branching things sometimes slacken. Those who should freeze but do not die have not lost their suitability; those who should suffer heat but do not have not forgotten their suitability; one who has never been suited has truly lost suitability. When the bath is prepared the lice mourn one another, and when the great hall is completed the swallows and sparrows congratulate one another; worry and joy differ. Liuxia Hui saw malt sugar and said it could nurse the old; Robber Zhi saw malt sugar and said it could glue door bolts; the thing seen was the same but the use was different. Silkworms eat but do not drink and transform in twenty-two days; cicadas drink but do not eat and molt in thirty days; mayflies neither eat nor drink and die in three days; people who eat arsenic die, but silkworms who eat it are not hungry; fish that eat croton die but rats that eat it grow fat; categories cannot be inferred rigidly. Tiles are made by fire but cannot obtain fire again; bamboo grows by water but cannot obtain water again. Throwing up earth to stop dust, or wearing fur while fanning oneself, how can that match clothing that is suitable! Dry bamboo has fire in it, but without drilling it does not burn; the earth has water in it, but without digging there is no spring. The illness of the oyster and the elephant is a treasure for people; who then would treasure the illness of people?

為酒人之利而不酤，則竭；為車人之利而不僦，則不達。握火提人，反先之熱。鄰之母死，往哭之，妻死而不泣，有所劫以然也。西方之裸國，鳥獸弗闢，與為一也。一膊炭熯，掇之則爛指；萬石俱熯，去之十步而不死；同氣異積也。大勇小勇，有似於此。今有六尺之席，臥而越之，下材弗難；植而踰之，上材弗易；勢施異也。百梅足以為百人酸，一梅不足以為一人和。有以飯死者而禁天下之食，有以車為敗者而禁天下之乘，則悖矣。釣者靜之，𦋯者扣舟；罩者抑之，罣者舉之；為之異，得魚一也。見象牙乃知其大於牛，見虎尾乃知其大於狸，一節見而百節知也。小國不鬥於大國之間，兩鹿不鬥於伏兕之旁。佐祭者得嘗，救鬥者得傷。蔭不祥之木，為雷電所撲。或謂冢，或謂隴；或謂笠，或謂簦。頭蝨與空木之瑟，名同實異也。日月欲明而浮雲蓋之，蘭芝欲修而秋風敗之。虎有子，不能搏攫者，輒殺之，為墮武也。龜紐之璽，賢者以為佩；土壤布在田，能者以為富。予拯溺者金玉，不若尋常之纏索。視書，上有酒者，下必有肉，上有年者，下必有月，以類而取之。蒙塵而眯，固其理也；為其不出戶而堁之也。屠者羹藿，為車者步行，陶者用缺盆，匠人處狹廬，為者不必用，用者弗肯為。轂立，三十輻各盡其力，不得相害。使一輻獨入，眾輻皆棄，豈能致千里哉？夜行者掩目而前其手，涉水者解其馬載之舟，事有所宜，而有所不施。橘柚有鄉，雚葦有叢。獸同足者相從遊，鳥同翼者相從翔。田中之潦，流入於海；附耳之言，聞於千里也。蘇秦步，曰何故；趍，曰何趍馳；有為則議，多事固苛。皮將弗睹，毛將何顧！畏首畏尾，身凡有幾！欲觀九州之土，足無千里之行；心無政教之原，而欲為萬民之上；則難。旳旳者獲，提提者射，故大白若辱，大德若不足。

If one refuses to buy wine because the wine-seller profits, one will go dry; if one refuses to hire a carriage because the carriage-owner profits, one cannot arrive. If you hold a fire to throw at someone, you burn yourself first. When a neighbor's mother dies you go and weep for her, but when your own wife dies you do not weep; it is because of some compulsion that one does so. In the naked state of the west, birds and beasts do not flee, because they are one with them. A piece of burning charcoal, if you take hold of it, burns your fingers; ten thousand dan burning together, ten paces away you do not die; it is the same qi but gathered differently. Great courage and small courage are somewhat like this. Now there is a six-foot mat; lying down and stepping over it is not hard even for the lowest talent, but standing up and leaping over it is not easy even for the highest talent; the setup of the circumstance differs. A hundred plums are enough to give a hundred people sourness, but one plum is not enough to flavor one person. To forbid the whole world to eat because someone choked on food, or to forbid the whole world to ride in carriages because someone overturned one, would be perverse. A fisherman is still, while one who knocks the boat taps it; one who uses a basket presses down and one who hangs a net lifts up; the methods differ, but the catch is the same. Seeing ivory, one knows it is bigger than an ox; seeing a tiger's tail, one knows it is bigger than a wildcat; seeing one section one knows a hundred sections. A small state does not fight among great states, and two deer do not fight beside a crouching rhinoceros. One who helps at a sacrifice gets to taste, and one who breaks up a fight gets injured. Taking shade under an ill-omened tree, one is struck by lightning. Some call it a tomb mound and some a ridge; some call it a bamboo hat and some an umbrella. Lice on the head and a lute of hollow wood have the same name but different realities. The sun and moon want to be bright but are covered by floating clouds, orchids want to grow but are ruined by the autumn wind. A tigress has cubs, and those that cannot seize and grab she kills, fearing they will let down her martial character. A seal with a tortoise knob, the worthy take and wear; soil spread over fields, the capable take and enrich themselves with. Giving gold and jade to one who is rescuing a drowning person is not as good as an ordinary rope. In reading, if there is wine above there must be meat below, if there is the year above there must be the month below; one infers by category. When dust gets into the eye, that is how it should be; but to blame it for not leaving the gate and still stirring up dust is wrong. A butcher drinks bean-leaf soup, a wheelwright goes on foot, a potter uses a broken basin, and a craftsman lives in a narrow house; those who make a thing do not necessarily use it, and those who use it will not make it. When a hub stands, the thirty spokes each exert their strength and cannot hinder one another. If one spoke alone is let in and the multitude of spokes are discarded, how could one reach a thousand li? One who walks at night puts his hand forward covering his eyes, and one who fords a river unyokes the horse and loads it onto the boat; each matter has what is fitting and what is not to be applied. Oranges and pomelos have their homeland, and reeds have their clumps. Beasts with the same feet roam together, and birds with the same wings soar together. Water standing in a field flows into the sea; words whispered near the ear travel a thousand li. When Su Qin walked, people asked why; when he ran, people asked why he rushed; with action there is comment, and with fuss there is naturally blame. When the skin is about to be invisible, why care about the hair! Fearful of head and fearful of tail, how much of the body is left! Wanting to see the soil of the nine regions while one's feet have no journey of a thousand li, having no source of government and teaching in one's heart yet wanting to be above the myriad people: that is hard. What is conspicuous is caught, what is calm is shot; so great whiteness seems tarnished and great virtue seems insufficient.

未嘗稼穡粟滿倉，未嘗桑蠶絲滿囊，得之不以道，用之必橫。海不受流胔，太山不上小人，旁光不升俎，?駁不入牲。中夏用箑，快之，至冬而不知去；褰衣涉水，至陵而不知下；未可以應變。有山無林，有谷無風，有石無金。滿堂之坐，視鉤各異，於環帶一也。獻公之賢，欺於驪姬；叔孫之智，欺於豎牛。故鄭詹入魯，春秋曰「佞人來，佞人來」。君子有酒，鄙人鼓缶，雖不見好，亦不見醜。人性便絲衣帛，或射之則被鎧甲，為其所不便以得所便。輻之入轂，各值其鑿，不得相通，猶人臣各守其職，不得相干。嘗被甲而免射者，被而入水；嘗抱壺而度水者，抱而蒙火；可謂不知類矣。君子之居民上，若以腐索御奔馬，若蹍薄冰，蛟在其下，若入林而遇乳虎。善用人者，若蚈之足，眾而不相害；若唇之與齒，堅柔相摩而不相敗。清醠之美，始於耒耜；黼黻之美，在於杼軸。布之新不如紵，紵之獘不如布，或善為新，或惡為故。𩉇䩉在頰則好，在顙則醜。繡，以為裳則宜，以為冠則譏。馬齒非牛蹄，檀根非椅枝，故見其一本而萬物知。石生而堅，蘭生而芳，少自其質，長而愈明。扶之與提，謝之與讓，故之與先，諾之與已也，之與矣，相去千里。汙準而粉其顙；腐鼠在壇，燒薰於宮；入水而憎濡，懷臭而求芳；雖善者弗能為工。再生者不穫，華大旱者不胥時落。毋曰不幸，甑終不墮井。抽簪招燐，有何為驚！使人無度河，可；中河使無度，不可。見虎一文，不知其武；見驥一毛，不知善走。水蠆為蟌，孑孑為蚊，兔齧為螚，物之所為，出於不意，弗知者驚，知者不怪。銅英青，金英黃，玉英白，𢊱燭捔，膏燭澤也，以微知明，以外知內。象肉之味不知於口，鬼神之貌不著於目，捕景之說不形於心。冬冰可折，夏木可結，時難得而易失。木方茂盛，終日採而不知；秋風下霜，一夕而殫。

One who never farmed yet has granaries full of grain, one who never raised silkworms yet has bags full of silk, has gained it not by the Way, and in using it will surely be wasteful. The sea does not accept drifting rotting meat, Mount Tai does not let petty people ascend it, a bladder does not go onto the sacrificial stand, and a mottled animal does not enter the sacrifice. In midsummer one uses a fan for comfort but in winter does not know to put it away; one lifts one's clothes to wade water but upon reaching a hillside does not know to put them down; this cannot respond to change. There are mountains without forests, valleys without wind, and stones without metal. A whole hall of people sit and look at belt hooks, each differing, but as for wrapping around the belt they are one. Duke Xian, so worthy, was deceived by Li Ji; Shusun, so wise, was deceived by Shu Niu. So when Zheng Zhan entered Lu, the Spring and Autumn Annals says: 'The flatterer has come, the flatterer has come.' The gentleman has wine and the rustic beats a clay jar; though not necessarily good, it is not necessarily ugly either. Human nature finds silk and brocade clothes comfortable, but when someone shoots at him, he puts on armor; he uses what is uncomfortable to obtain what is comfortable. Spokes entering a hub each face their own mortise and cannot connect with each other, like ministers each keeping to their duties and unable to meddle in one another's. One who once put on armor and was spared an arrow goes into water wearing armor; one who once crossed water holding a gourd holds a gourd to block fire; one can say they do not understand categories. A gentleman dwelling above the people is like driving a galloping horse with a rotten rope, like treading on thin ice with a flood-dragon below, like entering a forest and meeting a nursing tiger. One good at using people is like the centipede's legs: many yet not harming one another; like lips and teeth: hard and soft rub against each other yet do not ruin each other. The fineness of clear vinegar begins with the plow; the fineness of embroidered ceremonial dress lies in the shuttle and loom. When cloth is new it is not as good as ramie; when ramie is worn it is not as good as cloth; some are good at making the new and some dislike making the old. A dimple on the cheek is attractive; on the forehead it is ugly. Embroidery made into a skirt is suitable; made into a cap it is ridiculed. A horse's tooth is not an ox's hoof, and a sandalwood root is not a catalpa branch; so seeing one root of it, one knows the myriad things. Stone is hard from birth and orchid fragrant from birth; from childhood it has that quality, and when grown it is more evident. Fu and ti, xie and rang, gu and xian, nuo and yi, zhi and yi: these pairs of words are a thousand li apart. To soil the nose but powder the forehead; a rotten rat in the hall but burning incense in the palace; entering water yet hating to get wet; carrying stink in one's bosom yet seeking fragrance; even the best at it cannot make it skillful. A regrown crop is not harvested; flowers that open large in drought fall without waiting for their time. Do not speak of misfortune; the steamer will never fall into the well. To pull out a hairpin to summon will-o'-the-wisps, what is there to be startled by! To tell someone not to cross a river is fine; to tell him not to cross once he is in mid-river is not. Seeing one stripe of a tiger, one does not know its ferocity; seeing one hair of a thoroughbred, one does not know its speed. A water scorpion becomes a dragonfly, a wriggler becomes a mosquito, a rabbit gnawer becomes a nuo-insect; what things do comes from the unexpected, and those who do not know are startled while those who know do not find it strange. Copper's flower is blue, gold's flower is yellow, jade's flower is white; a hemp candle leans, a fat candle is moist; from the subtle one knows the clear and from the outer one knows the inner. The taste of elephant meat is not known in the mouth, the appearance of ghosts and spirits does not show in the eyes, and the theory of catching shadows does not take shape in the mind. Winter ice can be broken and summer wood can be tied; time is hard to obtain and easy to lose. When trees are in full lush growth, picking them all day is not noticed; when autumn wind brings frost, one night finishes them.

病熱而強之餐，救暍而飲之寒，救經而引其索，拯溺而授之石，欲救之，反為惡。雖欲謹亡馬，不發戶轔；雖欲豫就酒，不懷蓐。孟賁探鼠穴，鼠無時死，必噬其指，失其勢也。山雲蒸，柱礎潤；伏苓掘，兔絲死。一家失熛，百家皆燒；讒夫陰謀，百姓暴骸。粟得水濕而熱，甑得火而液，水中有火，火中有水。疾雷破石，陰陽相薄。湯沐之於河，有益不多。流潦注海，雖不能益，猶愈於已。一目之羅，不可以得鳥；無餌之釣，不可以得魚；遇士無禮，不可以得賢。兔絲無根而生，蛇無足而行，魚無耳而聽，蟬無口而鳴，有然之者也。鶴壽千歲，以極其遊；蜉朝生而暮死，而盡其樂。紂醢梅伯，文王與諸侯構之；桀辜諫者，湯使人哭之。狂馬不觸木，猘狗不自投於河，雖聾蟲而不自陷，又況人乎！愛熊而食之鹽，愛獺而飲之酒，雖欲養之，非其道。心所說，毀舟為杕；心所欲，毀鐘為鐸。管子以小辱成大榮，蘇秦以百誕成一誠。質的張而弓矢集，林木茂而斧斤入，非或召之，形勢所致者也。待利而後拯溺人，亦必以利溺人矣。舟能沉能浮，愚者不加足。騏驥驅之不進，引之不止，人君不以取道里。刺我行者，欲與我交；訾我貨者，欲與我市。以水和水不可食，一絃之瑟不可聽。駿馬以抑死，直士以正窮；賢者擯於朝，美女擯於宮。行者思於道，而居者夢於床；慈母吟於巷，適子懷於荊。赤肉懸則烏鵲集，鷹隼鷙則眾鳥散，物之散聚，交感以然。食其食者不毀其器，食其實者不折其枝。塞其源者竭，背其本者枯。交畫不暢，連環不解，其解之不以解。臨河而羨魚，不如歸家織網。明月之珠，蛖之病而我之利；虎爪象牙，禽獸之利而我之害。易道良馬，使人慾馳；飲酒而樂，使人慾歌。是而行之，故謂之斷；非而行之，必謂之亂。矢疾，不過二里也；步之遲，百舍不休，千里可致。聖人處於陰，眾人處於陽；

To force a person with a fever to eat, to give cold drink to one with heatstroke, to pull the rope of one who has hanged himself, to hand a stone to a drowning man: wanting to save him, one only does evil. Though one wants to look carefully for a lost horse, one does not open the cart's doorsill; though one wants to prepare in advance to take wine, one does not carry a mat in one's bosom. When Meng Ben probed a rat's hole, the rat never died at once, and it surely bit his finger, because he lost his advantage. When mountain clouds rise, the pillar base becomes moist; when poria is dug out, dodder dies. When one house loses a spark, a hundred houses burn; when a slanderer plots, the people lie exposed as bones. When millet gets damp it heats up; when a steamer meets fire it melts to juice; there is fire in water and water in fire. A sudden thunderclap splits stone; yin and yang press upon each other. Pouring bath water into a river benefits it, though not much. Accumulated water pouring into the sea cannot add to it, yet is still better than stopping. A one-mesh net cannot catch birds; a hook without bait cannot catch fish; treating officers without ritual cannot attract the worthy. Dodder has no root yet grows, snakes have no feet yet walk, fish have no ears yet hear, cicadas have no mouths yet cry; there is a reason for each. The crane lives a thousand years to exhaust its roaming; the mayfly is born at dawn and dies at dusk, yet exhausts its pleasure. Zhou minced Mei Bo into paste, and King Wen planned against him with the feudal lords; Jie laid out the remonstrators' corpses, and Tang sent people to weep. A mad horse does not crash into trees, a rabid dog does not throw itself into a river, and even ignorant insects do not fall into traps; how much more people! To love a bear but feed it salt, or love an otter but give it wine, though one wants to nurture them, is not the way. When the heart delights in something, one takes apart a boat to make a pen; when the heart wants something, one destroys a bell to make a bell-clapper. Guan Zi used a minor disgrace to achieve great glory, and Su Qin used a hundred absurdities to achieve one sincerity. When a target is set up, bows and arrows converge; when a forest is lush, axes enter; it is not that someone summons them but that circumstance leads them. To wait until it is profitable to save a drowning man will surely use profit to make people drown. A boat can sink or float, and clumsy people do not put their feet on it. A thoroughbred that will not go forward when driven and will not stop when pulled is not used by a ruler for traveling roads. One who criticizes my conduct wants to associate with me; one who disparages my goods wants to trade with me. Adding water to water cannot be eaten, and a zither with one string cannot be listened to. A fine horse dies from being restrained, a straight officer is impoverished by uprightness; the worthy are cast out by the court and beautiful women are cast out by the palace. Travelers think at the roadside, and those who stay at home dream in bed; a loving mother sighs in the lane, and her son who has gone out yearns in Chu. When red meat is hung up, crows and magpies gather; when hawks strike, the birds scatter; the scattering and gathering of things happen by mutual response. One who eats its food does not break its vessel; one who eats its fruit does not break its branch. If the source is blocked it dries up; if the root is turned from it withers. Crossed drawn lines are not clear and linked rings cannot be undone, yet undoing them does not rely on force. To face a river and envy the fish is not as good as going home to weave a net. The bright moon pearl is a clam's illness but my benefit; tiger claws and elephant tusks are the beasts' benefit but my harm. A level road and a good horse make people want to gallop; the joy of wine makes people want to sing. To act on what is right is called decisive; to act on what is wrong must be called disorder. An arrow is fast but does not go beyond two li; walking slowly, with a hundred stops without rest, one can reach a thousand li. The sage dwells in the shade, the multitude dwell in the sun;

聖人行於水，眾人行於霜。異音者不可聽以一律，異形者不可合於一體。農夫勞而君子養焉，愚者言而智者擇焉。捨茂林而集於枯，不弋鵠而弋烏，難與有圖。寅丘無壑，泉原不溥；尋常之壑，灌千頃之澤。見之明白，處之如玉石；見之闇晦，必留其謀。以天下之大，託於一人之才，譬若懸千鈞之重於木之一枝。負子而登牆，謂之不祥，為其一人隕而兩人傷。善舉事者，若乘舟而悲歌，一人唱而千人和。不能耕而欲黍粱，不能織而喜採裳，無事而求其功，難矣。有榮華者必有憔悴，有羅紈者必有麻蒯。鳥有沸波者，河伯為之不潮，畏其誠也；故一夫出死，千乘不輕。蝮蛇螫人，傅以和堇則愈，物故有重而害反為利者。聖人之處亂世，若夏暴而待暮，桑榆之間，逾易忍也。水雖平，必有波；衡雖正，必有差；尺寸雖齊，必有詭。非規矩不能定方圓，非準繩不能正曲直；用規矩準繩者，亦有規矩準繩焉。舟覆乃見善遊，馬奔乃見良御。嚼而無味者弗能內於喉，視而無形者不能思於心。兕虎在於後，隨侯之珠在於前，弗及掇者，先避患而後就利。逐鹿者不顧兔，決千金之貨者不爭銖兩之價。弓先調而後求勁，馬先馴而後求良，人先信而後求能。陶人棄索，車人掇之；屠者棄銷，而鍛者拾之；所緩急異也。百星之明不如一月之光，十牖之開不如一戶之明。矢之於十步貫兕甲，及其極，不能入魯縞。太山之高，背而弗見；秋豪之末，視之可察。山生金，反自刻；木生蠹，反自食；人生事，反自賊。巧治不能鑄木，工巧不能斲金者，形性然也。白玉不琢，美珠不文，質有餘也。故跬步不休，跛鱉千里；累積不輟，可成丘阜。城成於上，木直於下，非有事焉，所緣使然。凡用人之道，若以燧取火，疏之則弗得，數之則弗中，正在疏數之間。從朝視夕者移，從枉準直者虧；聖人之偶物也，若以鏡視形，曲得其情。

the sage walks on water, the multitude walk on frost. Different tones cannot be listened to by one pitch, and different forms cannot be joined into one body. The farmer toils and the gentleman is fed; the fool speaks and the wise selects. To abandon a lush forest and perch on a dead tree, to not shoot swans but shoot crows, is hard to plan with. A mound without a ravine does not have a wide spring; an ordinary ravine can irrigate a marsh of a thousand qing. Seeing what is clear, one disposes as if jade were split apart; seeing what is obscure, one must leave room for deliberation. To entrust a world as great as this to the talent of one person is like hanging a weight of a thousand jun on a single branch. To climb a wall carrying a child is called ill-omened, because if one falls two are hurt. One good at launching undertakings is like singing a sad song on a boat: one person sings and a thousand join in. Wanting millet and sorghum without being able to farm, loving colored clothes without being able to weave, seeking achievement without doing the work is hard. Where there is splendor there is surely withering; where there are fine silks there are surely hemp and rush. A bird that stirs up waves keeps the River Earl from surging, out of fear of its sincerity; so when one commoner exerts himself to the death, even a lord of a thousand chariots does not dare to belittle him. When a viper bites a person, applying hehe and aconite cures him; things inherently include those that seem gravely harmful yet turn into benefit. The sage in a disordered age is like one bathing in the summer sun waiting for evening; between mulberry and elm, it is easier to endure. Water, though level, surely has waves; a balance, though straight, surely has error; inches and feet, though even, surely have deviation. Without compass and square one cannot fix the square and circle; without a plumb line one cannot straighten crooked from straight; those who use compass, square, and line have their own compass, square, and line. Only when a boat capsizes does one see who is good at swimming, and only when a horse bolts does one see the good driver. One who chews something tasteless cannot swallow it, and one who looks at something formless cannot think of it in the heart. A rhinoceros and tiger behind, the Marquis of Sui's pearl in front; there is no time to pick it up; first one avoids calamity and then goes for benefit. One chasing a deer pays no attention to a hare, and one deciding on goods worth a thousand in gold does not haggle over a few grains. First tune the bow and then seek strength; first train the horse and then seek quality; first be trustworthy and then seek ability. The potter throws away the rope and the cartwright picks it up; the butcher throws away the iron scraps and the smith picks them up; what is urgent differs. The brightness of a hundred stars is not as good as the light of one moon; opening ten windows is not as good as opening one door. An arrow within ten paces can pierce a rhinoceros hide, but at its extreme it cannot enter thin Lu silk. Mount Tai is so high, but with your back to it you cannot see it; the tip of an autumn hair can be discerned by looking closely. The mountain bears metal and in turn is cut itself; wood bears borers and in turn is eaten itself; people produce affairs and in turn injure themselves. A skilled smelter cannot cast wood, and a skilled carpenter cannot chop metal; their forms and natures are so. White jade not carved and fine pearls not decorated have a surplus of substance. So if one does not stop for half a step, even a lame turtle can go a thousand li; if one accumulates without interruption, one can make a hill. A city is built from above and wood is straight below; it is not that they intend to do the work but that what they follow makes it so. In general the way of using people is like using a flint to strike fire: if too sparse you cannot get it, if too dense you cannot strike it, and it lies between sparse and dense. Looking from morning to see it as evening is to have moved; going from the crooked to correct it by the straight is to be lacking; the sage matches external things like looking at one's form in a mirror, fully capturing its feelings.

楊子見逵路而哭之，為其可以南可以北；墨子見練絲而泣之，為其可以黃可以黑。趍舍之相合，猶金石之一調，相去千歲，合一音也。鳥不幹防者，雖近弗射；其當道，雖遠弗釋。酤酒而酸，買肉而臭，然酤酒買肉不離屠沽之家，故求物必於近之者。以詐應詐，以譎應譎，若披蓑而救火，毀瀆而止水，乃愈益多。西施、毛嬙，狀貌不可同，世稱其好，美鈞也。堯、舜、禹、湯，法籍殊類，得民心一也。聖人者，隨時而舉事，因資而立功，涔則具擢對，旱則修土龍。臨淄之女，織紈而思行者，為之悖戾。室有美貌，繒為之纂繹。徵羽之操，不入鄙人之耳；抮和切適，舉坐而善。過府而負手者，希不有盜心；故侮人之鬼者，過社而搖其枝。晉陽處父伐楚以救江，故解捽者不在於捌格，在於批伔。木大者根擢，山高者基扶，蹠巨者志遠，體大者節疏。狂者傷人，莫之怨也；嬰兒詈老，莫之疾也；賊心亡。尾生之信，不如隨牛之誕，而又況一不信者乎！憂父之疾者子，治之者醫；進獻者祝，治祭者庖。

Yangzi wept on seeing a fork in the road, because it could go south or north; Mozi wept on seeing bleached silk, because it could become yellow or black. When what is chosen and what is abandoned coincide, it is like bells and chimes sharing a pitch, a thousand years apart yet forming one sound. A bird that does not run into defenses is not shot even if near; one that blocks the road is not spared even if far. Wine bought turns sour and meat bought turns rotten, yet buying wine and meat still cannot do without the butcher and vintner's house, so in seeking things one must seek the near. To answer deceit with deceit and craft with craft is like putting on a straw cloak to save from fire or breaking a ditch to stop water, only making it more. Xi Shi and Mao Qiang did not have the same appearance, yet people call both good, because beauty is equal. Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang differed in their legal records and categories, but winning the people's hearts was one. The sage undertakes affairs according to the time and achieves merit based on resources: when water accumulates he prepares draw buckets, and in drought he builds earthen dragons. The women of Linzi weave fine silk yet think of those traveling far, and what they weave comes out perverse. When there is a beautiful person in the room, the silk is woven tight. The playing of zhi and yu melodies does not enter the ears of rustics, while a brisk and pleasing tune has the whole hall calling out its praise. Those who pass the treasury with hands behind their backs seldom lack a thief's heart; so those who mock people and ghosts shake the tree branches when passing the altar. When Chufu of Jinyang attacked Chu to save Jiang, the way to part those wrestling is not to pry them apart but to strike the vital point. A tree with great roots can be uprooted, a mountain with a high base can be propped up, one with big feet has far-reaching aims, and one with a large body has loose joints. When a madman hurts someone, no one resents it; when an infant scolds an old man, no one hates it; it is because there is no malicious heart. Weisheng's faithfulness is not as good as Suiniu's absurdity, let alone those who are never trustworthy! The one who worries about a father's illness is the son, and the one who treats it is the physician; the one who offers is the invocator, and the one who prepares the offerings is the cook.