Shuolin — A Forest of Sayings說林訓
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，而不知因天地以游，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。游者以足蹶，以手㧊，不得其數，愈蹶愈敗；及其能游者，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；騰蛇游霧，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。
To govern all under heaven by the measures and institutions of a single age is like the traveler who was riding in a boat and let his sword fall in midstream, and who hurriedly cut a notch in the mast and drew near at evening to look for it. How deep his ignorance of the kinds of things! To follow the tracks of one corner and not know how to roam along with heaven and earth — no delusion is greater than this. Even when it fits the time now and then, it is not worth prizing. It is like the earthen dragon in a year of drought or the straw dog in a time of plague: the time is what makes them sovereign. The torn cloth of the Cao clan is prized by a man with sores, but it is not the huang jade of the Xiahou clan. Without past and without present, without beginning and without end, before there were heaven and earth it gave birth to heaven and earth. It is deep and fine and broad and great to the utmost. What the foot treads is shallow, yet the foot waits on what it does not tread before it can walk. What wisdom knows is narrow, yet wisdom waits on what it does not know before it is clear. The swimmer kicks with his feet and paddles with his hands, and while he has not got the knack of it, the more he kicks the worse he fares. And when he can swim at last, it is not the hands and the feet that do it. The bird flies back to its home, the hare runs back to its burrow, the fox dies with its head toward the hill, and in the cold the creatures wing their way to the water. Each grieves for the place where it was born. Do not hand a mirror to a blind man, do not give shoes to a man who cannot walk, do not award a zhangfu cap to a man of Yue. They are not what he can use. The mallet has a handle of its own, yet it cannot strike itself. The eye sees past a hundred paces, yet it cannot see its own corner. Dogs and pigs do not choose the bowl before they eat. They fatten their bodies by any means, and so they come the nearer to their death. The phoenix soars high above a thousand fathoms, and so there is no one who can bring it down. The moon lights all under heaven, and yet it is eaten by the toad. The flying serpent roams in the mist, and yet the centipede puts it in danger. The crow's strength overcomes the sun, and yet it submits to the hawk. Powers have their long and their short. No one lived longer than the child who died young, and Pengzu counts as dying early. A short well rope cannot draw from the deep, and a small vessel cannot hold what is large. It is not what they are charged with. Anger comes out of not being angry, and doing comes out of not doing. Look where there is no shape, and you get what there is to see. Listen where there is no sound, and you get what there is to hear. The utmost flavor does not cloy, the utmost words are not adorned, the utmost joy does not laugh, the utmost music does not cry out, the great craftsman does not carve, the great sacrificial vessel is not fully set out, and the great courage does not fight. Get the Way, and virtue follows after it.
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，入于虞淵，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。夫所以養而害所養，譬猶削足而適履，殺頭而便冠。昌羊去蚤虱而來蚙窮，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，脣竭而齒寒。
It is like Huangzhong matched to gong, or Taicu matched to shang: there is no further tuning to be done. He who stakes an earthen pot shoots whole, he who stakes metal falters, and he who stakes jade loses his footing. Therefore when what a man holds heavy lies outside him, the inside is dug hollow for it. He who chases a beast does not see Mount Tai. When relish and craving lie outside, his clear sight is covered over. He who listens to the sound that has sound is deaf, and he who listens to the sound that has no sound hears keenly. Neither deaf nor keen of hearing, he goes through to the bright spirits. The diviner takes up the tortoise shell and the soothsayer sets the stalks straight, and by these they ask of number. But where is it that they are asking! When the dancer raises the beat, those who sit do not agree on it beforehand, and yet they all move as one, because what they reach toward is the same. The sun comes out at Yanggu and goes in at Yuyuan. No one knows it moving, and in a moment it has bowed men's necks. No man wants to learn to drive dragons, and all want to learn to drive horses. No man wants to learn to govern ghosts, and all want to learn to govern men. They are pressed by what they use. To take the gate apart for firewood, to stop up the well and make a mortar of it: what men do is now and then like this. Water and fire hate each other, but with the cauldron between them the five flavors are blended. Flesh and bone love each other, but let a slanderous thief come between them and father and son are in danger from each other. To harm what you nourish by the very means of nourishing it is like paring the foot to fit the shoe, or cutting off the head to suit the cap. Sweet flag drives off fleas and lice and brings in the centipede. It clears away a small harm and brings on a great robber. It wants a small ease and harms a great gain. A wall falling down is worse than no wall, and yet it is better than the house caving in. That the bi and the yuan jades become vessels is the work of the whetstone. That Moye cuts and carves is the strength of the grindstone. Once the crafty hare is caught, the hunting dog is boiled. Once the high birds are gone, the stout crossbow is put away. The gadfly goes with the thoroughbred: it reaches a thousand li without flying, and it has no store of dry rations and does not go hungry. A man loses his house to fire and then meets rain. Losing it to fire is no good fortune, and meeting the rain is good fortune. So within disaster there is blessing. The seller of coffins wants the people to fall sick, and the hoarder of grain wants the year to bring famine. Still water is level, and level it is clear, and clear it shows the shape of things, and nothing can hide from it. So it can serve as a standard. When the stream runs dry the valley is empty, when the hill is leveled the deep pool is filled, and when the lips are gone the teeth are cold.
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，故善游者不可懼以涉。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，人莫不奮于其所不足。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。
The He runs deep, and its soil lies in the mountains. Of one even bolt of white silk, one end is made into a cap and one end into socks. The cap is raised and set on the head, and the socks are trodden on and worn. He who knows himself cannot be lured with things. He who is clear about death and life cannot be turned back with danger. So a good swimmer cannot be frightened with a crossing. Nothing is closer than flesh and bone, and the joints and the kindred hang together. Yet when the heart loses its hold on them, they turn and harm themselves. How much more those who are distant! The sage before the Way is like the sunflower before the sun. He cannot begin and end along with it, and yet his turning toward it is sincere. The palace pond overflows when the rain gathers and dries up in a drought, but the source of the river is a deep spring, and it cannot be made to run dry. The canopy without its ribs cannot screen the sun, and the wheel without its spokes cannot chase after speed. And yet the ribs and the spokes are not enough to rely on. Metal overcomes wood, but not so that one blade ruins a forest. Earth overcomes water, but not so that one clod dams a river. A man who cannot walk sees a tiger and does not run. This is not courage. His position does not allow it. What leans is easy to overturn, and what props against something is easy to push over. A stirring sign is easy to help along, and damp air easily turns to rain. He who sets a trap for rats moves the spring, he who angles for fish floats his boat, and when the load shifts the cart creaks. The straw dog can stand and cannot walk. Shechuang looks like miwu and cannot be fragrant. Say that Xu You has no virtue or that Wu Huo has no strength, and there is none whose face would not be shamed. There is no man who does not bristle at what he lacks. Give the dog the hare's running and make it like a horse, and it would catch the sun and turn back the wind. But once it became a horse, it could no longer run so. In winter there is thunder and lightning, and in summer there is frost and snow. And yet the set of cold and heat does not change. Small changes are not enough to hinder the great measure. The Yellow Emperor gave birth to yin and yang, Shangpian gave birth to ears and eyes, and Sanglin gave birth to arms and hands. This is how Nüwa made her seventy transformations. In a whole day's talk there is bound to be something of the sage's work, and in a hundred shots there is bound to be the skill of Yi or Pengmeng. And yet the age does not grant it, because the way they hold to their measure is wrong. The ox's hoof and the pig's skull are bone too, and yet the age does not scorch them. That men must ask good and ill fortune of the tortoise is because it has passed through many years. A man who lives near the Ao granary does not eat more rice for it, and a man beside the Jiang or the He does not drink more for it. He aims only to fill his belly.
蘭芝以芳，未嘗見霜；鼓造辟兵，壽盡五月之望。舌之與齒，孰先礱也？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。情泄者，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。
The orchid and the zhi plant are fragrant, and they have never seen frost. Guzao wards off weapons, and its life runs out at the full moon of the fifth month. Between the tongue and the teeth, which wears down first? Between the spear butt and the blade, which wears out first? Between the marking line and the arrow, which is straight first? Now the eel and the snake, the silkworm and the caterpillar are alike in shape, and yet love and loathing for them differ. Jin got Yu and Guo with the bi jade of Chuiji, and the Li Rong brought down the state of Jin with a beautiful woman. The deaf man does not sing, and has no way to please himself. The blind man does not look, and has no way to meet with things. He who watches the archery leaves his own things behind, and he who pores over writing forgets what he loves. When his mind is somewhere, he forgets what he was guarding. If what the ancients did could not be altered, then from the pushcart to this day there would be no axle block. Let a player blow the yu pipe and a blind man stop the holes, and though they hit the beat it cannot be listened to, because there is nothing that rules the form. Share a sickness with the dead, and it is hard to be a good physician. Share a way with a ruined state, and it is hard to take counsel with you. To cook rice for a guest and eat pigweed and bean leaves oneself is to hold the name above the substance. The nursing dog bites the tiger and the brooding hen strikes at the wildcat. Where their love is laid, they do not measure their strength. What makes the shadow bent is the shape, and what makes the echo muddy is the sound. In one who lets his feelings leak out, the inside is easy to measure. A flower out of season cannot be eaten. Those who travel to Yue go by boat or by cart. The roads differ, and what they reach toward is one. Handsome people do not share one body and beautiful people do not share one face, and yet all of them please the eye. Pears, oranges, jujubes and chestnuts do not share one taste, and yet all of them suit the mouth. Some men are rich by stealing, and the rich are not always thieves. Some are honest and poor, and the poor are not always honest. Reed shoots look like floss and cannot be made into floss. Hemp seed does not look like cloth and can be made into cloth. He who comes out of the forest gets no straight road, and he who travels rough ground cannot tread the marking line. What let Yi shoot far and hit the fine mark was not the bow and the arrow. What let Zaofu chase after speed and reach the far distance was not the reins and the bit. The sea takes in all that comes out into it, and so it can be great. The wheel comes back over the ground it has passed, and so it can go far. Mutton does not long for the ants; the ants long for the mutton, because mutton smells rank. Sour vinegar does not long for the flies; the flies long for the sour vinegar.
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。治鼠穴而壞里閭，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。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，百斗而足矣。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，精于明也。
Taste one slice of meat and you know the flavor of the whole cauldron. Hang up a feather and a coal and you know whether the air is dry or damp. By the small you see the great, and by the near you understand the far. A dyke around ten qing of land can water forty qing, and a dyke around one qing can water four qing. The grading of great and small is like this. By the light of the bright moon you can look far and cannot write small. On a morning of thick fog you can write small and cannot look far beyond the ordinary span. The painter is careful with the hairs and loses the likeness. The archer aims at the small and misses the large. To mend a rat hole and pull down the village gate, to burst a small blister and raise a boil: it is like the flaw in a pearl or the blemish in a jade. Leave it and the thing is whole; take it away and the thing is spoiled. The bird that nests in the hazel keeps to the thick of the wood, because it is safe there. The beast that digs a burrow trusts itself to the bank and the dyke, because it is handy there. Prince Qingji could tread down elk and deer with his feet and strike rhinoceros and tiger with his hands. Put him in a dark room and he could not strike a tortoise or a turtle. His position did not allow it. Tang drove out his lord and has a glorious name. Cui Zhu killed his lord and took on great blame. What they did was the same, and why they did it was different. Lü Wang made old men rouse themselves, and Xiang Tuo made babes hold their heads high, for like longs for like. What makes the leaves fall is the wind shaking them. What makes the water muddy is the fish stirring it. The markings of the tiger and the leopard bring the arrow. The quickness of the gibbon and the monkey brings the capture. One move at the board is not enough to show wisdom, and one plucked string is not enough to show sorrow. A pipe three inches long with no bottom to it: all under heaven cannot fill it. Ten shi with a stopper in it: a hundred dou is enough. To sound a river with a pole, and when the pole runs out to take the water for the measure, is delusion. The fisherman runs to the deep pool and the woodcutter runs to the hills, because what is urgent to them is there. Going to market in the morning he runs; passing the market in the evening he walks, because what he sought is gone. A leopard coat that is mixed is not the equal of a fox coat that is pure. A white bi jade with a crack cannot be a treasure. This speaks of how hard utter purity is. The ghosts of those who died by weapons in battle hate the spirit shaman, and the company of robbers loathe the barking dog. At an altar with no village it is easy to offer millet and meat, and at a grain god with no state it is easy to pray for blessing. The turtle has no ears, and its eyes cannot be dim, because it is concentrated in sight.
瞽無目，而耳不可以察，精于聰也。遺腹子不思其父，無貌于心也；不夢見像，無形于目也。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。損年則嫌于弟，益年則疑于兄，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。湯沐具而蟣虱相弔，大廈成而燕雀相賀，憂樂別也。柳下惠見飴，曰可以養老；盜跖見飴，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。
The blind man has no eyes, and his ears cannot fail to observe, because he is concentrated in hearing. The child born after his father's death does not long for his father, because there is no face of him in the heart. He does not see the likeness in a dream, because there was no shape of him before the eyes. The pit viper cannot be given feet, and the tiger and the leopard cannot be made to climb trees. The horse does not eat fat and the hawfinch does not peck at millet. This is not honesty. Qin opened the pass at Xiao, and Wei built a wall. Hungry horses in the stable are still and make no sound. Throw fodder down beside them and the fighting heart is born. Draw the bow and shoot: without the string the arrow cannot be sent, and the string's part in the shooting is one part in a hundred. The Way and virtue can hold constant; the weighing of things cannot hold constant. So a pass once slipped cannot be slipped again, and a jail once escaped cannot be escaped twice. A ring can teach what round is, and a wheel is not needed. A braid can serve as shoe trim, and a cord is not needed. The sun and the moon do not come out together, a fox den has not two males, the spirit dragon takes no mate, fierce beasts do not go in herds, and birds of prey do not go in pairs. Cut along the marking line and you do not overshoot. Hang the balance and weigh, and you are not off. Set up the gnomon and look, and you are not deluded. Take years off, and you are taken for the younger brother; add years on, and you are doubted as the elder. Better to follow the reason of it and keep to what is right. Men do not see the dragon fly. That it rises and can go high is because wind and rain bear it up. Many worms and the tree snaps; a wide crack and the wall falls. Things that hang down have their time to drop, and things that branch out have their time to sag. What meets the freeze and does not die has not lost what suits it. What meets the heat and is not struck down has not lost what suits it. What has never met what suits it has lost what suits it. When the hot bath is ready the nits and the lice condole with one another. When the great hall is finished the swallows and the sparrows congratulate one another. Grief and gladness part ways. Liuxia Hui saw the malt syrup and said it could nourish the old. Robber Zhi saw the malt syrup and said it could gum the bolt. They saw the same thing, and they would use it differently. The silkworm eats and does not drink, and in twenty-two days it transforms. The cicada drinks and does not eat, and in thirty days it sheds its shell. The mayfly neither eats nor drinks, and in three days it dies. A man eats yushi stone and dies, and the silkworm eats it and does not hunger. A fish eats the bashu bean and dies, and the rat eats it and grows fat. One kind cannot always be reasoned from another. The tile is made by fire and cannot be made to yield fire. The bamboo grows by water and cannot be made to yield water.
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？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，鳥獸弗辟，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。
To throw up the dirt and then want the dust to settle, to put on a fur coat and then fan yourself: how are these the equal of simply wearing what suits! There is fire in dry bamboo, and without drilling it does not burn. There is water in the earth, and without digging there is no spring. The sickness of the clam is a treasure to men, and when a man is sick, who is there to treasure it? To act for the brewer's profit and not sell the wine runs it dry. To act for the cartwright's profit and not hire out the cart gets nowhere. Grasp fire and hold it out to another, and it is you who are burned first. When the neighbor's mother dies he goes and wails for her, and when his own wife dies he does not weep. Something has forced him to be so. In the naked country of the west the birds and the beasts do not flee from men, because men are one with them. One lump of charcoal burns: reach for it and your finger is seared. Ten thousand shi burn together: stand ten paces off and you do not die. The air is the same, and the heaping of it is different. Great courage and small courage have something like this in them. Now here is a mat six feet long. Lay it flat and step across it, and even poor stuff finds it no trouble. Stand it upright and go over it, and even fine stuff does not find it easy. The position and the setting of it differ. A hundred plums are enough to make sourness for a hundred men, and one plum is not enough to make a blend for one man. If because a man has died of rice you forbid all under heaven to eat, and because a man came to grief by cart you forbid all under heaven to ride, that is perverse. The angler keeps still, and the netter knocks on the boat. The man with the fish trap presses it down, and the man with the snare net lifts it up. What they do differs, and the getting of fish is one. See the elephant's tusk and you know at once it is bigger than an ox. See the tiger's tail and you know at once it is bigger than a wildcat. One joint comes into sight, and a hundred joints are known. A small state does not fight between great states, and two deer do not fight beside a crouching rhinoceros. He who helps at the sacrifice gets a taste, and he who breaks up a fight gets hurt. Shelter under an unlucky tree, and the thunder and the lightning strike you. Some call it a grave mound and some call it a hill. Some call it a rain hat and some call it an umbrella. The head louse and the se zither of hollow wood have the same name and are not the same thing. The sun and the moon would be bright, and drifting clouds cover them. The orchid and the zhi plant would grow tall, and the autumn wind ruins them. When a tiger has a cub that cannot strike and seize, it kills it at once, because the cub would let its fierceness fall. A seal with a tortoise knob the worthy man wears as his pendant. Soil spread over the fields the able man takes for his wealth. To give a drowning man gold and jade is not as good as an ordinary coil of rope.
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。獸同足者相從游，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。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。
In reading a text, where the word for wine stands above, the word for meat is sure to stand below, and where the word for year stands above, the word for month is sure to stand below. You take it by the kind. To be covered in dust and get it in the eye is simply the reason of the thing. It comes of raising the dust without going out of the door. The butcher makes soup of bean leaves, the cartwright goes on foot, the potter uses a chipped basin, and the carpenter lives in a cramped hut. He who makes a thing does not always use it, and he who uses it will not make it. When the hub stands, the thirty spokes each give their full strength, and none can harm another. Let one spoke alone go in and all the rest be thrown away: how could it reach a thousand li? A man walking at night covers his eyes and puts his hands out before him. A man crossing water unhitches his horse and loads it on the boat. In affairs there is what is fitting, and there is what cannot be applied. The orange and the pomelo have their home country, and the reed and the rush have their clumps. Beasts with the same feet roam along together, and birds with the same wings fly along together. The rainwater standing in a field flows into the sea, and a word spoken close to the ear is heard a thousand li away. When Su Qin walked, they said, why so? When he hurried, they said, why does he rush? Where there is doing there is talk, and where affairs are many there is bound to be harshness. When the hide itself will not be seen, what regard is there for the hair! Fear the head and fear the tail, and how much of the body is left! To want to look over the lands of the nine provinces when the foot has not walked a thousand li, and to have no source of government and teaching in the heart and yet want to stand above the ten thousand people: this is hard. What is plain to see is caught, and what shows itself is shot. So the great whiteness looks like disgrace, and the great virtue looks like want. He has never sown or reaped, and the grain fills his barn. He has never tended mulberry or silkworm, and the silk fills his bag. He did not get it by the Way, and he is sure to use it wildly. The sea does not take in floating carrion, Mount Tai does not raise up the small man, the flank cut does not go onto the sacrificial stand, and the dappled beast is not counted among the victims. In midsummer he uses a fan and finds it cool, and when winter comes he does not know to put it away. He hitches up his clothes to cross the water, and when he reaches the hill he does not know to let them down. Such a man cannot answer to change. There are mountains with no forest, valleys with no wind, and stone with no metal in it. A hall full of seated men look at the belt hook and each sees it differently, and in the ring and the belt it is one. Duke Xian for all his worth was deceived by Li Ji, and Shusun for all his wisdom was deceived by Shu Niu.
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；若脣之與齒，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。
So when Zheng Zhan entered Lu, the Chunqiu says, "The flatterer comes, the flatterer comes." The gentleman has wine and a low fellow drums on an earthen pot. It is not seen as fine, and it is not seen as ugly either. It is man's nature to be at ease in silk and to wear fine cloth, and when someone shoots at him he puts on armor. He does what is not comfortable in order to get what is comfortable. The spokes go into the hub, each facing its own socket, and none can pass into another. It is like ministers each keeping to his own office, so that none can meddle with another. A man once escaped the arrow by wearing armor, and so he wears it into the water. A man once crossed the water holding a jar, and so he holds it and walks into fire. Such a man may be said not to know the kinds of things. For the gentleman to dwell above the people is like driving a bolting horse with a rotten rope, like treading thin ice with the flood dragon beneath it, like going into the forest and meeting a nursing tiger. He who uses men well is like the feet of the millipede: they are many and they do not harm one another. He is like the lips and the teeth: hard and soft rub together and neither is spoiled. The excellence of clear wine begins with the plow and the plowshare. The excellence of embroidered robes lies in the shuttle and the axle. New cloth is not the equal of ramie, and worn ramie is not the equal of cloth. One is good when new, and one is bad when old. A dimple on the cheek is pretty; on the forehead it is ugly. Embroidery made into a skirt is fitting; made into a cap it draws blame. The horse's teeth are not the ox's hoof, and the sandalwood root is not the yi tree's branch. So see the one root of a thing, and the ten thousand things are known. Stone is hard from birth, and the orchid is fragrant from birth. Young, it comes from their stuff; grown, it shows the clearer. To hold a man up and to lead him by the hand, to apologize and to yield, deliberately and beforehand, to consent and to leave off, the word zhi and the word yi: a thousand li lie between them. His nose is filthy, and he powders his forehead. A rotten rat lies on the altar, and he burns incense in the palace. He goes into the water and hates to get wet; he carries a stench about him and looks for fragrance. Even a skilled man could not bring such work off. What grows a second time is not harvested, and what flowers in a great drought does not wait for its season before it falls. Do not say it is bad luck. The steamer pot does not, in the end, fall into the well. Pull out a hairpin and call up the ghost fire: what is there in that to startle you! To tell a man not to cross the He is possible. To tell him in midstream not to cross is not possible. See one marking of the tiger and you do not know its fierceness. See one hair of the thoroughbred and you do not know that it runs well. The water nymph becomes the dragonfly, the wriggler becomes the mosquito, and the hare's bite becomes the tick. What things do comes out of the unexpected. He who does not know is startled, and he who knows finds it no wonder.
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，終日采而不知；秋風下霜，一夕而殫。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，以極其游；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。
The bloom of copper is green, the bloom of metal is yellow, and the bloom of jade is white. A pine-knot torch sputters askew, and a fat candle burns glossy. By the faint you know the bright, and by the outside you know the inside. The flavor of elephant meat is not known to the mouth, the look of ghosts and spirits does not show to the eye, and talk of catching shadows takes no shape in the heart. Winter ice can be broken and summer trees can set fruit. The season is hard to get and easy to lose. While the trees are in full leaf you may gather all day and not notice it; when the autumn wind brings the frost down, in one evening they are stripped. To force food on a man with fever, to give cold drink to a man struck by the heat, to pull the rope to save a man who has hanged himself, to hand a stone to a man who is drowning: he means to save them, and does them harm instead. Careful as he is not to lose the horse, he does not open the door track; eager as he is to get the wine ready beforehand, he does not carry the mat. Let Meng Ben poke into a rat hole, and though it is not the rat's time to die it will surely bite his finger, because he has lost his position. When the mountain clouds rise, the base stone of the pillar grows damp. When the fuling is dug up, the dodder dies. One household lets a spark get away and a hundred households burn. One slanderer plots in the shade and the bones of the people lie bare. Grain gets damp with water and grows hot; the steamer gets fire and beads with water. There is fire within water and water within fire. A quick thunderclap splits the stone, for yin and yang press close on each other. Bathwater poured into the He does not add much. Standing rainwater running into the sea cannot add to it, and still it is better than leaving off. A net of one mesh cannot catch birds, a hook with no bait cannot take fish, and a man who meets a scholar without courtesy cannot get worthy men. The dodder grows without a root, the snake goes without feet, the fish hears without ears, and the cicada cries without a mouth. There is that which makes them so. The crane lives a thousand years and reaches the end of its roaming. The mayfly is born in the morning and dies at evening, and it has all of its joy. When Zhou made mincemeat of Mei Bo, King Wen joined with the lords against him. When Jie tore apart the man who remonstrated, Tang sent men to wail for him. A mad horse does not run into a tree, and a rabid dog does not throw itself into the He. Even a deaf insect does not walk into its own ruin, and how much less a man! To love the bear and feed it salt, to love the otter and give it wine: he means to nourish them, and it is not their way. What the heart is pleased with: he breaks up the boat to make a rudder. What the heart wants: he breaks up the bell to make a hand bell. Guanzi made a great glory out of a small disgrace, and Su Qin made one act of good faith out of a hundred lies.
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，使人欲馳；飲酒而樂，使人欲歌。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。
Spread out the target, and bows and arrows gather. Let the forest trees grow thick, and the axes come in. Nothing called them. The shape and the set of things brought them. He who waits for a profit before he pulls a drowning man out will surely drown a man for profit as well. A boat can sink and can float, and the fool does not set his foot in it. If the fine steed will not go forward when driven and will not stop when pulled, the ruler does not use it to cover the road. He who pricks at my conduct wants to be my friend. He who runs down my goods wants to trade with me. Water blended with water cannot be eaten, and a se zither of one string cannot be listened to. The fine horse dies of being held down, and the upright scholar comes to grief by his own straightness. The worthy man is pushed out of the court, and the beautiful woman is pushed out of the palace. The traveler thinks of him on the road, and the one at home dreams of him on the bed. The loving mother moans in the lane, and her rightful son carries her in his heart among the thorns. Hang up red meat and the crows and the magpies gather. Let hawk and falcon strike and the flock of birds scatters. That things scatter and gather is so by feeling that passes between them. He who eats the food does not break the dish, and he who eats the fruit does not snap the branch. He who stops up the source runs dry, and he who turns his back on the root withers. Crossed strokes do not run clear, and linked rings do not come apart. They are undone, and not by undoing. To stand by the He and envy the fish is not as good as going home and weaving a net. The bright moon pearl is the clam's sickness and my gain. The tiger's claw and the elephant's tusk are the bird's and the beast's gain and my harm. A level road and a good horse make a man want to gallop, and drinking wine and being merry makes a man want to sing. To call a thing right and then do it is called decision. To call a thing wrong and then do it is surely called disorder. The arrow is quick, and it does not carry beyond two li. The step is slow, and with a hundred stages and no rest a thousand li can be reached.
聖人處於陰，眾人處於陽；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，不能織而喜采裳，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。
The sage keeps to the shade and the many keep to the sunlight. The sage walks on water and the many walk on frost. What differs in sound cannot be heard by one pitch pipe, and what differs in shape cannot be joined into one body. The farmer toils and the gentleman is nourished by it. The fool speaks and the wise man chooses out of it. To leave the thick wood and settle on the dead tree, not to shoot the swan but to shoot the crow: with such a man it is hard to plan anything. Yinqiu, which has no ravine, has no broad spring source, and an ordinary ravine waters a marsh of a thousand qing. When his seeing is bright and clear, he handles the matter as he would jade and stone. When his seeing is dark and dim, he is sure to hold his plan back. To entrust all under heaven, great as it is, to the talent of one man is like hanging a weight of a thousand jun on a single branch of a tree. To climb a wall with a child on your back is called unlucky, because one person falls and two are hurt. He who takes up an affair well is like a man riding in a boat and singing a sad song: one man sings out and a thousand join in. To want millet and grain when you cannot plow, to delight in a colored skirt when you cannot weave, to look for the result with no work done: this is hard. Where there is flowering glory there is sure to be withering, and where there is fine silk there is sure to be hemp and sedge. There is a bird that makes the waves boil, and the Lord of the He for its sake holds back his tide, because he fears its single heart. So when one man goes out to his death, a thousand chariots do not hold it light. When the pit viper stings a man, dress the wound with aconite and he recovers. There are indeed things that are grave, and the harm in them turns out to be a gain.
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。舟覆乃見善游，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。
For the sage to dwell in an age of disorder is like standing in the summer sun and waiting for evening: once the sun is between the mulberry and the elm, it is the easier to bear. Water may be level, and there is bound to be a ripple. The balance may be true, and there is bound to be some error. Foot and inch may be even, and there is bound to be some warp. Without the compass and the square, square and round cannot be settled. Without the level and the marking line, crooked and straight cannot be set right. And he who uses the compass and the square and the level and the line has a compass and square and level and line of his own. Only when the boat turns over is a good swimmer seen. Only when the horse bolts is a good driver seen. What has no taste when it is chewed cannot be got down the throat. What has no shape when it is looked at cannot be thought in the heart. With rhinoceros and tiger behind him and the pearl of the Marquis of Sui before him, he does not stop to pick it up. He escapes the danger first and goes after the gain later. He who chases the deer does not turn to look at the hare. He who settles a deal worth a thousand in gold does not haggle over a zhu or a liang. Tune the bow first and then look for its strength. Break the horse in first and then look for its quality. Look for good faith in a man first and then for his ability. The potter throws away his rope and the cartwright picks it up. The butcher throws away his metal scraps and the smith gathers them up. What is slack to the one is urgent to the other. The brightness of a hundred stars is not the light of one moon. Ten windows thrown open are not the light of one door. At ten paces the arrow goes through rhinoceros armor, and at the end of its flight it cannot pierce the white silk of Lu. Mount Tai is high, and turn your back and you do not see it. The tip of an autumn hair can be made out if you look at it. The mountain gives birth to metal and is cut by it in turn. The tree gives birth to worms and is eaten by them in turn. A man gives rise to affairs and is harmed by them in turn. That a clever smith cannot cast wood, and a skilled workman cannot carve metal, is because shape and nature are so. White jade is not cut and a fine pearl is not patterned, because there is more than enough in the stuff itself.
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。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。鳥不干防者，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。
So with half steps and no rest the lame turtle goes a thousand li, and with piling up and no stopping a hill can be made. The wall is finished above and the timber is straight below. Nothing acted upon them. What they went by made them so. The way of using men is like taking fire with a fire drill: too slow and you do not get it, too quick and you miss it. The right way lies between the slow and the quick. He who looks at evening from the morning is out of place, and he who measures the straight by the crooked falls short. When the sage pairs himself to things it is like looking at a shape in a mirror: at every turn he gets its true state. Yangzi saw the forking road and wept over it, because from there a man might go south and might go north. Mozi saw the white silk thread and wept over it, because it might be dyed yellow and might be dyed black. That going forward and holding back should agree is like metal and stone in one tuning: a thousand years apart, they meet in one note. The bird that does not trespass on the dyke he does not shoot, near as it is. The one that is in his way he does not let go, far as it is. The wine he buys is sour and the meat he buys stinks, and still for wine and meat he goes nowhere but the butcher's house and the wine seller's. So a man looks for what he wants where it is near. To answer deceit with deceit and trickery with trickery is like putting on a straw cape to put out a fire, or tearing open the ditch to stop the water. It only grows the more. Xi Shi and Mao Qiang could not be the same in look and face, and the age calls both of them lovely, because their beauty is even. Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang differed in their laws and their records, and their winning of the people's hearts was one. The sage takes up his work according to the season and sets up his merit on what he has. When the water gathers he gets the bailing bucket ready, and when there is drought he builds the earthen dragon. The woman of Linzi weaves fine silk and thinks of the man gone on the road, and for that the weave goes crooked. There is a beautiful face in the house, and for that the silk runs on. A piece in zhi and yu does not get into a low man's ear, and bend the harmony and fit it close, and the whole company calls it good. The man who walks past the treasury with his hands behind his back is seldom without a thief's heart. So the man who slights another's spirits shakes the branches as he passes the altar. Yang Chufu of Jin attacked Chu in order to save the state of Jiang. So he who breaks a grip on the collar does not do it by striking them apart, but by striking at the flank. A tree that is great has its roots standing out, and a mountain that is high has its foundation spread wide. One whose stride is large has far aims, and a body that is big has its joints wide apart. A madman hurts a person and no one holds it against him. A babe curses an old man and no one hates him for it. There is no heart to harm in them.
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。
The good faith of Weisheng is not the equal of the lie of the man who followed the ox, and how much less a man who has never once kept faith! He who worries over a father's illness is the son, and he who treats it is the physician. He who presents the offering is the invocator, and he who prepares the sacrifice is the cook.