Qiangguo — Strengthening the State彊國篇
刑范正，金錫美，工冶巧，火齊得，剖刑而莫邪已。然而不剝脫，不砥厲，則不可以斷繩。剝脫之，砥厲之，則劙盤盂，刎牛馬，忽然耳。彼國者，亦彊國之剖刑已。然而不教誨，不調一，則入不可以守，出不可以戰。教誨之，調一之，則兵勁城固，敵國不敢嬰也。彼國者亦有砥厲，禮義節奏是也。故人之命在天，國之命在禮。人君者，隆禮尊賢而王，重法愛民而霸，好利多詐而危，權謀傾覆幽險而亡。
When the mold is true, the metal and tin are fine, the smith is skillful, and the heat is rightly blended, then split the mold and there is Moye (莫邪). Yet if it is not stripped and scoured, if it is not ground on the whetstone, it cannot cut a rope. Strip it and grind it on the whetstone, and it splits basins and bowls and cuts down oxen and horses in a moment.
That state too is like the splitting of the mold of a strong state. Yet if it does not teach them, if it does not make them even and one, then within it cannot guard and without it cannot fight. Teach them and make them even and one, and the soldiers are firm and the walls are solid, and no enemy state dares touch it.
That state too has its whetstone, and ritual and rightness, measure and rhythm are it. Therefore the fate of a man lies with Heaven, and the fate of a state lies with ritual. A ruler of men who exalts ritual and honors the worthy becomes king; who makes the law weighty and loves the people becomes hegemon; who loves profit and is full of deceit is endangered; who uses power and scheming and overturning and dark treachery perishes.
威有三：有道德之威者，有暴察之威者，有狂妄之威者－－此三威者，不可不孰察也。禮義則脩，分義則明，舉錯則時，愛利則形。如是，百姓貴之如帝，高之如天，親之如父母，畏之如神明。故賞不用而民勸，罰不用而威行，夫是之謂道德之威。禮樂則不脩，分義則不明，舉錯則不時，愛利則不形；然而其禁暴也察，其誅不服也審，其刑罰重而信，其誅殺猛而必，黭然而雷擊之，如牆厭之。如是，百姓劫則致畏，嬴則敖上，執拘則[最]聚，得間則散，敵中則奪，非劫之以形埶，非振之以誅殺，則無以有其下，夫是之謂暴察之威。無愛人之心，無利人之事，而日為亂人之道，百姓讙敖，則從而執縛之，刑灼之，不和人心。如是，下比周賁潰以離上矣，傾覆滅亡，可立而待也，夫是之謂狂妄之威。－－此三威者，不可不孰察也。道德之威成乎安彊，暴察之威成乎危弱，狂妄之威成乎滅亡也。
There are three kinds of awe. There is the awe of the Way and virtue. There is the awe of harsh scrutiny. There is the awe of madness and folly. These three kinds of awe must be examined closely.
Ritual and rightness are cultivated, the divisions and rightness are clear, undertakings come at their season, love and benefit take visible shape. When it is so, the people hold him precious as the Lord on High, exalt him as Heaven, are close to him as to father and mother, and fear him as the bright spirits. Therefore rewards are not used and the people strive, punishments are not used and his awe is carried out. This is called the awe of the Way and virtue.
Ritual and music are not cultivated, the divisions and rightness are not clear, undertakings do not come at their season, love and benefit take no visible shape. Yet he is sharp in forbidding violence, thorough in cutting down those who do not submit, his punishments are heavy and sure, his killings fierce and certain, and all at once he strikes like thunder and presses like a falling wall. When it is so, the people are afraid when they are crushed, and slight the one above when the hold slackens; bind them and they gather, let them find a gap and they scatter, and when an enemy is among them they are carried off. Unless he crushes them with force and shakes them with killing, he has no way to hold those below him. This is called the awe of harsh scrutiny.
He has no heart that loves men and no deed that benefits men, and day by day he follows the way that throws men into disorder. When the people clamor and resist, he goes after them and binds them and burns them with punishments, and he is not in tune with the hearts of men. When it is so, those below band together and break away from the one above, and his overturning and ruin may be awaited standing. This is called the awe of madness and folly.
These three kinds of awe must be examined closely. The awe of the Way and virtue is achieved in peace and strength, the awe of harsh scrutiny is achieved in danger and weakness, and the awe of madness and folly is achieved in ruin.
公孫子曰：子發將西伐蔡，克蔡，獲蔡侯，歸致命曰：「蔡侯奉其社稷，而歸之楚；舍屬二三子而治其地。」既，楚發其賞，子發辭曰：「發誡布令而敵退，是主威也；徙舉相攻而敵退，是將威也；合戰用力而敵退，是眾威也。臣舍不宜以眾威受賞。」
Gongsun Zi said: Zifa (子發) went west to attack Cai, defeated Cai, and took the marquis of Cai. He returned and reported his charge, saying, "The marquis of Cai has taken up his altars of the land and returned them to Chu. I have given the land over to several men to govern."
Then Chu sent out its reward, and Zifa declined it, saying, "That commands were issued and orders spread and the enemy withdrew is the ruler's awe. That the army moved and attacked is the general's awe. That they joined battle and used their strength and the enemy withdrew is the awe of the multitude. Your servant ought not to receive a reward for the awe of the multitude."
譏之曰：子發之致命也恭，其辭賞也固。夫尚賢使能，賞有功，罰有罪，非獨一人為之也，彼先王之道也，一人之本也，善善惡惡之應也，治必由之，古今一也。古者明主之舉大事，立大功也，大事已博，大功已立，則君享其成，群臣享其功，士大夫益爵，官人益秩，庶人益祿。是以為善者勸，為不善者沮，上下一心，三軍同力，是以百事成，而功名大也。今子發獨不然：反先王之道，亂楚國之法，墮興功之臣，恥受賞之屬，無僇乎族黨，而抑卑其後世，案獨以為私廉，豈不過甚矣哉！故曰：子發之致命也恭，其辭賞也固。
In reproach it is said: Zifa was respectful in reporting his charge, but he was narrow in declining the reward.
Now to exalt the worthy and employ the able, to reward those who have merit and punish those who have guilt, is not what one man alone does. It is the way of the former kings, the root of the one man, the response that calls good good and calls evil evil. Order must come by it, and in this old times and today are one.
In old times, when an enlightened ruler undertook great affairs and set up great merit, once the great affairs were broad and the great merit stood, the ruler enjoyed the completion of it and the host of ministers enjoyed the merit of it. Officers and grandees rose in rank, officials rose in salary, and the common people's portion grew. So those who did good strove and those who did what was not good were checked, above and below were of one heart, and the three armies joined their strength. So the hundred affairs were accomplished and merit and name were great.
Now Zifa alone was not so. He went against the way of the former kings, threw the law of Chu into disorder, pulled down the ministers who had raised up merit, and shamed the company of those who receive rewards. He shared nothing with his kin and his neighbors, and he pressed down and lowered his own posterity, and out of this alone he made his private purity. Is this not excessive indeed? Therefore it is said: Zifa was respectful in reporting his charge, but he was narrow in declining the reward.
荀卿子說齊相曰：處勝人之埶，行勝人之道，天下莫忿，湯武是也。處勝人之埶，不以勝人之道，厚於有天下之埶，索為匹夫不可得也，桀紂是也。然則得勝人之埶者，其不如勝人之道遠矣！夫主相者，勝人以埶也，是為是，非為非，能為能，不能為不能，併己之私欲，必以道，夫公道通義之可以相兼容者，是勝人之道也。今相國上則得專主，下則得專國，相國之於勝人之埶，亶有之矣。然則胡不敺此勝人之埶，赴勝人之道，求仁厚明通之君子而託王焉，與之參國政，正是非！如是，則國孰敢不為義矣！君臣上下，貴賤長少，至於庶人，莫不為義，則天下孰不欲合義矣！賢士願相國之朝，能士願相國之官，好利之民莫不願以齊為歸，是一天下也。相國舍是而不為，案直為是世俗之所以為，則女主亂之宮，詐臣亂之朝，貪吏亂之官，眾庶百姓皆以爭奪貪利為俗，曷若是而可以持國乎？今巨楚縣吾前，大燕(魚酋)吾後，勁魏鉤吾右，西壤之不絕若繩，楚人則乃有襄賁開陽以臨吾左，是一國作謀，則三國必起而乘我。如是，則齊必斷而為四、三，國若假城然耳，必為天下大笑。曷若兩者孰足為也！夫桀紂，聖王之後子孫也，有天下者之世也，埶籍之所存，天下之宗室也，土地之大，封內千里，人之眾數以億萬，俄而天下倜然舉去桀紂而奔湯武，反然舉惡桀紂而貴湯武。是何也？夫桀紂何失？而湯武何得也？曰：是無它故焉，桀紂者善為人所惡也，而湯武者善為人所好也。人之所惡何也？曰：汙漫、爭奪、貪利是也。人之所好者何也？曰：禮義、辭讓、忠信是也。今君人者，譬稱比方則欲自並乎湯武，若其所以統之，則無以異於桀紂，而求有湯武之功名，可乎？故凡得勝者，必與人也；凡得人者，必與道也。道也者，何也？禮義、辭讓、忠信是也。故自四五萬而往者，彊勝非眾之力也，隆在信矣。自數百里而往者，安固非大之力也，隆在脩政矣。今已有數萬之眾者也，陶誕比周以爭與；已有數百里之國者也，汙漫突盜以爭地；然則是棄己之所安彊，而爭己之所以危弱也；損己之所不足，以重己之所有餘。若是其悖繆也，而求有湯武之功名，可乎！辟之，是猶伏而咶天，救經而引其足也。說必不行矣，愈務而愈遠。為人臣者，不恤己行之不行，苟得利而已矣，是渠衝入穴而求利也，是仁人之所羞而不為也。故人莫貴乎生，莫樂乎安；所以養生安樂者，莫大乎禮義。人知貴生樂安而棄禮義，辟之，是猶欲壽而歾頸也，愚莫大焉。故君人者，愛民而安，好士而榮，兩者亡一焉而亡。詩曰：「价人維藩，大師維垣。」此之謂也。
Sun Qingzi spoke to the prime minister of Qi.
"To stand in the position that overcomes men and to walk the way that overcomes men, then none under Heaven resents it, and King Tang and King Wu were such. To stand in the position that overcomes men and not to use the way that overcomes men, then though the position of holding all under Heaven be thick, one may seek to be a common fellow and not get it, and Jie and King Zhou (紂) were such. That being so, to gain the position that overcomes men falls far short of the way that overcomes men.
Now the ruler and the prime minister are those who overcome men by position. To call right what is right and wrong what is wrong, to call able what is able and unable what is unable, to take one's private desires together and hold always to the Way, and to make the public Way and the rightness that runs through all things such that they can hold one another together, this is the way that overcomes men.
Now you, my lord, above have the ruler to yourself and below have the state to yourself, and of the position that overcomes men you truly have it. Then why not drive this position that overcomes men and run to the way that overcomes men? Seek out a gentleman who is humane and generous and bright and penetrating, entrust the king to him, and with him weigh the government of the state and set right what is right and what is wrong.
When it is so, who in the state would dare not do what is right? Ruler and minister, above and below, noble and base, elder and young, down to the common people, when there is none who does not do what is right, then who under Heaven would not wish to join with rightness? Worthy officers will hope for your court, able officers will hope for your offices, and among the people who love profit there is none who will not wish to come home to Qi. This is to make all under Heaven one.
If you cast this aside and do not do it, and go straight on as the common custom of the age does, then a woman ruler will throw the palace into disorder, deceitful ministers will throw the court into disorder, greedy clerks will throw the offices into disorder, and the multitude of the people will all make a custom of struggling and seizing and coveting profit. How can a state be held with such as this?
Now mighty Chu hangs before us, great Yan eyes us from behind, sturdy Wei hooks us on the right, and the land to the west runs on unbroken like a rope. The men of Chu now hold Xiangben (襄賁) and Kaiyang (開陽) and press upon our left. Let one state lay a plan and three states will surely rise and ride upon us. When it is so, Qi will surely be cut into four or three, and the state will be no more than a city held on loan, and it will surely be the great laughingstock of all under Heaven. Of these two, which is worth doing?
Now Jie and King Zhou were the later descendants of sage kings and the heirs of those who held all under Heaven. Theirs was where position and its warrant lay, the ancestral house of all under Heaven. Their land was great, a thousand li within their borders, and their men were counted in the countless. Yet in a moment all under Heaven turned clean away from Jie and King Zhou and ran to King Tang and King Wu, and turning about, all hated Jie and King Zhou and held King Tang and King Wu precious.
Why was this? What did Jie and King Zhou lose, and what did King Tang and King Wu gain? The answer is that there was no other cause. Jie and King Zhou were good at doing what men hate, and King Tang and King Wu were good at doing what men love.
What is it that men hate? Filth and sloth, struggling and seizing, and coveting profit are that. What is it that men love? Ritual and rightness, yielding, loyalty and good faith are that.
Now a ruler of men, when he sets himself beside others in speech, wishes to stand level with King Tang and King Wu; but in the way he draws his people together he is no different from Jie and King Zhou, and still he seeks to have the merit and name of King Tang and King Wu. Can this be?
Therefore whoever gains victory goes together with men, and whoever gains men goes together with the Way. And what is the Way? Ritual and rightness, yielding, loyalty and good faith are that.
Therefore for those who go beyond forty or fifty thousand men, that they are strong and overcome others is not the strength of numbers, but what they exalt lies in good faith. For those who go beyond a few hundred li, that they are secure and firm is not the strength of size, but what they exalt lies in ordering the government.
Now one who already has a host of tens of thousands cheats and bands together to fight for allies, and one who already has a state of some hundreds of li is foul and grasping and robs to fight for land. Then this is to throw away what makes one secure and strong and to fight for what makes one endangered and weak, to take from what one lacks in order to add weight to what one already has in plenty.
To be as perverse and mistaken as this and still seek the merit and name of King Tang and King Wu, can this be? To liken it, this is like lying flat and licking at the sky, or like pulling on the feet of a hanged man to save him. Such words can never be carried out, and the harder one works the farther off one goes.
When one who is another's minister does not care that his own conduct is not carried out and merely takes profit as he can, this is a battering ram going into a burrow to seek profit. It is what a humane man is ashamed of and does not do.
Therefore nothing is more precious to a man than life and nothing more joyful than peace, and for nourishing life and making it peaceful and joyful nothing is greater than ritual and rightness. For a man to know that life is precious and peace is a joy and yet cast off ritual and rightness, to liken it, is like wishing for long life and cutting one's own throat. No folly is greater than this.
Therefore one who rules over men is at peace when he loves the people and is glorious when he loves officers, and if one of the two is lacking he perishes. The Odes say, 'Good men are the hedge, and the great host is the wall.' This is what is meant."
Interlinear notes 1
荀卿子
Here the source text writes 荀卿子. The one name used throughout this book, Sun Qingzi, is kept. ― translator
力術止，義術行，曷謂也？曰：秦之謂也。威彊乎湯武，廣大乎舜禹，然而憂患不可勝校也。諰諰然常恐天下之一合而軋己也，此所謂力術止也。曷謂乎威彊乎湯武？湯武也者，乃能使說己者使耳。今楚、父死焉，國舉焉，負三王之廟，而辟於陳蔡之間，視可司間，案欲剡其脛而以蹈秦之腹，然而秦使左案左，使右案右，是乃使讎人役也；此所謂威彊乎湯武也。曷謂廣大乎舜禹也？曰：古者百王之一天下，臣諸侯也，未有過封內千里者也。今秦南乃有沙羨與俱，是乃江南也。北與胡貉為鄰，西有巴戎，東在楚者乃界於齊，在韓者踰常山乃有臨慮，在魏者乃據圉津－－即去大梁百有二十里耳！其在趙者剡然有苓而據松柏之塞，負西海而固常山，是地遍天下也。威動海內，彊殆中國，然而憂患不可勝校也，諰諰然常恐天下之一合而軋己也；此所謂廣大乎舜禹也。然則奈何？曰：節威反文，案用夫端誠信全之君子治天下焉，因與之參國政，正是非，治曲直，聽咸陽，順者錯之，不順者而後誅之。若是，則兵不復出於塞外，而令行於天下矣。若是，則雖為之築明堂於塞外而朝諸侯，殆可矣。假今之世，益地不如益信之務也。
What is meant by saying that the arts of force are stopped and the arts of rightness are carried out? The answer is that it means Qin (秦).
Its awe and strength are greater than King Tang's and King Wu's, its breadth and greatness are more than King Shun's and King Yu's. And yet its troubles cannot be counted. Fearful and trembling, it dreads always that all under Heaven will join as one and crush it. This is what is called the arts of force being stopped.
What is meant by saying that its awe and strength are greater than King Tang's and King Wu's? King Tang and King Wu could only employ those who were glad of them. Now in Chu the father died there and the state was carried off, and bearing the shrines of the three kings it drew back into the country between Chen and Cai. It watches for a gap and wishes to whet its shins and tread on Qin's belly, and yet when Qin says go left it goes left, and when Qin says go right it goes right. This is to make a servant of one's own enemy, and this is what is called awe and strength greater than King Tang's and King Wu's.
What is meant by saying that its breadth and greatness are more than King Shun's and King Yu's? The answer is that in old times, when the hundred kings made all under Heaven one and made the feudal lords their ministers, there was none whose enfeoffed land passed a thousand li.
Now Qin in the south has taken in Shaxian (沙羨), and that is south of the Jiang. In the north it borders the Hu and the Mo, and in the west it holds Ba (巴) and Rong (戎). In the east, in what was Chu, it touches the border of Qi; in what was Han, it crosses Changshan and holds Linlü (臨慮); in what was Wei, it holds Yujin (圉津), only a hundred and twenty li from Daliang (大梁). In what was Zhao, it stands sharp at Ling (苓) and holds the pass of pine and cypress, backs on the Western Sea and makes Changshan firm. This is land reaching over all under Heaven.
Its awe moves all within the seas and its strength endangers the Central States. And yet its troubles cannot be counted, and fearful and trembling it dreads always that all under Heaven will join as one and crush it. This is what is called breadth and greatness more than King Shun's and King Yu's.
Then what is to be done? The answer is to temper the awe and turn back to the civil, and to employ those upright and sincere and trustworthy and whole gentlemen to govern all under Heaven, and with them to weigh the government of the state, to set right what is right and what is wrong, to order what is crooked and what is straight, and to hear it all at Xianyang, leaving those who comply as they are and cutting down those who do not comply only afterward. When it is so, the soldiers need not go out beyond the passes again, and its commands will be carried out over all under Heaven. When it is so, though it build a bright hall beyond the passes and have the feudal lords come to court, that might nearly be.
In the world as it is now, adding to one's land is not so good as working to add to one's good faith.
應侯問孫卿子曰：入秦何見？
Marquis Ying asked Sun Qingzi, "What did you see when you entered Qin?"
孫卿子曰：其固塞險，形埶便，山林川谷美，天材之利多，是形勝也。入境，觀其風俗，其百姓樸，其聲樂不流汙，其服不佻，甚畏有司而順，古之民也。及都邑官府，其百吏肅然，莫不恭儉、敦敬、忠信而不楛，古之吏也。入其國，觀其士大夫，出於其門，入於公門；出於公門，歸於其家，無有私事也；不比周，不朋黨，倜然莫不明通而公也，古之士大夫也。觀其朝廷，其朝閒，聽決百事不留，恬然如無治者，古之朝也。故四世有勝，非幸也，數也。是所見也。故曰：佚而治，約而詳，不煩而功，治之至也，秦類之矣。雖然，則有其諰矣。兼是數具者而盡有之，然而縣之以王者之功名，則倜倜然其不及遠矣！是何也？則其殆無儒邪！故曰粹而王，駮而霸，無一焉而亡。此亦秦之所短也。
Sun Qingzi said.
"Its passes are steep, its position is convenient, its hills and woods and streams and valleys are fine, and the benefits of Heaven's own gifts are many. This is superiority of position.
Entering its borders and looking at its customs, its people are plain, its songs and music are not loose or foul, its clothing is not frivolous, and it greatly fears the officers and obeys them. These are the people of old.
Coming to its cities and its offices, its hundred clerks are grave, and there is none who is not respectful and frugal, earnest and reverent, loyal and trustworthy, and none who is coarse. These are the clerks of old.
Entering its capital and looking at its officers and grandees, they go out from their own gates and into the gates of the government, and they go out from the gates of the government and return to their homes, and they have no private affairs. They do not band together and they do not form factions, and clear and open, there is none who is not bright and penetrating and public minded. These are the officers and grandees of old.
Looking at its court, the court is at leisure, and it hears and decides the hundred affairs with nothing left waiting, so still that it seems there is no one governing. This is the court of old.
Therefore that it has had victory for four generations is not luck but reckoning. This is what I saw.
Therefore it is said that to be at ease and yet ordered, spare and yet thorough, unbothered and yet successful, is the height of government, and Qin is near to this.
Even so, there is something to fear in it. It has all these several things together, and yet held up against the merit and name of a king it falls far short. Why is this? It is because it has, I suppose, no Confucian scholars.
Therefore it is said that pure, one becomes king; mixed, one becomes hegemon; with none of it at all, one perishes. This too is where Qin falls short."
積微：月不勝日，時不勝月，歲不勝時。凡人好敖慢小事，大事至然後興之務之，如是，則常不勝夫敦比於小事者矣。是何也？則小事之至也數，其縣日也博，其為積也大；大事之至也希，其縣日也淺，其為積也小。故善日者王，善時者霸，補漏者危，大荒者亡。故王者敬日，霸者敬時，僅存之國危而後戚之。亡國至亡而後知亡，至死而後知死，亡國之禍敗，不可勝悔也。霸者之善箸焉，可以時託也；王者之功名，不可勝日志也。財物貨寶以大為重，政教功名反是－－能積微者速成。詩曰：「德輶如毛，民鮮克舉之。」此之謂也。
The piling up of small things is like this. The month does not overcome the day, the season does not overcome the month, the year does not overcome the season.
Now men love to be idle and to slight small affairs, and only when a great affair comes do they rouse themselves and work at it. When it is so, they never overcome the man who holds earnestly to small affairs.
Why is this? Small affairs come often, the days they hang upon are broad, and what they pile up is great; great affairs come seldom, the days they hang upon are shallow, and what they pile up is small.
Therefore one who uses his days well becomes king, one who uses his seasons well becomes hegemon, one who patches the leaks is endangered, and one who is greatly slack perishes. Therefore a king reveres the days and a hegemon reveres the seasons, and a state that barely survives grieves only after it is in danger. A state that perishes knows its ruin only when ruin has come and knows death only when death has come, and the disaster and collapse of a perishing state cannot be repented of enough.
The good of a hegemon stands out and may be entrusted to the seasons, and the merit and name of a king cannot be marked down in days enough.
Goods and treasures are held weighty for being great, but government and teaching, merit and name, are the other way about, and one who can pile up small things achieves quickly. The Odes say, "Virtue is light as a feather, yet few among the people can lift it." This is what is meant.
凡姦人之所以起者，以上之不貴義，不敬義也。夫義者，所以限禁人之為惡與姦者也。今上不貴義，不敬義，如是，則天下之人百姓，皆有棄義之志，而有趨姦之心矣，此姦人之所以起也。且上者下之師也，夫下之和上，譬之猶響之應聲，影之像形也。故為人上者，不可不順也。夫義者，內節於人，而外節於萬物者也；上安於主，而下調於民者也；內外上下節者，義之情也。然則凡為天下之要，義為本，而信次之。古者禹湯本義務信而天下治，桀紂棄義倍信而天下亂。故為人上者，必將慎禮義，務忠信，然後可。此君人者之大本也。堂上不糞，則郊草不瞻曠芸；白刃扞乎胸，則目不見流矢；拔戟加乎首，則十指不辭斷；非不以此為務也，疾養緩急之有相先者也。
The reason wicked men arise is that those above do not hold rightness precious and do not revere rightness. Rightness is what bounds and forbids men from doing evil and wickedness. Now when those above do not hold rightness precious and do not revere rightness, then the men and the people of all under Heaven will all have a will to cast rightness away and a heart that runs to wickedness, and this is the reason wicked men arise.
Moreover, the one above is the teacher of those below. That those below are in tune with the one above is, to liken it, like an echo answering a sound and a shadow taking the shape of a form. Therefore one who is above men cannot but comply.
Rightness is what makes measure within men and makes measure among the ten thousand things, and it is what sets the ruler at peace above and brings the people into tune below. That there is measure within and without and above and below is the true state of rightness.
That being so, of all that is essential in governing all under Heaven, rightness is the root and good faith comes next. In old times Yu and Tang made rightness their root and worked at good faith, and all under Heaven was ordered; Jie and King Zhou cast off rightness and turned their backs on good faith, and all under Heaven fell into disorder. Therefore one who is above men must be careful of ritual and rightness and work at loyalty and good faith, and only then will it do. This is the great root of one who rules over men.
If the hall is not swept, there is no looking to the weeds of the fields and no leisure to hoe them. When a bare blade bars the breast, the eye does not see the flying arrow. When a drawn halberd is set at the head, the ten fingers do not refuse to be cut off. It is not that these are not worked at, but that in pain and itch and slow and urgent there is what comes first.