Huangdi — The Yellow Emperor黃帝篇
黃帝即位十有五年，喜天下戴己，養正命，娛耳目，供鼻口，焦然肌色皯黣，昏然五情爽惑。又十有五年，憂天下之不治，竭聰明，進智力，營百姓，焦然肌色皯黣，昏然五情爽惑。黃帝乃喟然讚曰：「朕之過淫矣。養一己其患如此，治萬物其患如此。」於是放萬機，舍宮寢，去直侍，徹鐘懸，減廚膳，退而閒居大庭之館，齋心服形，三月不親政事。晝寢而夢，遊於華胥氏之國。華胥氏之國在弇州之西，台州之北，不知斯齊國幾千萬里，蓋非舟車足力之所及，神游而已。其國無師長，自然而已。其民無嗜慾，自然而已。不知樂生，不知惡死，故無夭殤；不知親己，不知疏物，故無愛憎；不知背逆，不知向順，故無利害，都無所愛惜，都無所畏忌。入水不溺，入火不熱。斫撻無傷痛，指擿無痟癢。乘空如履實，寢虛若處牀。雲霧不硋其視，雷霆不亂其聽，美惡不滑其心，山谷不躓其步，神行而已。黃帝既寤，怡然自得，召天老、力牧、太山稽，告之曰：「朕閒居三月，齋心服形，思有以養身治物之道，弗獲其術。疲而睡，所夢若此。今知至道不可以情求矣，朕知之矣，朕得之矣，而不能以告若矣！」又二十有八年，天下大治，幾若華胥氏之國，而帝登假。百姓號之，二百餘年不輟。
In the fifteenth year after the Yellow Emperor ascended the throne, he was glad that all under heaven upheld him, and he nourished his life, delighted his ears and eyes, and served his nose and mouth. His skin grew dark and scorched, and his five feelings were dulled and confused.
Another fifteen years, and he grieved that all under heaven was not well governed. He spent his hearing and his sight to the full, put forth his wisdom and his strength, and cared for the people. His skin grew dark and scorched, and his five feelings were dulled and confused.
The Yellow Emperor then sighed and lamented, "My fault has gone too far. The trouble of nourishing one body is like this, and the trouble of governing the ten thousand things is like this."
So he let go of the myriad affairs of state, left his sleeping chamber, sent away those who waited on him, took down the bells and the chimes, cut back his table, and withdrew to live at ease in the hall of Dating (大庭). There he fasted his mind and ordered his body, and for three months he did not attend to government.
Napping by day, he dreamed that he wandered in the country of Huaxu (華胥氏). The country of Huaxu lies west of Yanzhou (弇州) and north of Taizhou (台州), and no one knows how many thousands and tens of thousands of li it is from the state of Qi. Boat and cart and the strength of the feet cannot reach it. Only the spirit wanders there.
That country has no ruler. It is simply so of itself. Its people have no craving and no desire. They are simply so of themselves. They do not know how to delight in life or how to hate death, and so none of them dies young. They do not know how to hold themselves near or how to keep things far, and so there is no love and no hate. They do not know how to turn away and resist or how to face and follow, and so there is no gain and no harm. There is nothing at all that they cherish, and nothing at all that they fear or shun.
They go into water and do not drown. They go into fire and are not burned. Cut and beaten, they are neither wounded nor pained. Poked with a finger, they feel neither numbness nor itch. They ride the air as if treading on solid ground, and they lie in emptiness as if lying on a bed. Cloud and mist do not block their sight, thunder does not confuse their hearing, beauty and ugliness do not shake their hearts, mountains and valleys do not trip their steps. They go by spirit alone.
The Yellow Emperor awoke content, having gained something for himself, and he called Tianlao (天老) and Limu (力牧) and Taishan Ji (太山稽) and spoke to them.
"For three months I lived at ease, fasting my mind and ordering my body, and I thought about the way to nourish the body and to govern things, but I did not find the art of it. Worn out, I fell asleep, and this was my dream. Now I know that the highest Way cannot be sought with the feelings. I have known it and I have gained it, but I cannot tell it to you."
Twenty-eight years more, and all under heaven was greatly ordered, almost like the country of Huaxu. Then the Yellow Emperor ascended on high, and the people cried out for him, and for more than two hundred years they did not stop.
列姑射山在海河洲中，山上有神人焉，吸風飲露，不食五穀；心如淵泉，形如處女；不偎不愛，仙聖爲之臣；不畏不怒，愿慤爲之使；不施不惠，而物自足；不聚不歛，而己無愆。陰陽常調，日月常明，四時常若，風雨常均，字育常時，年穀常豐；而土無札傷，人無夭惡，物無疵厲，鬼無靈響焉。
Mount Lie Guye (列姑射) lies on an island in the sea. On the mountain there is a divine man who breathes the wind and drinks the dew and does not eat the five grains. His heart is like a deep spring and his form is like a maiden.
He is close to no one and loves no one, yet immortals and sages become his subjects. He fears no one and is angry with no one, yet the careful and the earnest become his messengers. He gives nothing and grants no favor, yet things are enough of themselves. He gathers nothing and takes nothing in, yet he lacks nothing.
Yin and yang are always in balance, sun and moon are always bright, the four seasons are always the same, wind and rain are always even, birth and nurture always come in season, and the grain is plentiful year after year. The soil suffers no harm from plague, the people meet no evil of early death, things have no blemish and no calamity, and the spirits give no uncanny echo.
列子師老商氏，友伯高子，進二子之道，乘風而歸。尹生聞之，從列子居，數月不省舍。因閒請蘄其術者，十反而十不告。尹生懟而請辭，列子又不命。尹生退。數月，意不已，又往從之。列子曰：「汝何去來之頻？」尹生曰：「曩章戴有請於子，子不我告，固有憾於子。今復脫然，是以又來。」列子曰：「曩吾以汝爲達，今汝之鄙至此乎？姬！將告汝所學於夫子者矣。自吾之事夫子友若人也，三年之後，心不敢念是非，口不敢言利害，始得夫子一眄而已。五年之後，心庚念是非，口庚言利害，夫子始一解顏而笑。七年之後，從心之所念，庚無是非；從口之所言，庚無利害，夫子始一引吾并席而坐。九年之後，橫心之所念，橫口之所言，亦不知我之是非利害歟，亦不知彼之是非利害歟，亦不知夫子之爲我師、若人之爲我友，內外進矣。而後眼如耳，耳如鼻，鼻如口，無不同也。心凝形釋，骨肉都融；不覺形之所倚，足之所履，隨風東西，猶木葉幹殼。竟不知風乘我邪？我乘風乎？今女居先生之門，曾未浹時，而懟憾者再三。女之片體將氣所不受，汝之一節將地所不載。履虛乘風，其可幾乎？」尹生甚怍，屏息良久，不敢復言。
Liezi took Lao Shang (老商氏) as his teacher and Bogaozi (伯高子) as his friend. He gained the Way of both men, and he came home riding the wind.
Yin Sheng (尹生) heard of it and went to live with Liezi, and for several months he did not look in on his own house. Whenever there was a spare moment he asked to be taught the art, ten times, and ten times he was not told. Yin Sheng resented it and asked to leave, and Liezi again said nothing. Yin Sheng went away.
Some months later he could not put the thought aside, and he went back and followed him again. Liezi said, "Why do you come and go so often?"
Yin Sheng said, "In the past I asked you and you did not tell me, and I truly held it against you. Now I am clear of it again, and so I have come back."
Liezi said.
"In the past I took you for a man of open understanding, and now your narrowness has come to this. Sit down. I will tell you what I learned from my teacher.
Three years after I began to serve my teacher and to befriend that man, my heart no longer dared to think of right and wrong and my mouth no longer dared to speak of gain and harm. Only then did the master give me a single sidelong glance.
After five years my heart thought of right and wrong again and my mouth spoke of gain and harm again, and then for the first time the master relaxed his face and smiled.
After seven years my heart followed whatever it thought and there was no more right and wrong, and my mouth followed whatever it said and there was no more gain and harm, and then for the first time the master drew me over to sit beside him on one mat.
After nine years I let my heart think as it would and my mouth speak as it would. I did not know my own right and wrong or my own gain and harm, and I did not know another's right and wrong or another's gain and harm. I did not know that the master was my teacher or that this man was my friend. Inside and outside were at an end.
After that my eyes were like ears, my ears like a nose, my nose like a mouth, and there was nothing that was not the same. My heart froze and my form dissolved, and bone and flesh melted away. I did not feel what my body leaned on or what my feet trod on, and I went east and west with the wind like a leaf from a tree or a dry husk. In the end I did not know whether the wind was riding me or I was riding the wind.
Now you have been at your teacher's gate less than a single season, and two or three times you have resented and blamed. The air will not hold up one piece of your body, and the earth will not bear up one joint of you. How can you hope to tread on emptiness and ride the wind?"
Yin Sheng was deeply ashamed. He held his breath a long while and did not dare to speak again.
列子問關尹曰：「至人潛行不空，蹈火不熱，行乎萬物之上而不慄。請問何以至於此？」關尹曰：「是純氣之守也，非智巧果敢之列。姬！魚語女。凡有貌像聲色者，皆物也。物與物何以相遠也？夫奚足以至乎先？是色而已。則物之造乎不形，而止乎無所化。夫得是而窮之者，焉得而正焉？彼將處乎不深之度，而藏乎無端之紀，游乎萬物之所終始。壹其性，養其氣，含其德，以通乎物之所造。夫若是者，其天守全，其神無郤，物奚自入焉？夫醉者之墜於車也，雖疾不死。骨節與人同，而犯害與人異，其神全也。乘亦弗知也，墜亦弗知也。死生驚懼不入乎其胸，是故遌物而不慴。彼得全於酒而猶若是，而況得全於天乎？聖人藏於天，故物莫之能傷也。」
Liezi asked Guan Yin (關尹), "The perfect man walks under water and is not stopped, treads on fire and is not burned, and walks above the ten thousand things and does not tremble. May I ask how he comes to this?"
Guan Yin said.
"This is the keeping of pure breath. It is not of the order of wisdom and skill and bold daring. Sit down. I will tell you.
Whatever has shape and image and sound and color is a thing. How should one thing be far from another thing? What is there in any of them that could come first? It is only color. So things are made where there is no form, and they come to rest where there is no change. If a man has gained this and gone to the end of it, how should any thing lay hold of him?
He dwells in a measure that is not excessive, and he hides in a thread that has no end, and he wanders where the ten thousand things end and begin. He makes his nature one, nourishes his breath, and holds his power within, and so he passes through to where things are made. A man like this keeps his heaven whole and his spirit has no gap. Where would a thing find its way in?
When a drunken man falls from a cart he is hurt but does not die. His bones and joints are like other men's, but the harm he takes is not like other men's, because his spirit is whole. He did not know that he was riding, and he did not know that he had fallen. Death and life, alarm and fear do not enter his breast, and so he strikes against things and is not afraid. If a man made whole by wine is like this, how much more a man made whole by heaven. The sage hides in heaven, and so nothing can harm him."
列禦寇爲伯昏無人射，引之盈貫，措杯水其肘上，發之，鏑矢復沓，方矢復寓。當是時也，猶象人也。伯昏無人曰：「是射之射，非不射之射也。當與汝登高山，履危石，臨百仞之淵，若能射乎？」於是無人遂登高山，履危石，臨百仞之淵，背逡巡，足二分垂在外，揖禦寇而進之。禦寇伏地，汗流至踵。伯昏無人曰：「夫至人者，上闚青天，下潛黃泉，揮斥八極，神氣不變。今汝怵然有恂目之志，爾於中也殆矣夫！」
Lie Yukou shot for Bohun Wuren (伯昏無人). He drew the string to the full, set a cup of water on his elbow, and let fly. The head of one arrow touched the notch of the one before, and the next arrow was already on the string. At that moment he was like a wooden figure.
Bohun Wuren said, "This is the shooting of shooting. It is not the shooting of not shooting. Suppose you were to climb a high mountain with me and tread on a dangerous rock and look down on a pool a hundred ren (仞)〔about 2.4 m〕 deep. Could you still shoot?"
Then Wuren climbed a high mountain, trod on a dangerous rock, and looked down on a pool a hundred ren deep. He backed away until two-tenths of his feet hung over the edge, and he bowed to Yukou and asked him to come forward. Yukou lay flat on the ground, and the sweat ran down to his heels.
Bohun Wuren said, "The perfect man peers up at the blue sky above and dives into the yellow springs below, and he sweeps through the eight ends of the world with no change in his spirit or his breath. Now you are shaken and your eyes are unsteady. It would be hard for you to hit the mark."
范氏有子曰子華，善養私名，舉國服之；有寵於晉君，不仕而居三卿之右。目所偏視，晉國爵之；口所偏肥，晉國黜之。游其庭者侔於朝。子華使其俠客以智鄙相攻，彊弱相凌。雖傷破於前，不用介意。終日夜以此爲戲樂，國殆成俗。禾生、子伯，范氏之上客，出行，經坰外，宿於田更商丘開之舍。中夜，禾生、子伯二人相與言子華之名勢，能使存者亡，亡者存；富者貧，貧者富。商丘開先窘於飢寒，潛於牖北聽之。因假糧荷畚之子華之門。子華之門徒皆世族也，縞衣乘軒，緩步闊視。顧見商丘開年老力弱，面目黎黑，衣冠不檢，莫不眲之。既而狎侮欺詒，攩㧙挨抌，亡所不爲。商丘開常無慍容，而諸客之技單，憊於戲笑。遂與商丘開俱乘高臺，於衆中漫言曰：「有能自投下者賞百金。」衆皆競應。商丘開以爲信然，遂先投下，形若飛鳥，揚於地，𩨒骨無䃣。范氏之黨以爲偶然，未詎怪也，因復指河曲之淫隈曰：「彼中有寶珠，泳可得也。」商丘開復從而泳之。既出，果得珠焉。衆昉同疑。子華昉令豫肉食衣帛之次。俄而范氏之藏大火，子華曰：「若能入火取錦者，從所得多少賞若。」商丘開往無難色，入火往還，埃不漫，身不焦。范氏之黨以爲有道，乃共謝之曰：「吾不知子之有道而誕子，吾不知子之神人而辱子。子其愚我也，子其聾我也，子其盲我也。敢問其道。」商丘開曰：「吾亡道。雖吾之心，亦不知所以。雖然，有一於此，試與子言之。曩子二客之宿吾舍也，聞譽范氏之勢，能使存者亡，亡者存；富者貧，貧者富。吾誠之無二心，故不遠而來。及來，以子黨之言皆實也，唯恐誠之之不至，行之之不及，不知形體之所措，利害之所存也。心一而已。物亡迕者，如斯而已。今昉知子黨之誕我，我內藏猜慮，外矜觀聽，追幸昔日之不焦溺也，怛然內熱，惕然震悸矣。水火豈復可近哉？」自此之後，范氏門徒路遇乞兒馬醫，弗敢辱也，必下車而揖之。宰我聞之，以告仲尼。仲尼曰：「汝弗知乎？夫至信之人，可以感物也。動天地，感鬼神，橫六合，而無逆者，豈但履危險，入水火而已哉？商丘開信僞物猶不逆，況彼我皆誠哉？小子識之！」
The Fan clan (范氏) had a son named Zihua (子華). He was good at building up a name of his own, and the whole state bowed to him. He had the favor of the ruler of Jin, and without holding office he stood above the three ministers. Whoever was favored by a glance of his eye was given rank by Jin, and whoever his mouth spoke ill of was cast out by Jin. Those who came and went in his courtyard were a match for those at court.
Zihua made his retainers attack one another, the clever against the dull and the strong against the weak. Though men were hurt and broken before him, he paid no mind. All day and all night he made this his game and his amusement, and it nearly became the custom of the state.
He Sheng (禾生) and Zibo (子伯) were honored guests of the Fan clan. Once as they traveled they passed beyond the open fields and lodged at the house of Shangqiu Kai (商丘開), who worked the land. In the middle of the night the two of them talked together of Zihua's name and power, how he could make the living perish and the perishing live, and make the rich poor and the poor rich.
Shangqiu Kai had long suffered hunger and cold, and he hid by the north window and listened. So he borrowed grain, shouldered a basket, and went to Zihua's gate.
Zihua's followers were all men of great houses. They wore white silk and rode in carriages, and they walked slowly and looked about them with proud eyes. When they saw that Shangqiu Kai was old and weak, that his face was dark, and that his clothes and his cap were not in order, there was not one who did not look down on him. Soon they made light of him and insulted him and cheated him, they shoved and pushed him and struck and jabbed him, and there was nothing they did not do. Shangqiu Kai never showed an angry face, and at last the guests had used up their tricks and were worn out with mocking him.
Then they took Shangqiu Kai up onto a high terrace, and one of them said carelessly before the crowd, "Whoever can throw himself down from here will be given a hundred pieces of gold."
They all vied to answer. Shangqiu Kai took it for the truth and was the first to throw himself down, and his body was like a flying bird. He came lightly to the ground with no bone or joint broken.
The men of the Fan clan took it for chance and did not think it very strange. So they pointed to a deep bend of the river and said, "There is a precious pearl in there. You can swim down and get it."
Shangqiu Kai did as they said and swam down. When he came out he had the pearl. Only then did they all begin to wonder, and only then did Zihua let him take his place among those who ate meat and wore silk.
Soon afterward a great fire broke out in the storehouse of the Fan clan. Zihua said, "If you can go into the fire and bring out the brocade, I will reward you in keeping with what you bring."
Shangqiu Kai went with no unwillingness in his face. He went into the fire and came back, and no ash clung to him and his body was not scorched. The men of the Fan clan took him for a man who had the Way, and together they begged his pardon.
"We did not know that you had the Way, and we deceived you. We did not know that you were a divine man, and we shamed you. Call us fools, call us deaf, call us blind. We dare to ask about your Way."
Shangqiu Kai said.
"I have no Way. Even my own heart does not know the reason. Still, there is one thing here, and I will try to tell you.
In the past, when those two guests of yours lodged at my house, I heard them praise the power of the Fan clan, how it could make the living perish and the perishing live, and make the rich poor and the poor rich. I believed it truly and had no second thought, and so I did not count the distance and came.
After I came, I took all that your people said for the truth. I feared only that my faith was not deep enough and that my doing would fall short, and I did not know where my body was placed or where gain and harm lay. My heart was one, and that was all. Nothing went against me, and that was all.
Only now do I know that your people were deceiving me. Within me I have hidden doubt and worry, and outside I watch what I see and hear. When I think that it was only luck that I was not burned or drowned in those days, I am hot inside with dread and my heart beats with fright. How could I ever go near water and fire again?"
From that time on, when the followers of the Fan clan met a begging boy or a horse doctor on the road, they did not dare to shame him but always got down from the carriage and bowed to him.
Zai Wo (宰我) heard of it and told Zhongni. Zhongni said, "Do you not know? A man of perfect faith can move things. He moves heaven and earth, he moves the spirits, he crosses the six directions, and nothing goes against him. How should it stop at treading on danger and going into water and fire? Shangqiu Kai believed a lie and still nothing went against him. How much more when both sides are true! Mark this, my children."
周宣王之牧正有役人梁鴦者，能養野禽獸，委食於園庭之內，雖虎狼鵰鶚之類，無不柔馴者。雄雌在前，孳尾成羣，異類雜居，不相搏噬也。王慮其術終於其身，令毛丘園傳之。梁鴦曰：「鴦，賤役也，何術以告爾？懼王之謂隱於爾也，且一言我養虎之法。凡順之則喜，逆之則怒，此有血氣者之性也。然喜怒豈妄發哉？皆逆之所犯也。夫食虎者，不敢以生物與之，爲其殺之之怒也；不敢以全物與之，爲其碎之之怒也。時其飢飽，達其怒心。虎之與人異類，而媚養己者，順也；故其殺之，逆也。然則吾豈敢逆之使怒哉？亦不順之使喜也。夫喜之復也必怒，怒之復也常喜，皆不中也。今吾心無逆順者也，則鳥獸之視吾，猶其儕也。故游吾園者，不思高林曠澤；寢吾庭者，不願深山幽谷，理使然也。」
Under the master of herds of King Xuan of Zhou there was a servant named Liang Yang (梁鴦), who was good at raising wild birds and beasts. He fed them within the garden, and even tigers and wolves and eagles and ospreys all grew gentle and tame. Males and females were there before him, and they bred and made flocks, and though different kinds lived mixed together they did not strike or bite one another.
The king feared that the art would end with him and had him pass it on to Mao Qiuyuan (毛丘園). Liang Yang said.
"I am a lowly servant. What art have I to tell you of? But I fear the king will say that I am hiding it from you, so I will say one word about the raising of tigers.
It is the nature of everything with blood and breath to be glad when it is followed and angry when it is crossed. Yet do gladness and anger rise at random? They are all brought on by crossing.
One who feeds a tiger does not dare give it a living creature, for it grows angry as it kills. He does not dare give it a whole creature, for it grows angry as it tears it apart. He matches its hunger and its fullness to the right time, and he opens a way for its angry heart.
A tiger is of a different kind from man, and yet it fawns on the one who feeds it, because he has followed it. And when a tiger kills a man, it is because he has crossed it. How then should I dare cross them and make them angry? Neither do I follow them to make them glad. For when gladness comes round it must turn to anger, and when anger comes round it always turns to gladness, and neither is the mean.
Now there is neither crossing nor following in my heart, and so the birds and the beasts look on me as one of their own. That is why those that wander in my garden do not think of the high forest and the wide marsh, and those that sleep in my courtyard do not long for the deep mountains and the hidden valleys. The way of things has made it so."
顏回問乎仲尼曰：「吾嘗濟乎觴深之淵矣，津人操舟若神。吾問焉，曰：『操舟可學邪？』曰：『可。能游者可教也，善游者數能。乃若夫沒人，則未嘗見舟而謖操之者也。』吾問焉，而不告。敢問何謂也？」仲尼曰：「𧮒！吾與若玩其文也久矣，而未達其實，而固且道與。能游者可教也，輕水也；善游者之數能也，忘水也。乃若夫沒人之未嘗見舟也而謖操之也，彼視淵若陵，視舟之覆猶其車卻也。覆卻萬物方陳乎前而不得入其舍。惡往而不暇？以瓦摳者巧，以鉤摳者憚，以黃金摳者惛。巧一也，而有所矜，則重外也。凡重外者拙內。」
Yan Hui asked Zhongni.
"I once crossed the pool of Shangshen (觴深), and the ferryman handled the boat like a spirit. I asked him, 'Can the handling of a boat be learned?' He said, 'It can. A man who can swim may be taught, and a man who swims well needs only a few tries. As for a man who can stay under water, he handles a boat at once though he has never seen one.' I asked him again, and he did not tell me. I dare to ask what this means."
Zhongni said.
"Ah. You and I have handled the words of it a long while, and you have not yet reached the substance. Still, I will tell you.
That a man who can swim may be taught is because he makes light of the water. That a man who swims well needs only a few tries is because he has forgotten the water. That a man who can stay under water handles a boat at once though he has never seen one is because he looks on the deep as a hill and looks on the overturning of a boat as a cart rolling back. Overturning and rolling back and the ten thousand things may be spread out before him, and none of them can enter where he dwells. Where could he go and not be at ease?
The man who throws for a tile is skillful, the man who throws for an iron hook is afraid, and the man who throws for gold is confused. The skill is one and the same, but when there is something he holds dear, he has made the outside heavy. Whoever makes the outside heavy is clumsy within."
孔子觀於呂梁，懸水三十仞，流沫三十里，黿鼉魚鼈之所不能游也，見一丈夫游之，以爲有苦而欲死者也，使弟子並流而承之。數百步而出，被髮行歌，而游於棠行。孔子從而問之，曰：「呂梁懸水三十仞，流沫三十里，黿鼉魚鼈所不能游。向吾見子道之，以爲有苦而欲死者，使弟子並流將承子。子出而被髮行歌，吾以子爲鬼也。察子，則人也。請問蹈水有道乎？」曰：「亡，吾無道。吾始乎故，長乎性，成乎命，與齎俱入，與汩偕出。從水之道而不爲私焉，此吾所以道之也。」孔子曰：「何謂始乎故，長乎性，成乎命也？」曰：「吾生於陵而安於陵，故也；長於水而安於水，性也；不知吾所以然而然，命也。」
Confucius looked out over Lüliang (呂梁). The water fell thirty ren and the foam ran thirty li, so that not even turtles and crocodiles and fish could swim there. He saw a man swimming in it and thought that he was in some misery and wished to die, and he sent his disciples along the current to take hold of him.
After a few hundred paces the man came out, loosed his hair, walked along singing, and strolled by the bank. Confucius followed him and asked.
"At Lüliang the water falls thirty fathoms and the foam runs thirty li, and not even turtles and crocodiles and fish can swim there. Just now I saw you go into it and thought you were in some misery and wished to die, and I sent my disciples along the current to take hold of you. Then you came out and loosed your hair and walked along singing, and I took you for a ghost. Looking closely at you, I see you are a man. May I ask whether there is a Way to treading on water?"
He said, "There is none. I have no Way. I began in what was long familiar, I grew up in my nature, and I came to fullness in fate. I go in with the whirling water and come out with the water that rises. I follow the way of the water and do nothing of my own. That is how I tread on it."
Confucius said, "What do you mean by beginning in what was long familiar, growing up in your nature, and coming to fullness in fate?"
He said, "I was born among the hills and am at home among the hills. That is what was long familiar. I grew up in the water and am at home in the water. That is my nature. I do not know why I am so, and yet I am so. That is fate."
仲尼適楚，出於林中，見痀僂者承蜩，猶掇之也。仲尼曰：「子巧乎！有道邪？」曰：「我有道也。五六月，纍垸二而不墜，則失者錙銖；纍三而不墜，則失者十一；纍五而不墜，猶掇之也。吾處也若橜株駒，吾執臂若槁木之枝，雖天地之大、萬物之多，而唯蜩翼之知。吾不反不側，不以萬物易蜩之翼，何爲而不得？」孔子顧謂弟子曰：「用志不分，乃疑於神，其痀僂丈人之謂乎！」丈人曰：「汝逢衣徒也，亦何知問是乎？修汝所以，而後載言其上。」
Zhongni was going to Chu, and as he came out of a wood he saw a hunchbacked man catching cicadas as if he were picking them up.
Zhongni said, "You are skillful. Is there a Way to it?"
He said, "There is a Way. In the fifth and sixth months, when I can pile two balls on the pole and not drop them, I miss only a few. When I can pile three and not drop them, I miss one in ten. When I can pile five and not drop them, it is like picking them up.
Where I stand I am like a tree stump, and the arm I hold out is like the branch of a withered tree. Heaven and earth are great and the ten thousand things are many, and yet I know only the wing of the cicada. I do not turn my head and I do not look to the side, and I would not trade the wing of a cicada for the ten thousand things. How should I fail to get them?"
Confucius looked round at his disciples and said, "When the will is used without being divided, it comes near to the spirit. Is this not what is meant by that old hunchback?"
The old man said, "You are men in flowing robes. What do you know that you should ask about this? Put in order what you have to do, and after that speak of what is above it."
海上之人有好漚鳥者，每旦之海上，從漚鳥游，漚鳥之至者百住而不止。其父曰：「吾聞漚鳥皆從汝游，汝取來，吾玩之。」明日之海上，漚鳥舞而不下也。故曰：至言去言，至爲無爲。齊智之所知，則淺矣。
By the sea there was a man who loved gulls. Every morning he went down to the sea and wandered among the gulls, and the gulls that came to him were more than a hundred and did not stop coming.
His father said, "I hear that the gulls all come and play with you. Catch one and bring it here. I want to play with it."
The next day he went down to the sea, and the gulls danced above him and would not come down.
Therefore it is said that the highest words put words aside and the highest doing is without doing. What common wisdom knows is shallow.
趙襄子率徒十萬狩於中山，藉芿燔林，扇赫百里。有一人從石壁中出，隨煙燼上下。衆謂鬼物。火過，徐行而出，若無所經涉者。襄子怪而留之。徐而察之，形色七竅，人也；氣息音聲，人也。問：「奚道而處石？奚道而入火？」其人曰：「奚物而謂石？奚物而謂火？」襄子曰：「而嚮之所出者，石也；而嚮之所涉者，火也。」其人曰：「不知也。」魏文侯聞之，問子夏曰：「彼何人哉？」子夏曰：「以商所聞夫子之言，和者大同於物，物無得傷閡者，游金石，蹈水火，皆可也。」文侯曰：「吾子奚不爲之？」子夏曰：「刳心去智，商未之能。雖然，試語之有暇矣。」文侯曰：「夫子奚不爲之？」子夏曰：「夫子能之而能不爲者也。」文侯大說。
Zhao Xiangzi (趙襄子) led a hundred thousand men to hunt at Zhongshan. They laid down grass and set the forest on fire, and the flames stretched a hundred li.
A man came out from the middle of a stone cliff and went up and down with the smoke and the ashes. The crowd said he was a ghost. When the fire had passed he walked out slowly, as if he had passed through nothing at all.
Xiangzi thought it strange and had him held, and looked him over slowly. His form and his color and the seven openings were a man's, and his breath and his voice were a man's.
He asked, "By what Way do you stay in stone? By what Way do you go into fire?"
The man said, "What is it that you call stone? What is it that you call fire?"
Xiangzi said, "What you came out of just now is stone, and what you passed through just now is fire."
The man said, "I do not know."
Marquis Wen of Wei heard of it and asked Zixia, "What kind of man is he?"
Zixia said, "By what I have heard from my teacher, one who is in harmony is wholly one with things, and nothing can harm him or block him. He may wander through metal and stone and tread on water and fire, and all of it can be done."
Marquis Wen said, "Why do you not do it yourself?"
Zixia said, "To cut out the heart and put away wisdom is more than I can do. Still, I have leisure enough to speak of it."
Marquis Wen said, "Why did your teacher not do it?"
Zixia said, "My teacher is one who can do it and can also refrain from doing it."
Marquis Wen was greatly pleased.
有神巫自齊來處於鄭，命曰季咸，知人死生、存亡、禍福、壽夭，期以歲、月、旬、日，如神。鄭人見之，皆避而走。列子見之而心醉，而歸以告壺丘子，曰：「始吾以夫子之道爲至矣，則又有至焉者矣。」壺子曰：「吾與汝無其文，未既其實，而固得道與？衆雌而無雄，而又奚卵焉？而以道與世抗，必信矣。夫故使人得而相汝。嘗試與來，以予示之。」明日，列子與之見壺子。出而謂列子曰：「譆！子之先生死矣，弗活矣，不可以旬數矣。吾見怪焉，見濕灰焉。」列子入，涕泣沾衿，以告壺子。壺子曰：「向吾示之以地文，罪乎不誫不止，是殆見吾杜德幾也。嘗又與來！」明日，又與之見壺子。出而謂列子曰：「幸矣，子之先生遇我也，有瘳矣。灰然有生矣，吾見杜權矣。」列子入告壺子。壺子曰：「向吾示之以天壤，名實不入，而機發於踵，此爲杜權。是殆見吾善者幾也。嘗又與來！」明日，又與之見壺子。出而謂列子曰：「子之先生坐不齋，吾無得而相焉。試齋，將且復相之。」列子入告壺子。壺子曰：「向吾示之以太沖莫眹，是殆見吾衡氣幾也。鯢旋之潘爲淵，止水之潘爲淵，流水之潘爲淵，濫水之潘爲淵，沃水之潘爲淵，氿水之潘爲淵，雍水之潘爲淵，汧水之潘爲淵，肥水之潘爲淵，是爲九淵焉。嘗又與來！」明日，又與之見壺子。立未定，自失而走。壺子曰：「追之！」列子追之而不及，反以報壺子，曰：「已滅矣，已失矣，吾不及也。」壺子曰：「向吾示之以未始出吾宗。吾與之虛而猗移，不知其誰何，因以爲茅靡，因以爲波流，故逃也。」然後列子自以爲未始學而歸，三年不出，爲其妻爨，食狶如食人，於事無親，雕瑑復朴，塊然獨以其形立，㤋然而封戎，壹以是終。
A spirit shaman came from Qi to live in Zheng. He was called Ji Xian (季咸). He knew whether a man would die or live, survive or perish, meet disaster or blessing, live long or die young, and he set the year and the month and the ten days and the day of it like a spirit. When the people of Zheng saw him, they all turned aside and ran.
Liezi saw him and his heart was drunk with it, and he came back and told Huqiuzi, "At first I thought that your Way was the highest, and there is another that is higher still."
Master Huzi said, "You and I have gone through the outward form of it and have not come to the end of the substance, and can you be said to have gained the Way? Where there are many hens and no cock, how should there be eggs? You have taken the Way and set it against the world, and you wanted men to believe. That is why another man could read your face. Try bringing him here. Show me to him."
The next day Liezi came with him to see Master Huzi. When he came out he said to Liezi, "Alas. Your teacher is dead. He will not live. He cannot be counted for ten days more. I saw something strange. I saw wet ashes."
Liezi went in weeping until his tears wet his collar, and told Master Huzi. Master Huzi said, "Just now I showed him the pattern of the earth. It neither stirred nor stood still, and he must have seen the working of my power shut up. Try bringing him again."
The next day he came with him again to see Master Huzi. When he came out he said to Liezi, "It is a lucky thing that your teacher met me. There is some mending in him. There is life in the ashes. I saw what was shut up beginning to move."
Liezi went in and told Master Huzi. Master Huzi said, "Just now I showed him heaven and earth. Neither name nor substance entered, and the working rose up from my heels. This is the shut thing moving. He must have seen the working of what is good in me. Try bringing him again."
The next day he came with him again to see Master Huzi. When he came out he said to Liezi, "Your teacher does not sit the same way twice, and I cannot read his face. Let him fast, and I will read it again."
Liezi went in and told Master Huzi. Master Huzi said, "Just now I showed him the great emptiness where there is no sign. He must have seen the working of my breath in balance.
The swirl where the whale turns makes a deep pool, the swirl of still water makes a deep pool, the swirl of running water makes a deep pool, the swirl of overflowing water makes a deep pool, the swirl of water that pours down makes a deep pool, the swirl of water that wells up at the side makes a deep pool, the swirl of water that is dammed makes a deep pool, the swirl of water that is split makes a deep pool, and the swirl of water that has risen makes a deep pool. These are the nine pools. Try bringing him again."
The next day he came with him again to see Master Huzi. Before he had come to a stand he lost himself and ran. Master Huzi said, "Go after him."
Liezi went after him and could not catch him. He came back and told Master Huzi, "He is gone already. He is lost already. I could not catch him."
Master Huzi said, "Just now I showed him what has never yet come out of my root. I met him empty and swayed as he swayed, and I did not know who or what it was. So I became the reed grass bending and I became the water flowing, and that is why he ran away."
After that Liezi thought that he had never yet begun to learn. He went home and did not go out for three years. He made the fire for his wife and fed the pigs as if he were feeding men. He drew close to nothing in his affairs, and he turned the carved and the polished back to the uncut block. Alone like a clod of earth he stood in his own form, and shut fast amid all the confusion he stayed one to the end.
子列子之齊，中道而反，遇伯昏瞀人。伯昏瞀人曰：「奚方而反？」曰：「吾驚焉。」「惡乎驚？」「吾食於十漿，而五漿先饋。」伯昏瞀人曰：「若是，則汝何爲驚己？」曰：「夫內誠不解，形諜成光，以外鎮人心，使人輕乎貴老，而𩐎其所患。夫漿人特爲食羹之貨，多餘之贏；其爲利也薄，其爲權也輕，而猶若是。而況萬乘之主，身勞於國，而智盡於事；彼將任我以事，而效我以功，吾是以驚。」伯昏瞀人曰：「善哉觀乎！汝處己，人將保汝矣。」無幾何而往，則戶外之屨滿矣。伯昏瞀人北面而立，敦杖蹙之乎頤。立有閒，不言而出。賓者以告列子。列子提履徒跣而走，暨乎門，問曰：「先生既來，曾不廢藥乎？」曰：「已矣。吾固告汝曰，人將保汝，果保汝矣。非汝能使人保汝，而汝不能使人無汝保也。而焉用之感也？感豫出異。且必有感也，搖而本身，又無謂也。與汝遊者，莫汝告也。彼所小言，盡人毒也。莫覺莫悟，何相孰也。」
Zi Liezi was on his way to Qi, and he turned back in the middle of the road and met Bohun Maoren (伯昏瞀人).
Bohun Maoren said, "What has made you turn back?"
He said, "I was startled."
"At what were you startled?"
"I ate at ten gruel shops, and five of them served me first and took no payment."
Bohun Maoren said, "If that is so, why should that startle you?"
He said, "When the sincerity within is not undone, the body leaks outward and becomes a light. That light presses on men's hearts from outside, and it makes them slight the honored and the old, and it stirs up what will bring them trouble.
Now a man who sells gruel only sells food and soup. He has little left over, his gain is thin and his power is light, and yet it is like this. How much more the lord of ten thousand chariots, whose body is worn out for his state and whose wisdom is spent on affairs. He will lay his affairs on me and ask me to show results. That is why I was startled."
Bohun Maoren said, "Well seen. Settle yourself where you are, and men will cling to you."
Not long after, he went there, and the shoes outside the door were many. Bohun Maoren stood facing north, leaned on his staff with his chin upon it, stood a while, and went out without a word. The man who received the guests told Liezi. Liezi took up his shoes and ran out barefoot, and when he reached the gate he asked, "Sir, you have come. Will you not leave me some medicine?"
He said, "Enough. I told you long ago that men would cling to you, and they have indeed clung to you. It is not that you can make men cling to you. It is that you cannot make men not cling to you. What use is such stirring? Stirring brings out strangeness before its time. And when there is stirring, your own root is shaken, and there is nothing more to say. Those who go about with you will not tell you. The small words they speak are all poison to a man. Neither of you feels it and neither of you knows it. What is there for you to learn from one another?"
楊朱南之沛，老聃西遊於秦，邀於郊。至梁而遇老子。老子中道仰天而歎曰：「始以汝爲可教，今不可教也。」楊朱不答。至舍，進涫漱巾櫛，脫履戶外，膝行而前，曰：「向者夫子仰天而歎曰：『始以汝爲可教，今不可教。』弟子欲請夫子辭，行不閒，是以不敢。今夫子閒矣，請問其過。」老子曰：「而睢睢而盱盱，而誰與居？大白若辱，盛德若不足。」楊朱蹵然變容曰：「敬聞命矣。」其往也，舍迎將家，公執席，妻執巾櫛；舍者避席，煬者避竈。其反也，舍者與之爭席矣。
Yang Zhu (楊朱) was going south to Pei (沛) and Lao Dan was going west to wander in Qin (秦), and Yang Zhu meant to meet him in the open country. He came to Liang (梁) and there he met Laozi.
In the middle of the road Laozi looked up to heaven and sighed, "At first I thought that you could be taught, and now you cannot be taught."
Yang Zhu did not answer. When they came to the lodging he brought water for washing and for rinsing the mouth, and a towel and a comb. He left his shoes outside the door, came forward on his knees, and said.
"Just now, sir, you looked up to heaven and sighed and said, 'At first I thought that you could be taught, and now you cannot be taught.' Your disciple wished to ask you for a word, but there was no leisure on the road and I did not dare. Now you are at leisure, and I ask what my fault is."
Laozi said, "You stare and you glare. Who would live with you? What is greatly white looks soiled, and power in its fullness looks as if it lacked."
Yang Zhu started and changed his face and said, "I have heard your words with respect."
When he went there, the people of the lodging met him and saw him off, the master carried his mat and the wife carried the towel and the comb, those who lodged there gave up their seats and the man at the stove gave up the stove. When he came back, those who lodged there fought with him for a seat.
楊朱過宋，東之於逆旅。逆旅人有妾二人，其一人美，其一人惡，惡者貴而美者賤。楊子問其故。逆旅小子對曰：「其美者自美，吾不知其美也；其惡者自惡，吾不知其惡也。」楊子曰：「弟子記之！行賢而去自賢之行，安往而不愛哉？」
Yang Zhu passed through Song and stopped at an inn to the east. The innkeeper had two concubines. One was beautiful and one was ugly, and the ugly one was honored and the beautiful one was slighted.
Yangzi asked the reason. The boy of the inn answered, "The beautiful one thinks herself beautiful, and I do not know that she is beautiful. The ugly one thinks herself ugly, and I do not know that she is ugly."
Yangzi said, "My disciples, mark this. Act worthily and put away the act of thinking yourself worthy, and where could you go and not be loved?"
天下有常勝之道，有不常勝之道。常勝之道曰柔，常不勝之道曰彊。二者亦知，而人未之知。故上古之言：彊，先不己若者；柔，先出於己者。先不己若者，至於若己，則殆矣。先出於己者，亡所殆矣。以此勝一身若徒，以此任天下若徒，謂不勝而自勝，不任而自任也。粥子曰：「欲剛，必以柔守之；欲彊，必以弱保之。積於柔必剛，積於弱必彊。觀其所積，以知禍福之鄉。彊勝不若己，至於若己者剛；柔勝出於己者，其力不可量。」老聃曰：「兵彊則滅，木彊則折。柔弱者生之徒，堅彊者死之徒。」
In the world there is a Way that always wins and a Way that never wins. The Way that always wins is called yielding. The Way that never wins is called force. Both may be known, and yet men do not know them.
So the words of high antiquity say that force goes before those who are less than oneself and that yielding goes before those who are more than oneself. To go before those who are less than oneself is dangerous when one comes to an equal. To go before those who are more than oneself is never dangerous. With this a man overcomes his own body as if it cost him nothing, and with this he takes on the world as if it cost him nothing. This is to win of itself without trying to win, and to take the world on of itself without trying to take it on.
Yuzi (粥子) said, "If you would be hard, you must keep it with softness. If you would be strong, you must hold it with weakness. Pile up softness and you must become hard. Pile up weakness and you must become strong. Look at what a man piles up, and you know which way his disaster or his blessing will go. Strength overcomes those who are less than itself, and when it comes to an equal it clashes. Softness overcomes those who are more than itself, and its force cannot be measured."
Lao Dan said, "A weapon that is strong is destroyed, and a tree that is strong is snapped. The soft and the weak are the companions of life, and the hard and the strong are the companions of death."
狀不必童而智童，智不必童而狀童。聖人取童智而遺童狀，衆人近童狀而疏童智。狀與我童者，近而愛之；狀與我異者，疏而畏之。有七尺之骸，手足之異，戴髮含齒，倚而趣者，謂之人，而人未必無獸心。雖有獸心，以狀而見親矣。傅翼戴角，分牙布爪，仰飛伏走，謂之禽獸，而禽獸未必無人心。雖有人心，以狀而見疏矣。庖犧氏、女媧氏、神農氏、夏后氏，蛇身人面，牛首虎鼻，此有非人之狀，而有大聖之德。夏桀、殷紂、魯桓、楚穆，狀貌七竅，皆同於人，而有禽獸之心。而衆人守一狀以求至智，未可幾也。黃帝與炎帝戰於阪泉之野，帥熊、羆、狼、豹、貙、虎爲前驅，鵰、鶡、鷹、鳶爲旗幟，此以力使禽獸者也。堯使夔典樂，擊石拊石，百獸率舞；《簫韶》九成，鳳皇來儀，此以聲致禽獸者也。然則禽獸之心，奚爲異人？形音與人異，而不知接之之道焉。聖人無所不知，無所不通，故得引而使之焉。禽獸之智有自然與人童者，其齊欲攝生，亦不假智於人也。牝牡相偶，母子相親；避平依險，違寒就溫；居則有羣，行則有列；小者居內，壯者居外；飲則相攜，食則鳴羣。太古之時，則與人同處，與人並行。帝王之時，始驚駭散亂矣。逮於末世，隱伏逃竄，以避患害。今東方介氏之國，其國人數數解六畜之語者，蓋偏知之所得。太古神聖之人，備知萬物情態，悉解異類音聲。會而聚之，訓而受之，同於人民。故先民會鬼神魑魅，次達八方人民，末聚禽獸蟲蛾。言血氣之類心智不殊遠也。神聖知其如此，故其所教訓者無所遺逸焉。
Forms need not be alike for wisdom to be alike, and wisdom need not be alike for forms to be alike. The sage takes what is alike in wisdom and lets go of what is alike in form. Common men keep near to what is alike in form and hold far from what is alike in wisdom.
What is like me in form I bring near and love, and what is unlike me in form I hold far off and fear. A thing with a body seven feet long, with hands and feet unlike each other, bearing hair on its head and teeth in its mouth, that leans as it goes, is called a man, and yet a man does not always lack the heart of a beast. Though he has the heart of a beast, his form makes him seem near to me.
A thing with wings set on it and horns on its head, its fangs apart and its claws spread, that flies looking up or runs bent low, is called a bird or a beast, and yet a bird or a beast does not always lack the heart of a man. Though it has the heart of a man, its form makes it seem far from me.
Paoxi and Nüwa and Shennong and Xiahou had the body of a snake and the face of a man, the head of an ox and the nose of a tiger. Here were forms that were not those of men, and yet they had the power of great sages. Jie of Xia and Zhou of Yin and Duke Huan of Lu and King Mu of Chu were all like men in form and in the seven openings, and yet they had the hearts of birds and beasts. And so, when common men keep to one form alone and look in it for the highest wisdom, there is nothing to hope for.
When the Yellow Emperor fought Yandi in the field of Banquan (阪泉), he led bears and brown bears, wolves and leopards, jackals and tigers as his vanguard, and eagles and pheasants, hawks and kites as his banners. This was to make birds and beasts serve by force.
When Yao put Kui (夔) in charge of music, he struck the stone and tapped the stone, and all the beasts followed and danced. When the Xiaoshao (簫韶) was played through nine times, the phoenix came and made its dance. This was to call birds and beasts by sound.
Then how is the heart of birds and beasts different from a man's? Their form and their voice are unlike a man's, and men do not know the way to meet them. The sage knows all things and passes through all things, and so he could draw them and make them serve.
There is that in the wisdom of birds and beasts which is of itself the same as a man's. In wanting to live and in keeping their lives, they borrow no wisdom from men. Male and female pair, and mother and young are close to each other. They keep off the flat ground and cling to rough places, they shun the cold and go toward the warm. At rest they keep in herds, and on the move they keep in ranks. The young stay inside and the strong stay outside. When they drink they lead one another, and when they eat they call the herd.
In high antiquity they lived together with men and walked beside men. In the age of emperors and kings they first took fright and scattered, and in the last age they hid and lay low and fled to escape trouble and harm.
Now in the country of Jie (介氏) in the east there are men who can readily understand the speech of the six kinds of livestock. This must be what comes of knowing one thing narrowly and well. The divine and holy men of high antiquity knew the feelings and the shapes of all things and understood the voices of every other kind. They gathered them and drew them in, and taught them and took them in, and made them one with men.
So the men of old first gathered the spirits and the goblins, next reached the peoples of the eight directions, and last of all gathered the birds and the beasts and the insects and the moths. This means that in all that has blood and breath, heart and wisdom are not far apart. The divine and the holy knew that it was so, and so in what they taught nothing was left out.
宋有狙公者，愛狙，養之成羣，能解狙之意，狙亦得公之心。損其家口，充狙之欲。俄而匱焉，將限其食。恐衆狙之不馴於己也，先誑之曰：「與若芧，朝三而暮四，足乎？」衆狙皆起而怒。俄而曰：「與若芧，朝四而暮三，足乎？」衆狙皆伏而喜。物之以能鄙相籠，皆猶此也。聖人以智籠羣愚，亦猶狙公之以智籠衆狙也。名實不虧，使其喜怒哉！
In Song there was a man called Jugong (狙公), the keeper of monkeys. He loved monkeys and raised them until they made a troop, and he could understand what the monkeys meant, and the monkeys too knew his heart. He took from the food of his own household to fill what the monkeys wanted.
Before long he ran short and meant to cut down their food. Fearing that the monkeys would not stay tame with him, he first deceived them and said, "I will give you acorns, three in the morning and four in the evening. Will that be enough?"
All the monkeys rose up angry. Then he said, "I will give you acorns, four in the morning and three in the evening. Will that be enough?"
All the monkeys bowed down and were pleased.
This is how things snare one another with what is clever and what is dull. The sage snares the mass of fools with his wisdom, just as the keeper of monkeys snared his monkeys with his. The name and the substance were not lessened, and yet he made them glad and angry.
紀渻子爲周宣王養鬭雞，十日而問：「雞可鬭已乎？」曰：「未也，方虛驕而恃氣。」十日又問。曰：「未也，猶應影嚮。」十日又問。曰：「未也，猶疾視而盛氣。」十日又問。曰：「幾矣。雞雖有鳴者，已無變矣，望之似木雞矣，其德全矣。異雞無敢應者，反走耳。」
Ji Xingzi (紀渻子) raised a fighting cock for King Xuan of Zhou.
After ten days the king asked, "Is the cock ready to fight?"
He said, "Not yet. He is vain for nothing and trusts in his own spirit."
After ten days the king asked again. He said, "Not yet. He still answers to shadows and to sounds."
After ten days the king asked again. He said, "Not yet. He still glares and his spirit runs high."
After ten days the king asked again. He said, "He is nearly there. Though another cock crows, there is no change in him now. To look at him he is like a cock of wood, and his power is whole. No other cock dares to face him. They turn and run."
惠盎見宋康王。康王蹀足謦欬，疾言曰：「寡人之所說者，勇有力也，不說爲仁義者也。客將何以教寡人？」惠盎對曰：「臣有道於此，使人雖勇，刺之不入；雖有力，擊之弗中。大王獨無意邪？」宋王曰：「善。此寡人之所欲聞也。」惠盎曰：「夫刺之不入，擊之不中，此猶辱也。臣有道於此，使人雖有勇，弗敢刺；雖有力，弗敢擊。夫弗敢，非無其志也。臣有道於此，使人本無其志也。夫無其志也，未有愛利之心也。臣有道於此，使天下丈夫女子莫不驩然皆欲愛利之。此其賢於勇有力也，四累之上也。大王獨無意邪？」宋王曰：「此寡人之所欲得也。」惠盎對曰：「孔墨是已。孔丘墨翟無地而爲君，無官而爲長，天下丈夫女子莫不延頸舉踵而願安利之。今大王，萬乘之主也，誠有其志，則四竟之內皆得其利矣，其賢於孔墨也遠矣。」宋王無以應。惠盎趨而出。宋王謂左右曰：「辯矣，客之以說服寡人也！」
Hui Ang (惠盎) had an audience with King Kang of Song. The king stamped his foot and cleared his throat and said quickly.
"What I like is daring and strength. I do not like the doing of benevolence and right. What has my guest to teach me?"
Hui Ang answered, "I have a Way here, by which a man however daring cannot stab you and get through, and a man however strong cannot strike you and hit the mark. Has Your Majesty alone no mind for it?"
The king of Song said, "Good. This is what I wished to hear."
Hui Ang said.
"To be stabbed at and not got through, and struck at and not hit, is still a shameful thing. I have a Way here, by which a man however daring does not dare to stab you, and a man however strong does not dare to strike you.
Now not daring is not the same as having no will to it. I have a Way here, by which a man has no such will in him to begin with.
And having no such will is not yet the same as having a heart that loves you and would do you good. I have a Way here, by which every man and woman in the world is glad and wishes to love you and do you good.
This is better than daring and strength. It is four steps above them. Has Your Majesty alone no mind for it?"
The king of Song said, "This is what I wished to have."
Hui Ang answered, "Confucius and Mozi are such men. Kong Qiu and Mo Di had no land and yet were rulers, and had no office and yet were elders. There was no man and no woman in the world who did not stretch out the neck and rise on tiptoe, wishing to make them safe and to do them good.
Now Your Majesty is the lord of ten thousand chariots. If you truly have that will, then all within the four borders will get the good of it, and you will be far better than Confucius and Mozi."
The king of Song had nothing to answer. Hui Ang hurried out. The king of Song said to those about him, "He speaks well. My guest has made me yield with words."