Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1? Not meaning the king of X40; but the Tao, whose will was to be found in his nature and the conditions of his lot. PT.1I.SECT,IvV. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 215 5. Yen Ho’, being about to undertake the office of Teacher of the eldest son of duke Ling of Wei, consulted Kii Po-yii2, ‘Here,’ said he, ‘is this (young) man, whose natural disposition is as bad as it could be. If I allow him to proceed in a bad way, it will be at the peril of our state; if I insist on his proceeding in a right way, it will be at the peril of my own person. His wisdom is just sufficient to know the errors of other men, but he does’ not know how he errs himself. What am I to do in such a case?’ Kii Po-yii replied, ‘Good indeed is your question! Be on your guard; be careful; see that you keep yourself correct! Your best plan will be, with your person to seek association with him, and with your mind to try to be in harmony with him; and yet there are dangers connected with both of these things. While seeking to keep near to him, do not enter into his pursuits ; while cultivating a harmony of mind with him, do not show how superior you are to him. If in your personal association you enter into his pursuits, you will fall with him and be ruined, you will tumble down witha crash. If in maintaining a harmony with his mind, you show how different you are from him, he will think you do so for the reputation and the name, and regard you as a creature of evilomen®. If you find him to bea mere boy, be you with him as another boy; if you find him one of those who will not have their ground marked out in the ordinary way, do you humour 1 A member of the Yen family of LQ. We shall meet with him again in Books XIX, XXVIII, and XXXII. 2 A minister of Wei; a friend and favourite of Confucius. 8 Compare in the Kung Yung, ii, ch. 24. 216 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. Iv. him in this characteristic’; if you find him to be free from lofty airs, show yourself to be the same ;— (ever) leading him on so as to keep him free from faults. ‘Do you not know (the fate of) the praying mantis? It angrily stretches out its arms, to arrest the progress of the carriage, unconscious of its inability for such a task, but showing how much it thinks of its own powers. Be on your guard; be careful. If you cherish a boastful confidence in your own excellence, and place yourself in collision with him, you are likely to incur the fate (of the mantis).
2Be on your guard; be careful. If you cherish a boastful confidence in your own excellence, and place yourself in collision with him, you are likely to incur the fate (of the mantis). ‘Do you not know how those who keep tigers proceed? They do not dare to supply them with living creatures, because of the rage which their killing of them will excite. They do not (even) dare to give them their food whole, because of the rage which their rending of it will excite. They watch till their hunger is appeased, (dealing with them) from their knowledge of their natural ferocity. Tigers are different from men, but they fawn on those who feed them, and do so in accordance with their nature. When any of these are killed by them, it is because they have gone against that nature. ‘Those again who are fond of horses preserve their dung in baskets, and their urine in jars. If musquitoes and gadflies light on them, and the grooms brush them suddenly away, the horses break their bits, injure (the ornaments on) their heads, and smash those on their breasts. The more care that is taken of them, the more does their fond- 1 Equivalent to ‘Do not cross him in his peculiarities,’ PT.I, SECT.IV. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 217 ness (for their attendants) disappear. Ought not caution to be exercised (in the management of them) ?’ 6. A(master) mechanic, called Shih, on his way to Kii, came to Khii-yiian!, where he saw an oak-tree, which was used as the altar for the spirits of the land. It was so large that an ox standing behind it could not be seen. It measured a hundred spans round, and rose up eighty cubits on the hill before it threw out any branches, after which there were ten or so, from each of which a boat could be hollowed out. People came to see it in crowds as in a market place, but the mechanic did not look round at it, but held on his way without stopping. One of his workmen, however, looked long and admiringly at it, and then ran on to his master, and said to him, ‘ Since I followed you with my axe and bill, I have never seen such a beautiful mass of timber as this. Why would you, Sir, not look round at it, but went on without stopping?’ ‘Have done,’ said Mr. Shih, ‘and do not speak about it. It is quite useless. A boat made from its wood would sink; a coffin or shell would quickly rot; an article of furniture would soon go to pieces; a door would be covered with the exuding sap; a pillar would be riddled by insects; the material of it is good for nothing, and hence it is that it has attained to so great an age*.’ 1 The name of a place; of a road; of a bend in the road; of a hill. All these accounts of the name are found in different editions of our author, showing that the locality had not been identified. 2 No one has thought it worth cutting down. Te ee otter eee; we a 218 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IV.
3All these accounts of the name are found in different editions of our author, showing that the locality had not been identified. 2 No one has thought it worth cutting down. Te ee otter eee; we a 218 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IV. When Mr. Shih was returning, the altar-oak ; appeared to him in a dream, and said, ‘ What other . tree will you compare with me? Will you compare 1 me to one of your ornamental trees? There are hawthorns, pear-trees, orange-trees, pummelo-trees, ; gourds and other low fruit-bearing plants. When their fruits are ripe, they are knocked down from them, and thrown among the dirt. The large branches are broken, and the smaller are torn away. ' So it is that their productive ability makes their lives bitter to them; they do not complete their natural term of existence, but come to a premature end in the middle of their time, bringing on themselves the destructive treatment which they ordinarily receive. It is so with all things. I have sought to discover how it was that I was so useless ; —I had long done so, till (the effort) nearly caused my death ; and now I have learned it :—it has been of the greatest use to me. Suppose that I had possessed useful properties, should I have become of the great size that I'am? And moreover you and I are both things ;—how should one thing thus pass its judgment on another ? how is it that you a useless man know all this about me a useless tree ?’ When Mr. Shih awoke, he kept thinking about his dream, but the workman said, ‘ Being so taken with its uselessness, how is it that it yet acts here as the altar for the spirits of the land?’ ‘Be still, was the master’s reply, ‘and do not say a word. It simply happened to grow here; and thus those who do not know it do not speak ill of it as an evil thing. If it were not used as the altar, would it be in danger of 1 This is the indignity intended. PT. 1I,SECT.1V. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-38ZE, 219 being cut down? Moreover, the reason of its being preserved is different from that of the preservation of things generally ; is not your explaining it from the sentiment which you have expressed wide of the mark ?’ 7. Nan-po 3ze-£Ai! in rambling about the Heights of Shang’, saw a large and extraordinary tree. The teams of a thousand chariots might be sheltered under it, and its shade would cover them all! 3zekhi said,‘ What a tree is this! It must contain an extraordinary amount of timber! When he looked up, however, at its smaller branches, they were so twisted and crooked that they could not be made into rafters and beams; when he looked down to its root, its stem was divided into so many rounded portions that neither coffin nor shell could be made from them. He licked one of its leaves, and his mouth felt torn and wounded. The smell of it would make a man frantic, as if intoxicated, for more than three whole days together. ‘ This, indeed,’ said he, ‘isa i tree good for nothing, and it is thus that it has | t
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1? Not meaning the king of X40; but the Tao, whose will was to be found in his nature and the conditions of his lot. PT.1I.SECT,IvV. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-8ZE. 215 5. Yen Ho’, being about to undertake the office of Teacher of the eldest son of duke Ling of Wei, consulted Kii Po-yii2, ‘Here,’ said he, ‘is this (young) man, whose natural disposition is as bad as it could be. If I allow him to proceed in a bad way, it will be at the peril of our state; if I insist on his proceeding in a right way, it will be at the peril of my own person. His wisdom is just sufficient to know the errors of other men, but he does’ not know how he errs himself. What am I to do in such a case?’ Kii Po-yii replied, ‘Good indeed is your question! Be on your guard; be careful; see that you keep yourself correct! Your best plan will be, with your person to seek association with him, and with your mind to try to be in harmony with him; and yet there are dangers connected with both of these things. While seeking to keep near to him, do not enter into his pursuits ; while cultivating a harmony of mind with him, do not show how superior you are to him. If in your personal association you enter into his pursuits, you will fall with him and be ruined, you will tumble down witha crash. If in maintaining a harmony with his mind, you show how different you are from him, he will think you do so for the reputation and the name, and regard you as a creature of evilomen®. If you find him to bea mere boy, be you with him as another boy; if you find him one of those who will not have their ground marked out in the ordinary way, do you humour 1 A member of the Yen family of LQ. We shall meet with him again in Books XIX, XXVIII, and XXXII. 2 A minister of Wei; a friend and favourite of Confucius. 8 Compare in the Kung Yung, ii, ch. 24. 216 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. Iv. him in this characteristic’; if you find him to be free from lofty airs, show yourself to be the same ;— (ever) leading him on so as to keep him free from faults. ‘Do you not know (the fate of) the praying mantis? It angrily stretches out its arms, to arrest the progress of the carriage, unconscious of its inability for such a task, but showing how much it thinks of its own powers. Be on your guard; be careful. If you cherish a boastful confidence in your own excellence, and place yourself in collision with him, you are likely to incur the fate (of the mantis).
2Be on your guard; be careful. If you cherish a boastful confidence in your own excellence, and place yourself in collision with him, you are likely to incur the fate (of the mantis). ‘Do you not know how those who keep tigers proceed? They do not dare to supply them with living creatures, because of the rage which their killing of them will excite. They do not (even) dare to give them their food whole, because of the rage which their rending of it will excite. They watch till their hunger is appeased, (dealing with them) from their knowledge of their natural ferocity. Tigers are different from men, but they fawn on those who feed them, and do so in accordance with their nature. When any of these are killed by them, it is because they have gone against that nature. ‘Those again who are fond of horses preserve their dung in baskets, and their urine in jars. If musquitoes and gadflies light on them, and the grooms brush them suddenly away, the horses break their bits, injure (the ornaments on) their heads, and smash those on their breasts. The more care that is taken of them, the more does their fond- 1 Equivalent to ‘Do not cross him in his peculiarities,’ PT.I, SECT.IV. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-3ZE. 217 ness (for their attendants) disappear. Ought not caution to be exercised (in the management of them) ?’ 6. A(master) mechanic, called Shih, on his way to Kii, came to Khii-yiian!, where he saw an oak-tree, which was used as the altar for the spirits of the land. It was so large that an ox standing behind it could not be seen. It measured a hundred spans round, and rose up eighty cubits on the hill before it threw out any branches, after which there were ten or so, from each of which a boat could be hollowed out. People came to see it in crowds as in a market place, but the mechanic did not look round at it, but held on his way without stopping. One of his workmen, however, looked long and admiringly at it, and then ran on to his master, and said to him, ‘ Since I followed you with my axe and bill, I have never seen such a beautiful mass of timber as this. Why would you, Sir, not look round at it, but went on without stopping?’ ‘Have done,’ said Mr. Shih, ‘and do not speak about it. It is quite useless. A boat made from its wood would sink; a coffin or shell would quickly rot; an article of furniture would soon go to pieces; a door would be covered with the exuding sap; a pillar would be riddled by insects; the material of it is good for nothing, and hence it is that it has attained to so great an age*.’ 1 The name of a place; of a road; of a bend in the road; of a hill. All these accounts of the name are found in different editions of our author, showing that the locality had not been identified. 2 No one has thought it worth cutting down. Te ee otter eee; we a 218 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IV.
3All these accounts of the name are found in different editions of our author, showing that the locality had not been identified. 2 No one has thought it worth cutting down. Te ee otter eee; we a 218 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. BK. IV. When Mr. Shih was returning, the altar-oak ; appeared to him in a dream, and said, ‘ What other . tree will you compare with me? Will you compare 1 me to one of your ornamental trees? There are hawthorns, pear-trees, orange-trees, pummelo-trees, ; gourds and other low fruit-bearing plants. When their fruits are ripe, they are knocked down from them, and thrown among the dirt. The large branches are broken, and the smaller are torn away. ' So it is that their productive ability makes their lives bitter to them; they do not complete their natural term of existence, but come to a premature end in the middle of their time, bringing on themselves the destructive treatment which they ordinarily receive. It is so with all things. I have sought to discover how it was that I was so useless ; —I had long done so, till (the effort) nearly caused my death ; and now I have learned it :—it has been of the greatest use to me. Suppose that I had possessed useful properties, should I have become of the great size that I'am? And moreover you and I are both things ;—how should one thing thus pass its judgment on another ? how is it that you a useless man know all this about me a useless tree ?’ When Mr. Shih awoke, he kept thinking about his dream, but the workman said, ‘ Being so taken with its uselessness, how is it that it yet acts here as the altar for the spirits of the land?’ ‘Be still, was the master’s reply, ‘and do not say a word. It simply happened to grow here; and thus those who do not know it do not speak ill of it as an evil thing. If it were not used as the altar, would it be in danger of 1 This is the indignity intended. PT. 1I,SECT.1V. THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-38ZE, 219 being cut down? Moreover, the reason of its being preserved is different from that of the preservation of things generally ; is not your explaining it from the sentiment which you have expressed wide of the mark ?’ 7. Nan-po 3ze-£Ai! in rambling about the Heights of Shang’, saw a large and extraordinary tree. The teams of a thousand chariots might be sheltered under it, and its shade would cover them all! 3zekhi said,‘ What a tree is this! It must contain an extraordinary amount of timber! When he looked up, however, at its smaller branches, they were so twisted and crooked that they could not be made into rafters and beams; when he looked down to its root, its stem was divided into so many rounded portions that neither coffin nor shell could be made from them. He licked one of its leaves, and his mouth felt torn and wounded. The smell of it would make a man frantic, as if intoxicated, for more than three whole days together. ‘ This, indeed,’ said he, ‘isa i tree good for nothing, and it is thus that it has | t
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
No commentary for this page.