 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to find out how to volunteer Please contact LibriVox.org The book of Lidz translated by Lionel Giles Book 5 the questions of Tong Tong of Yin questions Xiao go sang in the beginnings of antiquity Did individual things exist? He suspected that there was only chaos and nothing more If things did not exist then replied Xiao go How could they be in existence now? Or will the men of future ages be right in denying the existence of things at the present time? Things in that case pursued dong Have no before nor after Xiao go replied To the beginning and end of things there is no precise limit Beginning may be end and end may be beginning How can we conceive of any fixed period to either? But when it comes to something outside matter in space or anterior to events in time our knowledge fails us Then upwards and downwards and in every direction space is a finite quality Goal replied I do not know It was not so much that he did not know as that it is unknowable Tong asked the question again with more insistence and goal said If there is nothing in space that it is infinite if there is something then that something must have limits How can I tell which is true? But beyond infinity there must again exist non infinity and within the unlimited again that which is not unlimited It is this consideration that Infinity must be succeeded by non infinity and The unlimited by the not unlimited that enables me to apprehend the infinity an unlimited extent of space But does not allow me to conceive of its being finite and limited Tong continued his inquiries saying What is there beyond the four C's? Goal replied Just what there is here in the providence of Qi How can you prove that asked Tong? When traveling eastwards said go I came to the land of ying Where the inhabitants were no wise different from those in this part of the country. I Inquired about the country's east of ying and found that they too were similar to their neighbor Traveling westwards I came to bin Where the inhabitants were similar to our own countrymen? I Inquired about the country's west of bin and found that they were again similar to bin That is how I know that the regions within the four C's The four wildernesses and the four uttermost ends of the earth are no wise different from the country We are selves in habit Thus the lesser is always enclosed by a greater without ever reaching an end heaven and earth Which enclose the myriad objects of creation are Themselves enclosed in some outer shell Enclosing heaven and earth and the myriad objects within them This outer shell is infinite and immeasurable How do we know but that there is some mightier universe in existence outside our own? That is a question to which we can give no answer heaven and earth Then are themselves only material objects and therefore imperfect Hence it is that gua of old fashioned many colored blocks of stone to repair the defective parts He cut off the legs of the AO and use them to support the four corners of the heavens later on Gong Gong fought with Chuan Su for the throne and Blundering in his rage against Mount Bu Zhou He snapped the pillar which connects heaven and earth That is why heaven dips downwards to the northwest so that Sun Moon and stars travel towards that quarter The earth on the other hand is now not large enough to fill up the southeast So that all rivers and streams roll in that direction the two mountains Tai Sing and Wang Wu Which cover an area of 700 square Lee and rise to an enormous altitude Originally stood in the south of the G district and north of Hoh Yong The simpleton of the North Mountain an old man of 90 Dwell opposite these mountains and was vexed in spirit because their northern flanks blocked the way to travelers Who had to go all the way around So he called his family together and broached a plan Let us he said Put forth our utmost strength to clear away this obstacle and cut right through the mountains until we come to Hanyin What say you? They all assented except his wife who made objections and said My good man has not the strength to sweep away a dung hill Let alone two such mountains as Tai Sing and Wang Wu besides Where will you put all the earth and stones that you dig up? The others replied that they would throw them on the promontory of pole high So the old man followed by his son and grandson Sallied forth with their pickaxes and the three of them began hewing away at the rocks and cutting up the soil and carding it away in baskets to the promontory of pole high a Widowed woman who lived nearby had a little boy who though he was only just shedding his milk teeth came skipping along to give them what help he could and Grossed in their toil. They never went home except once at the turn of the season The wise old man of the river been burst out laughing and urged them to stop Great indeed is your witlessness. He said With the poor remaining strength of your declining years you will not succeed in removing a hair's breadth of the mountain much less the whole vast mass of rock and soil With a sigh the simpleton of the North Mountain replied Surely it is you who are narrow-minded and unreasonable You are not to be compared with the widow's son Despite his puny strength Though I myself must die. I shall leave a son behind me and through him a grandson That grandson will beget sons in his turn and those soils will also have sons and grandsons With all this posterity my line will not die out While on the other hand the mountain will receive no increment or addition Why then should I despair of leveling it to the ground at last? The wise old man of the river bend had nothing to say and reply One of the serpent brandishing deities heard of the undertaking and Fearing that it might never be finished Went and told God Almighty who was touched by the old man's simple faith and commanded the two sons of Qua'o to transport the mountains One to the extreme northeast The other to the southern corner of Yong Ever since then the region lying between Ji in the north and Han in the south Has been an unbroken plane Gong Hu of Lu and Qi Ying of Jiao Both fell ill at the same time and Called in the aid of the great Bian Jiao Bian Jiao cured them both and when they were well again He told them that the malady they had been suffering from Was one that attacked the internal organs from without and for that reason was curable by the application of vegetable and mineral drugs But he added Each of you is also the victim of a congenital disease Which has grown along with the body itself Would you like me now to grapple with this? They said yes, but asked to hear his diagnosis first Ben Jiao Turned to Gong Hu Your mental powers he said are strong, but your willpower is weak Hence though fruitful in plans you are lacking in decision Qi Ying's mental powers on the other hand are weak while his willpower is strong Hence there is want of forethought and he is placed at a disadvantage by the narrowness of his aim Now I can affect an exchange of hearts between you The good will be equally balanced in both so saying Ben Jiao Administered to each of them a potion of medicated wine which threw them into a death-like trance lasting three days Then making an incision in their breast. He took out each man's heart and placed it in the other's body Poltesing the wounds with herbs of marvelous efficacy when the two men regain consciousness they looked exactly the same as before and Taking their leave they returned home Only it was Gong Hu who went to Qi Ying's house Where Qi Ying's wife and children naturally did not recognize him While Qi Ying went to Gong Hu's house and was not recognized either This led to a lawsuit between the two families and Ben Jiao was called in as arbitrator on his explaining how the matter stood Peace was once more restored King Mu of Zhou Made a tour of inspection in the west He crossed the Kunlun mountain range, but turned back before he reached the Yan Mountains On his return journey before arriving in China a Certain artificer was presented to him by name Yan Shi King Mu received him an audience and asked what he could do I Will do anything replied Yan Shi that your majesty may please to command But there is a piece of work Already finished that I should like to submit first to your majesty's inspection Bring it with you tomorrow said the king And we will look at it together So Yan Shi called again the next day and was duly admitted to the royal presence Who is that man accompanying you asked the king That sire is my own handiwork. He can sing and he can act The king stared at the figure in astonishment It walked with rapid strides moving its head up and down So that anyone would have taken it for a living human being The artificer touched its chin and it began singing perfectly in tune He touched its hand and it started posturing keeping perfect time It went through any number of movements that fancy might happen to dictate the king Looking on with his favorite concubine and other inmates of his harem Could hardly persuade himself that it was not real as The performance was drawing to an end The automaton winked his eye and made sundry advances to the ladies in attendance on the king this however Through the king into a passion and he would have put Yan Shi to death on the spot had not the latter In mortal terror Instantly pulled the automaton to pieces to let him see what it really was and Low it turned out to be merely a conglomeration of leather wood glue and paint variously colored white black red and blue Examining it closely the king found all the internal organs complete liver gall heart lungs spleen kidneys stomach and intestines and over these again muscles and bones and limbs with their joints skin and teeth and hair All of them artificial Not a part but was fashioned with the utmost nicety and skill and When it was put together again the figure presented the same appearance as when first brought in The king tried the effect of taking away the heart and found that the mouth would no longer utter a sound He took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see He took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion Now the king was delighted Drawing a deep breath he exclaimed Can it be that human skill is really on a par with that of the creator and Fourth with he gave an order for two extra chariots in which he took home with him the artificer and his handiwork now Bon Chul with his cloud scaling ladder and Maldi With his flying kite thought that they had reached the limits of human achievement But when Yan Xi's Wonderful piece of work had been brought to their knowledge The two philosophers never again ventured to boast of their mechanical skill and Seize to busy themselves so frequently with the square and compasses Hey long of way had a secret grudge against chow Bing Zhang for which he slew him and Lied on the son of Chow Bing Zhang Plotted vengeance against his father's enemy Lied on spirit was very fierce, but his body was very slight You could count the grains of rice that he ate and he was at the mercy of every gust of wind For all the anger in his heart. He was not strong enough to take his revenge in open fight And he was ashamed to seek help from others So he swore that sword in hand. He would cut Hailon's throat unawares This Hailon Was the most ferocious character of his day and in brute strength. He was a match for a hundred men His bones and sinews Skin and flesh were cast in superhuman mold He would stretch out his neck to the blade or bear his chest to the arrow But the sharp steel would bender break and his body show no scar from the impact Trusting to his native strength. He looked disdainfully upon light on as a mere fledgling Lie down had a friend Who said to him you have a bitter feud against Hailon and Hailon treats you with sovereign contempt What is your plan of action? shedding tears Lie down be sought his friend's counsel Well said Shen dough I am told that kung Joe of way has inherited through an ancestor a Sword formerly possessed by the Yin emperors of Such magical power that a mere boy wielding it can put to flight the embattled hosts of an entire army Why not sue for the loan of this sword? Acting on this advice lie down be took himself to way and had an interview with kung Joe Following the usage of supplicants He first went through the ceremony of handing over his wife and children And then stated his request. I have three swords Replyed kung Joe, but with none of them. Can you kill a man? You may choose what you like First however, let me describe their qualities The first sword is called light absorber. It is invisible to the eye and When you swing it you cannot tell that there is anything there Things struck by it retain an unbroken surface And it will pass through a man's body without his knowing it The second is called shadow receiver If you face north and examine it at the point of dawn When darkness melts into light or in the evening when day gives way to dusk It appears misty and dim as though there was something there The shape of which is not discernible Things struck by it give out a loud sound and it passes through men's bodies without causing them any pain The third is called night tempered Because in broad daylight you only see its outline and not the brightness of its blade while at night You see not the sword itself But the dazzling light which it emits The objects which it strikes are cleft through with a sibilant sound But the line of cleavage closes up immediately Pain is felt, but no blood remains on the blade These three precious heirlooms have been handed down for 13 generations But have never been in actual use They lie stored away in a box The seals of which have never been broken In spite of what you tell me Said Laidon, I should like to borrow the third sword Kung Zhao then returned his wife and children to him And they fasted together for seven days On the seventh day in the dusk of evening He knelt down and presented the third sword to Laidon Who received it with two low obeisances and went home again Grasping his new weapon Laidon now sought out his enemy And found him lying in a drunken stupor at his window He cut clean through his body in three places The neck and the navel But He Luan was quite unconscious of it Thinking he was dead Laidon made off as fast as he could And happening to meet He Luan's son at the door He struck at him three times with his sword But it was like hitting the empty air He Luan's son laughed and said Why are you motioning to me in that silly way with your hand? Realizing at last that the sword had no power to kill a man Laidon heaved a sigh and returned home When He Luan recovered from the effects of his debauch He was angry with his wife What do you mean by letting me lie exposed to a drought? He growled It has given me a sore throat and aching pains in the small of my back Why? said his son I am also feeling a pain in my body and a stiffness in my limbs Laidon, you know, was here a little time ago And meeting me at the door made three gestures Which seem somehow to have been the cause of it How he hates us to be sure And of book five The Questions of Dong This recording is in the public domain This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to find out how to volunteer Please contact LibriVox.org The Book of Liidze Translated by Lionel Giles Book six Effort and Destiny Effort said to Destiny Your achievements are not equal to mine Pray what do you achieve in the making of things? Reply Destiny That you would compare yourself with me Why? said Effort The length of man's life His measure of success His rank and his wealth are all things which I have the power to determine To this, Destiny made reply Pungtze's wisdom did not exceed that of Yao and Xun Yet he lived to the age of 800 Yan Yuan's ability was not inferior to that of the average man Yet he died at the early age of 32 The virtue of Confucius was not less than that of the feudal princes Yet he was reduced to source traits between Jun and Sai The conduct of Zhou of the Yin dynasty Did not surpass that of the three men of virtue Yet he occupied a kingly throne Ji Jia would not accept the lordship of Wu While Tian Hong usurped soul power in Qi, Bo'ai, and Shu Qi starved to death at Shoyang While Ji Shi waxed rich at Jiang Qin If these results were compassed by your efforts How is it that you allotted long life to Pungtze And an untimely death to Yan Yuan That you awarded discomforture to the sage and success to the empires Humiliation to the wise man and high honors to the fool Poverty to the good and wealth to the wicked If, as you say, rejoined effort I have really no control over events Is it not, then, owing to your management that things turn out as they do Destiny replied The very name Destiny Shows that there can be no question of management in the case When the way is straight, I push on When it is crooked, I put up with it Old age and early death Failure and success High rank and humble station Riches and poverty All these come naturally and of themselves How can I know anything about them Being what it is Without knowing why That is the meaning of Destiny What room is there for management here Yang Zhuo had a friend called Ji Liang Who fell ill In seven days' time His illness had become very grave Medical aid was summoned And his son stood weeping round his bed Ji Liang said to Yang Zhuo Such excess of emotion Shows my children to be degenerate Will you kindly sing them something Which will enlighten their minds Yang Zhuo then chanted the following words How can men be aware of things outside God's can Over misfortune, man has no control And can look for no help from God Have doctors and wizards this knowledge That you and I have not The sons, however, did not understand And finally called in three physicians Dr. Jiao, Dr. Yu, and Dr. Lu They all diagnosed his complaint And Dr. Jiao delivered his opinion first The hot and cold elements of your body He said to Ji Liang Are not in harmonious accord And the impermeable and infundibular parts Are mutually disproportionate The origin of your malady is traceable To disordered appetites And to the dissipation of your vital essence Through worry and care Neither God nor devil is to blame Although the illness is grave It is amenable to treatment Ji Liang said You are only one of the common ruck And speedily got rid of him Then Dr. Yu came forward and said You were born with too little nervous force And were too freely fed with mother's milk Your illness is not one that has developed in a matter of 24 hours The causes which have led up to it are of gradual growth It is incurable Ji Liang replied You are a good doctor And told them to give him some food Lastly, Dr. Lu said Your illness is attributable neither to God nor to man Nor to the agency of spirits It was already foreordained in the mind of Providence When you were endowed with this bodily form at birth What possible good can herbs and drugs do you You are a heaven-born physician indeed Cry Ji Liang and sent him away laden with presence Not long after His illness disappeared of itself Du Jing of Qi Was traveling across the northern flank of the Aux Mountain In the direction of the capital Gazing at the view before him He burst into a flood of tears Exclaiming What a lovely scene How verdant and luxurantly wooded To think that someday I must die And leave my kingdom passing away like running water If only there were no such things as death Nothing should induce me to stir from this spot Two of the ministers in attendance on the duke Taking their cue from him Also began to weep saying We who are dependent on your highness' bounty Whose food is of an inferior sort Who have to ride on broken-down hacks Or in creaking carts Even we do not want to die How much less are sovereign liege Yan Zi, meanwhile, was standing by with a broad smile on his face The duke wiped away his tears And, looking at him, said Today I am stricken with grief on my journey And both kung and chu mingle their tears with mine How is it possible that you alone can smile Yan Zi, replied If the worthy ruler were to remain in perpetual possession of his realm Duke Tai and Duke Huan would still be exercising their sway If the bold ruler were to remain in perpetual possession Duke Zhuang and Duke Ling would still be ruling the land But if all these rulers were now in possession Where would your highness be? Why, standing in the furrowed fields Clad in coir cape and hat Condemned to a hard life on earth You would have had no time, I warrant, for brooding over death Again, how did you yourself come to occupy this throne By a series of successive reigns and removals Until, at last, your turn came And are you alone going to weep and lament over this order of things That is pure selfishness It was the sight of these two objects A self-centered prince and his fawning attendants That set me quietly laughing to myself just now Du Qing felt much ashamed Raising his goblet, he find himself one cup And his obsequious courtiers two cups of wine apiece There was once a man, Dong Mun Wu, of Wei Who, when his son died, testified no grief His house steward said to him The love you bore your son could hardly be equaled by that of any other parent Why, then, do you not mourn for him now that he is dead There was a time, replied Dong Mun Wu When I had no son, yet I never had occasion to grieve on that account Now that my son is dead, I am only in the same condition as I was before my son was born What reason have I, then, to mourn The husbandman takes his measures according to the season The trader occupies himself with gain The craftsman strives to master his art The official pursues power Here we have the operation of human forces But the husbandman has seasons of rain and seasons of drought The trader meets with gains and losses The craftsman experiences both failure and success The official finds opportunities or the reverse Here we see the working of destiny And Book Six Effort and Destiny From the Book of Liuz This recording is in the public domain This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to find out how to volunteer Please contact LibriVox.org The Book of Liuz Translated by Lionel Giles Book Seven Causality In the course of Liuz's instruction, by Huqiao Zulin The latter said to him You must familiarize yourself with the theory of consequence Before you can talk of regulating conduct Liuz said Will you explain what you mean by the theory of consequence? Look at your shadow, said his master And then you will know Li turned and looked at his shadow When his body was bent, the shadow was crooked When his body was upright, the shadow was straight Thus it appeared that the attributes of straightness and crookedness Were not inherent in the shadow But corresponded to certain positions of the body Likewise, contraction and extension Are not inherent in the subject But take place in obedience to external causes Holding this theory of consequence Is to be at home in the antecedent Guan Yin spoke to the master Liuz Saying If speech is sweet, the echo will be sweet If speech is harsh, the echo will be harsh If the body is long, the shadow will be long If the body is short, the shadow will be short Reputation is like an echo Personal experiences like a shadow Hence the saying Heed your words and they will meet with harmonious response Heed your actions and they will find agreeable accord Therefore, the sage observes the origin in order to know the issue Scrutinizes the past in order to know the future Such is the principle whereby he attains foreknowledge The standard of conduct lies with one's own self The testing of it lies with other men We are impelled to love those who love us And to hate those who hate us Tong and Wu love the empire And therefore each became king Ji and Zhao hated the empire And therefore they perished Here we have the test applied He who does not follow Dao When standard and test are both clear May be likened to one who When leaving a house does not go by the door Or when traveling abroad does not keep to the straight road To seek profit in this way is surely impossible No one has ever profited himself by opposing natural law You may consider the virtues of Xuanzhuang and Yu Yan, you may examine the books of Yu, Xia, Xiong, and Zhao You may weigh the utterances of great teachers and sages But you will find no instance of preservation or destruction Fulness or decay Which has not obeyed this supreme law Li Zhe learned archery And when he was able to hit the target He asked the opinion of Guanyin Zhe on his shooting Do you know why you hit the target? Said Guanyin Zhe No, I do not, was the reply Then you are not good enough yet Rejoined Guanyin Zhe Li Zhe withdrew and practiced for three years After which he again presented himself Guanyin Zhe asked as before Do you know why you hit the target? Yes, said Li Zhe I do In that case, all is well Hold that knowledge fast and do not let it slip Mental and bodily equilibrium are to be sought within oneself Once you know the causal process Which makes you hit the target You will be able to determine the operation of destiny beforehand And when you let fly, you will make no mistake The above principle does not apply only to shooting But also to the government of a state And to personal conduct Therefore, the sage investigates not the mere facts of preservation and destruction But rather the causes which bring them about Li Zhe said Those who excel in beauty become vain Those who excel in strength become violent To such, it is useless to speak of Dao He who is not yet turning gray will surely err if he but speak of Dao How much less can he put it into practice? No man will confide in one who shows himself aggressive And he in whom no man confides will remain solitary and without support The arrogant and the aggressive will accept no confidences Even if they are made Their mental attitude to others is one of distrust And they keep their ears and eyes blocked Who can render them assistance? The wise man puts his trust in others Thus he reaches fullness of years without decay Perfection of wisdom without bewilderment In the government of a state, then, the hardest thing is to recognize the worth of others Not to rely upon one's own If you succeed in recognizing worth Then the wise will think out plans for you And the able will act for you By never rejecting talent from outside You will find the state easy to govern There was once a man in Song who carved a mulberry leaf out of jade for his prince It took him three years to complete And it mutated nature so exquisitely in its down Its glossiness and its general configuration from tip to stem That if placed in a heap of real mulberry leaves It could not be distinguished from them This man was subsequently penchant by the Song state As a reward for his skill Lidze, hearing of it, said If it took the creator three years to make a single leaf There would be very few trees with leaves on them The sage will not rely so much on human science And skill as on the operations of Dao The master Lidze was very poor And his face wore a hungry look A certain stranger spoke about it to Zhiyong of Zhong Li Yukou, said he, is a scholar in possession of Dao Yet here he is living in destitution within your excellency's dominion It surely cannot be that you have no liking for scholars Zhiyong, forthwith, directed that an official allowance of grain should be sent to him Lidze came out to receive the messengers Made two low bows and declined the gift Whereupon the messengers went away And Lidze ranard the house There he was confronted by his wife Who beat her breast and cried aloud I have always understood that the wife and family of a man of Dao Live a fife of ease and pleasure Yet now, when his honor sends you a present of food On account of your starved appearance You refuse to accept it I suppose you will call that destiny The master Lidze smiled and replied The minister did not know about me himself His present of grain was made on the suggestion of another If it had been a question of punishing me That too would have been done at someone else's prompting That is the reason why I did not accept the gift Later on, the masses rose an actual rebellion against Zhiyong And slew him Mr. Xi of Lu had two sons One of whom was a scholar and the other a soldier The former found in his accomplishments The means of ingratiating himself with the marquee of Qi Who engaged him as a tutor to the young princes The other brother proceeded to Chu And one favor with the king of that state By his military talents The king was so well pleased That he installed him at the head of his troops Thus both of them succeeded in enriching their family And shedding luster on their kin's folk Now, a certain Mr. Muong The neighbor of Mr. Xi Also had two sons who followed the self-same professions But were straightened by poverty Enveying the affluence of the Xi family Mr. Muong called at his neighbor's house And wanted to know the secret of their rapid rise in the world The two brothers readily gave him the desired information Whereupon, the eldest son immediately set off for Qin Hoping that his cultural attainments Would recommend him to the king of that state But the king said At the present moment, all the feudal princes Are struggling to outbid one another in power And the greatest essential is to keep up a large army If I tried to govern my state On the lines of benevolence and righteousness Ruined an annihilation Ruined an annihilation would be the outcome So saying, he had the unfortunate man castrated And turned him away The second son, meanwhile, had gone to Wei Hoping that his military knowledge would stand him in good stead But the Marquis of Wei said to himself Mine is a weak state hedged in by powerful ones My method of preserving tranquility Is to show subservience to the larger states And to conciliate the lesser ones If I were to rely on armed force I could only expect utter destruction I must not allow this man to depart unscathed Or he may find his way to some other state And be a terrible thorn in my side So, without more ado He cut off his feet and sent him back to Lu On their return, the whole family fell to beating their breasts in despair And uttered implications on Mr. Xi Mr. Xi, however, said Success consists in hitting off the right moment While missing it means failure Your method was identical with ours Only the result was different That is not due to any flaw in the action itself But simply because of the fact that you were able to do it Because it was not well-timed Nothing in the ordering of this world Is either at all times right Or at all times wrong What formerly passed current May nowadays be rejected What is now rejected May by and by come into use again The fact that a thing is in use Or in disuse forms no criterion whatever Of right or wrong There is no fixed rule for seizing opportunities Hitting off the right moment Or adapting oneself to circumstances It is all a matter of native wit If you are deficient in that You may possess the learning of a Confucius Or the strategical gifts of a Lu Zhong And yet you will remain poor wherever you go The Meng family were now in a more resigned frame of mind And their indignation had subsided Yes, you're right they said Please say no more about it Duke Wang of Qin put an army into the field With the intention of attacking the Duke of Wei Where at Through his head back and laughed aloud On being asked the reason of his behavior He replied I was thinking of the experience of a neighbor of mine Who was escorting his wife on a visit to her own family On the way, he came across a woman tending silkworms Who attracted him greatly And he fell into conversation with her Happening to look up What should he see but his own wife Also receiving the attentions of an admirer It was the recollection of this incident that made me laugh The Duke saw the point And forthwith turned home with his army Before he got back an invading force had already crossed his northern frontier As you behave to others so others will behave to you He who rides roughshod towards the accomplishment of his own desires And the belief that it will not occur to others to do the like Will in all probability find himself circumstance as above In the Qin state which was infested with robbers There lived a certain Qi Yong Who was able to tell a robber by his face By examining the expression of his eyes He could read his inmost thoughts The Marquis of Qin employed him in the inspection of hundreds and thousands of robbers And he never missed a single one The Marquis expressed his delight to wanzi of jiao Saying I have a man who single-handed is ridding my whole state of robbers He saves me the necessity of employing a whole staff of police Wanzi Replied If your highness relies on a detective for catching robbers You will never get rid of them And what is more Qi Yong Is certain sooner or later to meet with a violent end Meanwhile A band of robbers were plotting together Qi Yong They said Is the enemy who is trying to exterminate us So one day They stole upon him in a body and murdered him When the Marquis of Qin heard the news He was greatly alarmed and immediately sent for wanzi Your prophecy has come true He said Qi Yong is dead What means can I adopt for catching robbers now In jiao Replied wanzi We have a proverb Search not the ocean depths for fish Calamity comes upon those who pry into hidden mysteries If you want to be quit of robbers The best thing your highness can do is to promote the worthy to office Let them instruct and enlighten their sovereign on the one hand And reform the masses below them on the other If once the people acquire a sense of shame You will not find them turning into robbers The Marquis then appointed Sui Hui to be prime minister And all the robbers fled to the Jin state Duc Mu of Jin said to Bo Luo You are now advanced in years Is there any member of your family Whom I could employ to look for horses in your stead Bo Luo replied A good horse can be picked out by its general build and appearance But the superlative horse One that raises no dust and leaves no tracks Is something evanescent and fleeting Illusive as thin air The talent of my sons lies on a lower plane altogether They can tell a good horse when they see one But they cannot tell a superlative horse I have a friend, however One Qiao Feng Gao A hawker of fuel and vegetables Who, in things appertaining to horses, is no wise my inferior Pray see him Duc Mu did so And subsequently dispatched him on the quest for a steed Three months later, he returned with the news that he had found one It is now, in Sha Qiao He added What kind of horse is it, asked the Duke Oh, it is a done-colored mare Was the reply However, on someone being sent to fetch it The animal turned out to be a coal-black stallion Much displeased, the Duke sent for Bo Luo That friend of yours, he said Whom I commissioned to look for a horse has made a nice mess of it Why, he cannot even distinguish a beast's color or sex What on earth can he know about horses Bo Luo, heave the sigh of satisfaction Has he really got as far as that, he cried Ah, then he is worth a thousand of me put together There is no comparison between us What Gao keeps in view is the spiritual mechanism In making sure of the essential, he forgets the homely details And tent on the inward qualities, he loses sight of the external He sees what he wants to see, and not what he does not want to see He looks at the things he ought to look at And neglects those that need not be looked at So clever a judge of horses is Gao That he has it in him to judge something better than horses When the horse arrived, it turned out indeed to be a superlative horse Mr. Yu was a wealthy man of the Liang State His household was rolling in riches And his hordes of money and silk and other valuables were quite incalculable It was his custom to have banquet served To the accompaniment of music In a high upper hall overlooking the main road There he and his friends would sit drinking their wine And amusing themselves with bouts of gambling One day a party of young gallants happened to pass along the road In the chamber above play was going on as usual And a lucky throw of the dice Which resulted in the capture of both fishes Evoked a loud burst of merriment from the players Precisely at that moment it happened that a kite Which was sailing overhead dropped the carcass of a rat in the midst of the company outside The young med held an angry consultation on the spot This Mr. Yu, they said, has been enjoying his wealth for many a long day And has always treated his neighbors in the most arrogant spirit And now, although we have never offended him He insults us with this dead rat If such an outrage goes unevented, the world will look upon us as a set of polteroons Let us summon up our utmost resolution And combine with one accord to wipe him and his family out of existence The whole party signified their agreement And when the evening of the day appointed had come They collected, fully armed for the attack And exterminated every member of the family Pride and extravagance lead to calamity and ruin in more ways than one Mr. Yu's family was destroyed Although in this particular instance he had no thought of insulting others Nevertheless, the catastrophe was due to a habitual lack of modesty and courtesy in his conduct In the east of China, there was a man named Yuan Jingmu Who set off on a journey but was overcome by hunger on the way A certain robber from Hufu of the name of Chiao Saw him lying there and fetched a bowl of rice gruel in order to feed him After swallowing three mouthfuls, Yuan Jingmu opened his eyes and murmured Who are you? I am a native of Hufu and my name is Chiao Oh, misery cried Yuan Jingmu Are you not the robber, Chiao? What are you feeding me for? I am an honest man and cannot eat your food So saying, he clutched the ground with both hands and began retching and coughing in order to bring it up again Not succeeding, however, he fell flat on his face and expired Now the man from Hufu was a robber, no doubt, but the food he brought was not affected thereby Because a man is a robber, to refuse to eat the food he offers you On the ground that it is tainted with crime is to have lost all power of discriminating between the normal and the real Yang Jules, younger brother, named Bu, went out one day wearing a suit of white clothes It came on terrain so that he had to change and came back dressed in a suit of black His dog failed to recognize him in this garb and rushed out at him barking This made Yang Bu angry and he was going to give the dog a beating when Yang Jules said Do not beat him, for you are no wiser than he For suppose your dog went away white and came home black Do you mean to tell me that you would not think it's strange? Yang Jules said, you may do good without thinking about fame, but fame will follow in its wake Fame makes no trist with gain, but gain will come all the same Gain makes no trist with strife, but strife will certainly ensue Therefore the superior man is very cautious about doing good The good people of Han Tong were in the habit every new year's day of presenting their governor, Zhenzhu, with a number of live pigeons This pleased the governor very much and he liberally rewarded the donors To a stranger who asked the meaning of the custom Zhenzhu explained that the release of living creatures on New Year's Day was the sign of a benevolent disposition But, rejoined the stranger, the people, being aware of your excellency's whim No doubt exert themselves to catch as many pigeons as possible And large numbers must get killed in the process If you really wish to let the birds live, the best way would be to prohibit the people from capturing them at all If they have to be caught first in order to be released The kindness does not compensate for the cruelty Zhenzhu acknowledged that he was right Mr. Gen of the Qi State was holding an ancestral banquet in his hall To which a thousand guests were bidden As he sat in their midst, many came up to him with presence of fish and game Eying them approvingly, he exclaimed with great unction How generous is almighty God to man He makes the five kinds of grain to grow and creates the finny and the feathered tribes Especially for our benefit Mr. Tian's guests applauded this sentiment to the echo But the 12-year-old son of a Mr. Baal, regardless of seniority, came forward and said You are wrong, my lord All the living creatures of the universe stand in the same category as ourselves And one is of no greater intrinsic value than another It is only by reason of size, strength, or cunning That some particular species gains the mastery Or that one prays upon another None of them are produced in order to subserve the uses of others Man catches and eats those that are fit for food But how can it be maintained that God creates these expressly for man's use Mosquitoes and gnats suck man's blood And tigers and wolves devour his flesh But we do not therefore assert that God created man expressly for the benefit of mosquitoes and gnats Or to provide food for tigers and wolves A man, having lost his axe, suspected his neighbor's son of having taken it Certain peculiarities in his gait, his countenance, and his speech Marked him out as the thief In his actions, his movements, and in fact his whole demeanor It was plainly written that he and no other had stolen the axe By and by, however, while digging in a dell The owner came across the missing implement The next day, when he saw his neighbor's son again He found no trace of guilt in his movements, his actions, or his general demeanor The man, in whose mind suspicion is at work, will let himself be carried away by utterly distorted fancies Until at last he sees white as black, and detects squareness in a circle There was once a man in the cheese state who had a burning lust for gold Rising early one morning, he dressed and put on his hat and went down to the marketplace Where he proceeded to seize and carry off the gold from Omani Changer's shop He was arrested by the police, who were puzzled to know Why he had committed the theft at a time when everybody was about When I was taking the gold, he replied I did not see anybody at all What I saw was the gold, and nothing but the gold End of book seven, causality And end of the book of Luz as translated by Lionel Giles This recording is in the public domain