scholars do that for the sake
Of fame in coming generations;
Great officers strive for the sake
Of their clans' prosperity, while
Sagely minded leaders just for the sake
Of their leadership do so.
These various classes, with different statuses
And different reputations, have agreed
In doing injury to their primaries,
Sacrificing their nature. But what's the use?
According to my viewpoint, all those
Who knew well to govern people would not act so.
From of old men have been vested
With their constant roles: they wove
And made themselves clothes;
They tilled the ground and got rich crops --
That was their common faculty;
They were all one and did not form themselves
Into the classes, so were they constituted
And left to their naturalness without reserve.
But if the raw materials had not been hacked,
Who could have made the sacrificial vessels?
If the natural jade had not been cut and carved,
Who could have made the sacred discs and tablets?
If the instincts of the nature had not been departed,
How should music and rites have come into function?
If all colours gathered together had not been perplexed,
How should the ornamental figures have been formed?
If all the musical notes had not been disconcerted,
How should they have supplemented them by accords?
Therefore, should we consider the cutting and hacking
Of the raw materials in order to form the tools and vessels
As the crime of the skilful craftsmen of the olden times?
The question remains open, as the injury has been done
To the primary nature for the sake of discrimination. . .
Was it the error of the sagely founders of civilization?
60
At the Dawn of Humanity
I've seen how horses can with their hoofs
Tread on the hoarfrost and deep snow,
And with their hair they can withstand
The biting wind and severe cold; they feed
On the lush grass and drink icy water;
They prance with their legs and leap -- this is
The true nature of them, dwelling in freeside.
Though there're made for them grand stables
And spacious dormitories, they would prefer
Not to use them at all. But when some men arose
And said, "We know well how to breed horses,"
They proceeded to singe and mark them,
To clip their mane, to pare their hoofs, to halter
Their heads, to bridle and confine them in corrals.
They proceeded further to subject them to hunger
And thirst, to gallop them and race them and
To make them go together in regular order:
In front there were the evils of the bit
And hard breast-bands, but behind there were
The terrors of whipping and switching.
The first potter (whose name is forbidden to utter,
But you probably know whom I mean) once said,
"I know well how to deal with clay," and men
Proceeded then to mould it into circles as exact
As if made by the compass, and into squares
As exact as if formed by the measuring setsquare.
The first carpenter (whose name is forbidden to utter,
But you probably know whom I mean) once said,
"I know well how to deal with wood," and all men
Proceeded then to make it bent as if by application
Of the setsquare, and straight as if by application
Of the plumb-line. But is it the nature of clay and wood
To require the application of the compass and setsquare?
And yet, age after age men have praised those first grooms,
Saying, "They knew well how to breed horses," and also
The first potter and carpenter, saying, "They knew well
How to deal with clay and wood." But wasn't it the error
Committed by the founding fathers at the dawn of humanity?
61
A Robber or a Benefactor?
What occupation is there
Which has not its principles?
Has a robber also any norms
Or principles in his proceeding?
That a robber in his recklessness
Is able to come to the conclusion
That there are treasures and valuables
Hidden in a place shows his insight;
That he is the first to enter it
Shows his courage; that he is the last
To quit it shows his awareness of duty;
That he knows whether the robbery
May be attempted or not shows his wisdom;
And that he makes an equal division
Of the plunder among his men and partners
Shows his strong sense of righteousness.
At large, without all the five qualities
No one on earth has ever attained
To become someone clever.
Looking at the subject in this way,
We see that good men do not arise
Without having the principles of respectability,
And that none could have pursued one's course
Without the same norms and principles.
The matter is that the good men are few,
But those who are not good are many. . .
It follows that those who are extremely wise
Benefit the world in a few moments,
But injure it in many.
62
Saints and Thieves
Formerly, in the neighbouring countries
Their hamlets and towns could see each other;
Their cocks and dogs never ceased to answer
The crowing and barking of one another;
Their men might not die till they were old
And yet, all their life they would have
No communication together -- in those
Olden days perfect good order prevailed.
So it was not very long ago. But yet,
One day a foreign host got permission
To pass through their territories and,
By the way, they took those countries
In hand with all their cities and lands.
And was it only the lands that they
Stole insidiously? I don't think so.
Along with them they stole as well
The regulations of their governments
And all worthy men observed in them.
And so, though they got the name
Of being the thieves and robbers
Who acted, laughing in their beards,
Yet they themselves continued to live
As securely as they had seen fit:
Small states did not dare
To find fault with them; all the great
Did not dare to take them off;
For many generations they have possessed
Those countries as their cradled land.
Thus, do we not have a case in which
Not only did they steal the foreign lands,
But at the same time the regulations
Of those countries' sagely managed reigning,
Which thereby served to guard their people,
Thieves and robbers by definition, as they were?
Let me try to set forth this point still further.
Have not there been among those
Vulgarly styled the worthiest and cleverest,
Such as have collected their valuables
And ruling methods for those foreign invaders?
And among those styled the most saint
And divined such as have guarde
d their values
For appropriation by the treacherous attackers?
Hence, we have the saying which states:
"When saints are born great robbers arise."
63
Blinded by Science
People of modern cosmological theories
Always try to reach extremity:
Some hold that at first there was
Not anything -- this is the utmost point
To which nothing can be added.
Some hold that there was Big Bang,
But without any recognition of it
Some hold that there was such recognition,
But there had not begun to be any sort
Of expression of different opinions. . .
The knowledge of all three sorts
Of modern inference in their research
Is nearly perfect and therefore
The scholars practise it further, zealously.
They like their own knowledge so long
As it is different from that of others.
They love it and wish to make it known
All over the other countries. However,
As it can't be made clear, though they try
To make it so, they end with obscure talks
About difficulties in their course
Of proving their conceptual doctrines.
But when they all have retired
The great problems stop to arise --
The world comes to be at peace
And there will be no big deals.
Till they have not disappeared,
The problems won't cease to appear.
The more right that is attached
To the views of the scientists
And the governmental structures,
The more advantage will accrue
To such men as the world's proprietors.
And their descendants, what else,
With all the threads and ties of their fathers
At intricate designs and sophisticated schemes,
Yet to the end of life they are doomed
To accomplish nothing significantly valued,
Continuing the line in hands of those
Who have all along observed, researched
And rectified the evolution of mankind.
64
The Knowledge
Nowadays such is the state of things
That we shall see the people stretching out
Their necks and standing on tiptoe
While they say, "In such and such a place
There is a wise and capable leader to follow."
Then they carry with them whatever they may
Have left and hurry towards it,
Abandoning their parents in their hometown
And neglecting the service
Of their native community abroad.
Their footsteps may be traced in lines
From one country to another
For more than thousands of miles.
This is owing to the error of their superiors
In their inordinate fondness for knowledge.
When those superiors do really love