Master Liezi studied under Huqiu Zilin. Huqiu Zilin said: “When you know how to hold back, you can speak of holding on to yourself.” Liezi said: “I would like to hear about holding back.” He said: “Look at your shadow and you will know.” Liezi turned and looked at his shadow. When his body bent, the shadow was crooked; when his body was straight, the shadow was upright. So crooked and straight follow the body and do not lie in the shadow; bending and stretching depend on things and do not lie in oneself. This is what is called holding back and thereby staying in front. Guanyin, the Keeper of the Pass, said to Master Liezi: “If your words are fine, the echo is fine; if your words are foul, the echo is foul. If your body is tall, the shadow is long; if your body is short, the shadow is short. Reputation is the echo; the body is the shadow. So it is said: be careful of your words, for someone will answer them; be careful of your actions, for someone will follow them. Therefore the sage sees what goes out and knows what will come in; observes what has gone and knows what will come. This is the principle by which he knows beforehand. The measure lies in oneself; the verification lies in others. If others love me, I will surely love them; if others hate me, I will surely hate them. Tang and Wu loved the world and so became kings; Jie and Zhou hated the world and so perished. This is the verification. To have the verification and the measure both clear and yet not follow them is like going out without using the door or traveling without keeping to the path. To seek benefit in this way—is it not difficult? I have observed the virtue of Shennong and the Fiery Emperor, examined the books of Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou, and measured the words of men of principle and worthies; there has never been survival or ruin, decline or rise, that did not come about by this Way.” Yan Hui said: “The reason one asks about the Tao is to become rich. If I can get pearls, I will be rich too; what use is the Tao?” Master Liezi said: “Jie and Zhou valued only profit and made light of the Tao, and so they perished. Luckily I had not yet told you anything. A man without righteousness, who only eats, is a chicken or a dog. To eat by force and fight with horns, where the victor rules, is to be a bird or a beast. If you are a chicken or a dog, a bird or a beast, and yet want people to honor you, you will never get it. When people do not honor you, danger and disgrace will befall you.”
Liezi was learning archery. When he could hit the target, he asked Guanyinzi, the Keeper of the Pass, for his judgment. Master Yin said: “Do you know why you hit it?” He replied: “I do not know.” Guanyinzi said: “Then you are not ready.” He withdrew and practiced. After three years he again reported to Guanyinzi. Master Yin said: “Do you know why you hit it?” Liezi said: “I know.” Guanyinzi said: “Then you are ready. Hold on to it and do not lose it. This is true not only of archery but also of governing a state and governing oneself. Therefore the sage does not examine survival and ruin, but examines the reasons for them.”
Liezi said: “Those in the full bloom of looks are arrogant, and those in the full vigor of strength are aggressive; you cannot talk with them about the Tao. So one who is not yet gray-haired will get it wrong if he speaks of the Tao, let alone practices it. Therefore one who is aggressive is told nothing by others. One who is told nothing by others is isolated and without help. The worthy rely on others, so that in old age they do not decline and when their wisdom is spent they do not fall into confusion. So the difficulty of governing a state lies in recognizing the worthy, not in being worthy oneself.”
There was a man of Song who carved a mulberry leaf out of jade for his ruler, and it took him three years to finish. The tapering of its tip and stem, its fine veins and luster, were such that if it were mixed among real mulberry leaves it could not be told apart. This man was thereafter supported by the state of Song for his skill. Master Liezi heard of this and said: “If heaven and earth took three years to make one leaf when they produce things, few things would have leaves. Therefore the sage relies on the transforming power of the Tao and not on cleverness and skill.”
Master Liezi was poor, and his face had a look of hunger. A visitor spoke of him to Ziyang of Zheng, saying: “Lie Yukou is a man who has the Tao. He lives in your state and is poor; does that not mean you do not care for scholars?” Ziyang of Zheng at once ordered an official to send him grain. Master Liezi came out to meet the messenger, bowed twice, and declined it. The messenger left. When Master Liezi went back in, his wife looked at him, beat her breast, and said: “I have heard that the wives and children of those who have the Tao all live in ease and pleasure. Now we look hungry, and the ruler, realizing his fault, sends you food, and you do not accept it. Is this not our fate?” Master Liezi laughed and said to her: “The ruler does not know me himself. He sent me grain because of what someone said; when it comes to punishing me, he will again do it because of what someone says. That is why I did not accept it.” In the end, the people did rise in rebellion and kill Ziyang.
The Shi family of Lu had two sons, one who loved learning and one who loved warfare. The one who loved learning offered his teachings to the Marquis of Qi, and the Marquis of Qi accepted him and made him tutor to the princes. The one who loved warfare went to Chu and offered his methods to the king of Chu. The king was pleased with him and made him commander of the army. Their salaries enriched their family, and their ranks brought honor to their parents. The Meng family, neighbors of the Shi, also had two sons who pursued the same callings, but they were in the straits of poverty. Envying what the Shi family had, they asked for the secret of their advancement. The two sons told the Meng family the truth. One of the Meng sons went to Qin and offered his teachings to the king of Qin. The king of Qin said: “At present the feudal lords are contending by force, and all that matters is soldiers and food. To govern my state with benevolence and righteousness would be the way to destruction.” So he had him castrated and sent away. The other son went to Wei and offered his methods to the Marquis of Wei. The Marquis of Wei said: “Mine is a weak state, squeezed between great states. I serve the great states and soothe the small ones; that is the way to seek security. If I relied on military power, destruction would not be long in coming. And if I let you go back whole and you went to another state, you would be no small danger to me.” So he had his feet cut off and sent him back to Lu. When they had returned, the Meng father and sons beat their breasts and reproached the Shi family. The Shi family said: “Whoever meets the right time prospers; whoever misses the right time perishes. Your way was the same as ours, but your results were different from ours because you missed the right time, not because you acted wrongly. Moreover, in the world no principle is always right and no course of action always wrong. What was used yesterday may be rejected today; what is rejected today may be used later. Whether something is used or not has no fixed right or wrong. To seize the opening and meet the moment, responding to events without a fixed method, belongs to wisdom. If one's wisdom is lacking, then even with learning as broad as Kong Qiu's and strategy like Lü Shang's, where could one go and not come to grief?” The Meng father and sons were relieved and showed no more resentment. They said: “We understand. You need say no more!”
Duke Wen of Jin went out to meet the other lords, intending to attack Wei. Prince Chu looked up to the sky and laughed. The duke asked: “Why are you laughing?” He said: “I am laughing at a neighbor of mine who was seeing his wife off to her parents' home. On the way he saw a woman picking mulberry leaves, was taken with her, and began to talk with her. But when he looked back at his wife, someone was beckoning to her too. That is what I am laughing at.” The duke understood what he meant and stopped. He led his army back, but before he had arrived home, someone was already attacking his northern border.
The state of Jin was plagued by thieves. There was a man named Xi Yong who could tell a thief by his looks; by examining the space between his eyebrows and eyelashes, he could find out the truth. The Marquis of Jin had him look for thieves, and out of hundreds and thousands he did not miss one. The Marquis of Jin was overjoyed and told Zhao Wenzi: “I have found one man, and all the thieves of the state are finished; what need is there for more?” Wenzi said: “My lord relies on spying and scrutiny to catch thieves. The thieves will not be finished, and moreover Xi Yong is sure not to die a natural death.” Soon the thieves conspired together, saying: “The one who drives us into a corner is Xi Yong.” So together they stole him away and killed him. The Marquis of Jin heard of it and was greatly alarmed. He at once summoned Wenzi and told him: “It is just as you said; Xi Yong is dead! But what is the way to catch thieves?” Wenzi said: “There is a Zhou proverb: ‘One who can see the fish in the depths is ill-omened; one whose wisdom can fathom what is hidden will meet disaster.’ If my lord wishes to have no thieves, nothing is better than to raise up the worthy and entrust them with office, so that teaching is made clear above and its transforming influence spreads below. When the people have a sense of shame, how could there be any thieves?” So the marquis appointed Sui Hui to take charge of the government, and the thieves all fled to Qin.
Confucius was returning from Wei to Lu. He halted his carriage at a bridge over the river and looked out. There was a waterfall thirty ren high, with swirling currents for ninety li, where fish and turtles could not swim and giant turtles and alligators could not live. A man was about to wade across it. Confucius sent someone along the bank to stop him, saying: “This waterfall is thirty ren high, with swirling currents for ninety li, where fish and turtles cannot swim and giant turtles and alligators cannot live. I fear it will be hard to get across.” The man paid no attention, crossed over, and came out. Confucius asked him: “Is it skill? Do you have a way or an art? How were you able to go in and come out?” The man replied: “When I first go in, I go with loyalty and good faith; when I come out, I again follow with loyalty and good faith. Loyalty and good faith place my body in the waves and currents, and I dare not use any selfish intent. That is how I am able to go in and come out again.” Confucius said to his disciples: “Remember this, my friends! If even water can be approached with loyalty, good faith, and a sincere self, how much more can people!”
Duke Bai asked Confucius: “Can one speak in hints with others?” Confucius did not answer. Duke Bai asked: “What if one throws a stone into water?” Confucius said: “A good diver of Wu could retrieve it.” He said: “What if one pours water into water?” Confucius said: “When the waters of the Zi and the Sheng were mixed, Yi Ya could taste them and tell them apart.” Duke Bai said: “Then certainly one cannot speak in hints with others?” Confucius said: “Why not? But only with one who knows what words refer to! One who knows what words refer to does not use words to speak. Those who fight over fish get wet, and those who chase beasts run, not because they enjoy it. Therefore the utmost speech is to do away with speech, and the utmost action is non-action. What those of shallow knowledge contend over is trivial.” Duke Bai could not stop himself, and in the end he died in a bathhouse.
Zhao Xiangzi sent Xin Zhi Muzi to attack the Di. He defeated them, took Zuoren and Zhongren, and sent a courier to report it. Xiangzi was eating at the time and looked worried. His attendants said: “To take two cities in one morning is something to make anyone rejoice. Now you look worried, my lord; why?” Xiangzi said: “The floods of the Yangtze and the Yellow River do not last more than three days; a whirlwind or a violent rainstorm does not last the whole morning; the midday sun does not stay for more than a moment. Now the virtuous conduct of the house of Zhao has not been built up by any accumulated deeds, yet in one morning two cities have fallen. Ruin will surely come to me!” Confucius heard of this and said: “The house of Zhao will prosper! Worry is what makes for prosperity; rejoicing is what makes for ruin. Victory is not the hard part; holding on to it is the hard part. A worthy ruler holds on to victory in this way, and so his blessings extend to later generations. Qi, Chu, Wu, and Yue all won victories, but in the end they met with ruin, because they did not understand how to hold on to victory. Only a ruler who has the Tao is able to hold on to victory.” Confucius was strong enough to lift the bar of the city gate, but he would not become known for his strength. Mozi devised defenses against attack, so that Gongshu Ban submitted to him, but he would not become known for warfare. So one who is good at holding on to victory takes strength as weakness.
There was a man of Song who loved to practice benevolence and righteousness, and his family had kept it up without flagging for three generations. For no reason, a black cow of theirs gave birth to a white calf, and they asked Confucius about it. Confucius said: “This is an auspicious sign; offer it to the Supreme Lord.” A year later, the father went blind for no reason. The cow again gave birth to a white calf, and the father again told his son to ask Confucius. The son said: “Last time we asked him, you lost your sight; why ask him again?” The father said: “The words of a sage often seem at first to go against us and later prove right. The matter is not finished yet; let us ask him again.” The son again asked Confucius. Confucius said: “It is an auspicious sign.” Again he told them to offer it in sacrifice. The son went home and reported. The father said: “Do as Confucius says.” A year later, the son too went blind for no reason. Afterward Chu attacked Song and besieged its city. The people exchanged their children and ate them, and split bones to use as fuel for cooking. All the able-bodied men mounted the walls to fight, and more than half of them died. Because father and son were both disabled, they were spared. When the siege was lifted, both recovered their sight.
There was a traveling performer in Song who showed his skill to Lord Yuan of Song in hope of reward. Lord Yuan summoned him to perform. His act was to use two stilts, twice as long as his body, tied to his shins; he walked quickly and ran on them, juggling seven swords that he tossed up in turn, with five swords always in the air. Lord Yuan was greatly astonished and at once rewarded him with gold and silk. Another performer, who could do tumbling acts light as a swallow, heard of this and also showed his skill to Lord Yuan. Lord Yuan was furious and said: “The other day someone with a strange skill showed it to me. The skill was of no use, but he happened to catch me in a good mood, so I rewarded him with gold and silk. This man must have heard of it and come forward hoping for a reward from me too.” He had him seized and was about to have him executed, and only released him after a month.
Duke Mu of Qin said to Bole: “You are getting old. Is there anyone in your family who could be sent to find horses?” Bole replied: “A good horse can be recognized by its build, its sinews, and its bones. But the finest horse in the world seems to vanish, seems to disappear, seems to be lost, seems to be gone; such a horse raises no dust and leaves no tracks. My sons are all of lesser talent; they can be told how to recognize a good horse, but not how to recognize the finest horse in the world. There is a man who carries firewood and vegetables with me, Jiufang Gao, who is not inferior to me in judging horses. I beg you to see him.” Duke Mu saw him and sent him to look for horses. After three months he returned and reported: “I have found one; it is at Shaqiu.” Duke Mu said: “What kind of horse is it?” He replied: “A yellow mare.” The duke sent someone to fetch it, and it was a black stallion. Duke Mu was displeased and summoned Bole, saying: “It's a failure, the man you sent to find horses! He cannot even tell color or whether it is male or female; how can he know anything about horses?” Bole sighed deeply and said: “Has he really come to this? This is exactly why he is worth thousands and tens of thousands of me, beyond counting! What Gao observes is the heavenly mechanism. He grasps the essence and forgets the coarse, stays with the inner and forgets the outer. He sees what he needs to see and does not see what he does not need to see; he looks at what he needs to look at and leaves aside what he does not need to look at. A judgment like Gao's is worth more than horses.” When the horse arrived, it was indeed the finest horse in the world.
King Zhuang of Chu asked Zhan He: “How should a state be governed?” Zhan He replied: “I understand how to govern oneself, but I do not understand how to govern a state.” King Zhuang of Chu said: “I have been given charge of the ancestral temples and the altars of the soil and grain; I wish to learn how to keep them.” Zhan He replied: “I have never heard of one whose self was well governed while his state was in disorder, nor of one whose self was in disorder while his state was well governed. So the root lies in oneself, and I dare not answer you with the branches.” The king of Chu said: “Good.”
The old man of Huqiu said to Sunshu Ao: “There are three things that bring resentment; do you know them?” Sunshu Ao said: “What do you mean?” He replied: “When one's rank is high, people envy him; when one's office is great, the ruler dislikes him; when one's salary is rich, resentment reaches him.” Sunshu Ao said: “The higher my rank, the humbler my will; the greater my office, the more careful my heart; the richer my salary, the more widely I give. Can I escape the three resentments in this way?”
When Sunshu Ao fell ill and was about to die, he warned his son: “The king has often offered me a fief, but I have not accepted it. When I die, the king will offer you a fief. You must not accept any profitable land. Between Chu and Yue there is a place called Qinqiu. The land is unprofitable and its name is very bad. The people of Chu hold it to be haunted by ghosts and the people of Yue take it as ill-omened. It is the only place that can be kept for long.” When Sunshu Ao died, the king did offer his son fine land as a fief. The son declined and would not accept it, and asked for Qinqiu instead. The king gave it to him, and the family has not lost it to this day.
Niu Que was a great Confucian scholar of Shangdi. Going down to Handan, he met robbers in the sands of Ousha, who took all his clothes, baggage, and carriage. Niu walked away, and looked cheerful, without any sign of worry or regret. The robbers ran after him and asked him why. He said: “A gentleman does not harm what he nourishes for the sake of what nourishes it.” The robbers said: “Ah, he is a worthy!” Then they said to one another: “A worthy like him will go to see the ruler of Zhao, and if he makes us his business, he is sure to bring us to grief. We had better kill him.” So together they ran after him and killed him. A man of Yan heard of this, gathered his clan, and warned them: “If you meet robbers, don't be like Niu Que of Shangdi!” They all accepted the teaching. Not long afterward his younger brother went to Qin, and at the foot of the pass he did indeed meet robbers. Remembering his elder brother's warning, he fought hard against the robbers. When he could not win, he ran after them and asked humbly for his things back. The robbers said angrily: “We were generous enough to let you live, but you keep chasing us, and our tracks will be exposed. Since we are robbers, where would benevolence come in?” So they killed him, and also killed four or five of his companions besides.
Mr. Yu was a rich man of Liang. His household was full and flourishing, with money and silk beyond measure and goods beyond reckoning. He climbed his high tower overlooking the main road, set out music and wine, and played bo on the tower. A band of knights-errant were walking by together. Just as one of the bo players on the tower made his throw, turning up a winning combination and flipping two fish pieces, and was laughing, a kite flying overhead happened to drop a rotten rat, which hit the knights. The knights said to one another: “Mr. Yu has been rich and pleasure-loving for a long time, and he has always looked down on others. We have never offended him, yet he insults us with a rotten rat. If we do not avenge this, we will have no standing for courage in the world. Let us join forces and be of one mind, and lead our followers to destroy his family, as an example to others.” They all agreed. On the night of the appointed day they gathered their men and weapons and attacked Mr. Yu, wiping out his whole family.
In the east there was a man named Yuan Jingmu. He was on a journey when he collapsed from hunger on the road. A robber of Hufu named Qiu saw him, took down his flask of food, and fed him. After three mouthfuls Yuan Jingmu could see, and said: “Who are you?” He said: “I am Qiu, a man of Hufu.” Yuan Jingmu said: “Ah! Aren't you a robber? Why did you feed me? My sense of righteousness forbids me to eat your food.” With both hands on the ground he tried to vomit it up. When it would not come up, he retched and gagged, and then collapsed and died. The man of Hufu was a robber, but the food was not robbery. To call the food robbery because the man was a robber, and so not dare to eat it, is to confuse name and reality.
Zhuli Shu served Duke Ao of Ju. Believing that the duke did not appreciate him, he left and lived by the sea, eating water chestnuts in summer and acorns and chestnuts in winter. When Duke Ao of Ju met with disaster, Zhuli Shu took leave of his friends and went to die for him. His friends said: “You left because you believed he did not appreciate you. If you now go and die for him, then there is no difference between being appreciated and not being appreciated.” Zhuli Shu said: “Not so. I left because I believed he did not appreciate me. If I now die, it will prove that he truly did not appreciate me. I shall die for him in order to shame the rulers of later ages who do not appreciate their ministers.” To die for one who appreciates you and not to die for one who does not appreciate you is to act by the straight way. Zhuli Shu may be called one who forgot his own life out of resentment.
Yang Zhu said: “When benefit goes out, reality comes back; when resentment goes out, harm comes back. What issues from here and is answered from outside is only what one asks for. Therefore the worthy are careful about what they send out.”
A neighbor of Master Yang lost a sheep. He led out all his household to look for it and also asked for Master Yang's servant boy to help chase it. Master Yang said: “Oh! For one lost sheep, why so many people chasing it?” The neighbor said: “There are many forks in the road.” When they came back, he asked: “Did you get the sheep?” He said: “We lost it.” “How did you lose it?” He said: “Within the forks there were more forks; I did not know which way it had gone, so I came back.” Master Yang's face became troubled; he did not speak for a long time, and did not smile all day. His disciples found it strange and asked him: “A sheep is a cheap animal, and it was not even yours, Master. Why has it made you give up speaking and smiling?” Master Yang did not answer, and the disciples did not get an explanation. His disciple Mengsun Yang went out and told Xinduzi. Another day Xinduzi went in with Mengsun Yang and asked: “Once there were three brothers who traveled between Qi and Lu, studied with the same teacher, and returned having mastered the way of benevolence and righteousness. Their father said: ‘What is the way of benevolence and righteousness?’ The eldest said: ‘Benevolence and righteousness make me cherish my life and put reputation second.’ The second said: ‘Benevolence and righteousness make me sacrifice my life to achieve a name.’ The youngest said: ‘Benevolence and righteousness make me preserve both my life and my name.’ These three teachings are opposed to one another, yet they all come from the Confucians. Which is right and which is wrong?” Master Yang said: “There was a man who lived by the river, was at home in the water, and was a bold swimmer. He worked a ferry boat and earned enough to support a hundred people. Those who brought their provisions to learn from him formed a crowd, but nearly half of them drowned. They came to learn to swim, not to learn to drown, yet the benefit and harm were like this. Which do you think is right and which wrong?” Xinduzi went out in silence. Mengsun Yang reproached him, saying: “Why did you ask such a roundabout question, and why did the Master answer so obliquely? I am more confused than ever.” Xinduzi said: “On the great road, the sheep is lost because of the many forks; in learning, life is lost because of the many methods. It is not that learning is different at its root or not one at its root, yet at its branches it differs like this. Only by returning to the same and going back to the one is there no gain and no loss. You have grown up at the Master's gate and learned the Master's Way, and yet you do not understand the Master's analogy. How sad!”
Yang Zhu's younger brother, named Bu, went out wearing white clothes. It rained, so he took off his white clothes, put on black ones, and came home. His dog did not recognize him and ran out barking at him. Yang Bu grew angry and was about to beat it. Yang Zhu said: “Don't beat it! You would be just the same. If your dog had gone out white and come back black, wouldn't you have found it strange too?”
Yang Zhu said: “One does good not for the sake of a name, yet a name follows it; a name does not set out to meet profit, yet profit comes to it; profit does not set out to meet contention, yet contention reaches it. Therefore the gentleman must be careful in doing good.”
Long ago someone said he knew the way not to die. The ruler of Yan sent someone to learn it from him, but the messenger was not quick enough, and the man who claimed the knowledge died. The ruler of Yan was furious and was about to punish his messenger. A favored minister remonstrated: “What people worry about most urgently is death, and what they value most is life. That man lost his own life; how could he have kept you from dying, my lord?” So the messenger was not punished. There was a Master Qi who also wanted to learn this way. When he heard that the man who claimed it had died, he beat his breast in regret. Master Fu heard of this and laughed at him, saying: “What he wanted to learn was how not to die. The man has already died, and still he regrets it. He does not know what learning is for.” Master Hu said: “Master Fu is wrong. There are people who have an art but cannot practice it, and there are also people who can practice something but do not have the art. There was a man of Wei who was good at calculation. When he was about to die, he told his son the secret. His son remembered the words but could not practice it. When someone else asked him, he told him what his father had said. The one who asked used the words and practiced the art, no differently from the father. If so, why could a man who died not tell the art of living?”
The people of Handan presented turtledoves to Jianzi on the first morning of the first lunar month. Jianzi was greatly pleased and rewarded them richly. A guest asked the reason. Jianzi said: “Releasing living creatures on New Year's morning shows that I am kind.” The guest said: “The people know that you want to release them, so they compete to catch them, and many die. If you want to let them live, it would be better to forbid the people to catch them. When you catch them and then release them, the kindness does not make up for the harm.” Jianzi said: “That is so.”
The Tian family of Qi held a farewell feast for a traveler in their courtyard, with a thousand retainers attending. Among the guests someone presented fish and geese. Mr. Tian looked at them and sighed: “How generous heaven is to the people! It grows the five grains and produces fish and birds for their use.” The guests all echoed him. A boy of the Bao family, twelve years old, who was also present, stepped forward and said: “It is not as you say, my lord. The myriad things of heaven and earth are born together with us; we are all of a kind. Among kinds there is no noble or lowly; it is only by size, wisdom, or strength that they control one another and in turn eat one another. They are not born for one another's sake. Humans take what they can eat and eat it, but did heaven originally produce it for humans? Mosquitoes and gnats bite our skin, and tigers and wolves eat flesh; did heaven originally produce humans for the sake of mosquitoes and gnats, and flesh for the sake of tigers and wolves?”
There was a poor man in Qi who always begged in the city. The city folk were tired of his constant begging, and no one would give to him. So he went to the stables of the Tian family and worked as a helper to the horse doctor in exchange for food. A man from the outer city teased him: “Aren't you ashamed to eat by following a horse doctor?” The beggar said: “There is no disgrace in the world greater than begging. If I was not ashamed to beg, why should I be ashamed of a horse doctor?”
A man of Song, walking along the road, found a contract someone had lost. He took it home and hid it, and secretly counted its notches. He told his neighbor: “My riches are just around the corner.”
A man had a withered paulownia tree. His neighbor's father said that a withered paulownia was ill-omened, and the man hastily cut it down. The neighbor's father then asked to have it for firewood. The man was displeased and said: “The neighbor's old man just wanted firewood, and so he told me to cut it down. With a neighbor as crafty as this, how can it be all right?”
A man lost his axe and suspected his neighbor's son. He watched how he walked: he was an axe thief. His expression: he was an axe thief. His speech: he was an axe thief. His movements and bearing: there was nothing he did that was not the doing of an axe thief. Not long after, while digging in his valley, he found his axe. Another day he saw his neighbor's son again, and nothing in his movements and bearing looked like an axe thief.
Prince Bai Sheng was brooding over a rebellion. After court had ended he stood with his riding whip held upside down, and its spike pierced his cheek; the blood flowed to the ground and he did not notice. A man of Zheng heard of it and said: “If he can forget his own cheek, what will he not forget?” When the mind is fixed on something, one may trip over stumps and holes as one walks, or bump one's head against a standing tree, without noticing.
Long ago there was a man of Qi who wanted gold. Early one morning he put on his robe and cap and went to the market. He went to the place where gold was sold, snatched some gold, and made off. An officer caught him and asked: “With people all around, why did you snatch someone's gold?” He replied: “When I took the gold, I did not see the people; I only saw the gold.”