13
For the pleasure of seeing far after climbing to a height and
standing by a gulf, towers and lookouts do not provide so elevated
an outlook as hills and mountains. For the pleasure of looking
out across a plain and getting an extensive view, ponds and
[artificial] lakes do not provide so wide a vista as rivers and
[natural] lakes.
He troubles his heart and pains his mind, gives rein to his
desires and goes to the extreme in his likes, wastes property and
does violence to his feelings, sullies his reputation and shortens
his life: alas! alas! that a ruler in extremity should turn from this
way [of natural economy] and worry the people! The Ode says,[1]
The ruler[2]
turned against [the right way],
And the lower people are full of distress.[3]
