One asked,[2]
"The ancients' designation for a person of understanding
was `earlier born.' What does this mean?"
It is like saying "earlier awakened."[3]
A man who has not heard
of the methods of the True Way is in the dark as to success and
failure, and does not know the sources of government[4]
and disorder.
His befuddlement is like drunkenness.
Now among the world's rulers there are those who are earlier
awakened,[5]
those who are later awakened,[5]
and those who are not
awakened[5]
[at all]. Of old, when King Chuang of Ch`u was making
plans, whenever one turned out well[6]
he would have an anxious
look. Shên-Kung Wu Ch'en asked,
"Why is Your Highness anxious?"
King Chuang said, "I have heard [it said] of the potentialities
(tê) of the feudal lords that one who can himself choose his
teachers will be king; one that can himself choose his friends will
be hegemon; and one whose associates are not his equals will be
lost. I am unworthy insofar as none of the arguments of the Great
Officers come up to mine. For this reason I am anxious."
It was fitting that King Chuang, with his mortal power (tê),
should rule men and subjugate the feudal lords; yet every day he
was anxious and concerned to seek out sage advisers. Such is the
earlier awakened.
Of old Duke Chao of Sung went into exile. He said to his
charioteer, "I know how I lost [my state]."
The charioteer said, "How?"
Duke Chao said, "When I put on clothes and stood up, of the
several tens of attendants, none of them but said, `Our ruler is
elegant.' Whenever I spoke or did anything, of the several hundreds
of court ministers, none but said, `Our ruler is a sage.'
Inside [the court] and out I never saw my faults, and this is how I
lost [my state]."
Whereupon he reformed his principles and changed his conduct,
rested in i and practiced the True Way. He had been two years in
exile before his excellence became known in Sung. The people of
Sung went to meet him to restore him to his throne. His posthumous
designation was Chao, "in demeanor respectful and intelligent."
[7]
Such is the later awakened.
Of old the Prince of Kuo was driven out of Kuo. He said to his
charioteer, "I am thirsty and wish to drink." The charioteer gave
him clear wine. He said, "I am hungry and wish to eat." The
charioteer gave him dried meat and cooked millet. He said, "How
is it that you had it ready?"
The charioteer said, "I had stored it away."
"Why had you stored it?"
The charioteer said, "Against your going away into exile, when
you would be hungry and thirsty on the way."
"Did you know I was about to[8]
lose my state?"
The charioteer said, "I did."
"Then why did you not remonstrate with me?"
The charioteer said, "You were pleased with flattery in speech
and disliked straightforward language. I wished to offer remonstrances,
but feared before [I could speak] Kuo would be lost.
For this reason I did not remonstrate."
The Prince of Kuo flushed in anger and said, "What was really
the cause of my losing my state?"
The charioteer reversed his statement and said, "You lost it
because you were too much of a sage."
He said, "How is it that a sage loses his state instead of preserving
it?"
The charioteer said, "It was because you alone were the only
sage in the empire that you lost your state."
The Prince of Kuo was pleased,[9]
and leaning against the crossbar
sighed, "Alas, so this is the way it goes with a sage!"[10]
Then,
his body being weary and his strength exhausted, he pillowed
[his head] against the charioteer's knee and went to sleep. The
charioteer put a clod in his own place,[11]
and abandoned him.
[The Prince of Kuo] perished in the wilderness and was eaten by
tigers and wolves. Such is the one who is not awakened at all.
Now one earlier awakened, in that same year becomes hegemon
—such was King Chuang of Ch`u. One later awakened is restored
within three years—such was Duke Chao of Sung. One not
awakened at all dies in the wilderness and is eaten by tigers and
wolves—such was the Prince of Kuo. There are those earlier
awakened, those later awakened, and those not awakened at all.[12]
The Ode says,[13]
When there are admonishing words,
You are [sleepy] as if drunk.
