Duke P`ing of Chin[2]
was happily drifting along the River and
said, "Where am I to get worthy gentlemen to enjoy this with
me?"
His boatman Ho Hsü[3]
knelt and replied, "It is simply because
Your Highness does not care for [worthy] gentlemen [that he has
none]. Now pearls from river and ocean, and jade from the K`un
mountains, come to you without having feet, because of Your
Highness' liking for them.[4]
If [worthy] gentlemen, possessed of
feet, do not come, it means nothing else than that Your Highness
does not care for gentlemen. Do not worry about there being no
gentlemen."
Duke P`ing said, "As for the guests I support, to the left of
the gate there are a thousand men, and to the right of the gate
[another] thousand. If in the morning there is not enough for
their support, in the evening I give them the market revenues;
if in the evening there is not enough for their support, in the
morning I give them the market revenues. Can it be said of me
that I do not care for gentlemen?"
Ho Hsü replied, "Now the heron in going a thousand li at a
single flight relies on only six quills. As for the feathers on his
back and the down under his belly, should you add a handful he
would not fly any higher, and should you take away a handful he
would not fly any lower. Now these two thousand men Your
Highness is supporting to the right and to the left of his gate—
are there really six quills among them? Or are they all feathers
on the back and down under the belly?"
The Ode says,[5]
The counselors are very many,
But on that account nothing is accomplished.[6]
