Han shih wai chuan Han Ying's Illustrations of the didactic application of the Classic of songs |
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 | CHAPTER VII Han shih wai chuan |  |
17[1]
Sung Yü through a friend was introduced to King Hsiang of
Ch`u, who treated him with no special distinction. He complained
to his friend, who said,[2]
"Ginger and cinnamon grow from the
earth, but their acrid flavor does not come from the earth. A
woman marries through a go-between, but she does not establish
intimacy [with her husband] through a go-between. You simply
did not serve the king satisfactorily. Why blame me?"
Sung Yü said, "Not so. Of old Ch`i had a trained rabbit which
in the course of a day could run five hundred li. If you sight him
from afar, point him out, and set [a dog on him],[3]
even a good dog
will be unable to reach the dust of the trained rabbit. If you put
[the dog] on the trail[4]
and take off the leash, [not even the trained
rabbit will be able to get away. Now your connection with me—
has it been a matter of putting me on the trail and taking off
the leash?][5]
Or has it been sighting from afar, pointing him out,
and setting me on him?"
The Ode says,[6]
You have cast me off like an abandoned thing.
Hsin hsü 5.12b is based on this, but on the whole is more intelligible. SY 11.7a-b
applies the same idea to another setting: "Prince Mêng-ch`ang sent a retainer to the
King of Ch`i. When after three years he was not made use of, the retainer returned and
said to Prince Mêng-ch`ang, `I do not know whether it was my fault or yours that
for three years after you sent me I was not made use of?' "
Prince Mêng-ch`ang said, "I have heard that the thread follows the needle in, not
that the tightness [of the stitch] comes from the needle; and that a marriage is achieved
through a go-between, but not that intimacy is established through the go-between.
It must be that your ability is inconsiderable; why blame me?'
The retainer said, `Not so. I have heard that Ku, belonging to the Chou family,
and Lu, belonging to the Han family, were the fastest dogs in the world. If you
sighted a rabbit, pointed him out, and set [one of them] on him, that rabbit never
escaped. But if you sighted [the rabbit] from afar and then let the dog go after him,
he would not be able to catch the rabbit in a hundred years. It is not that the dog
lacked ability; it is the fault of the one who set [the dog on the rabbit].' "
| CHAPTER VII Han shih wai chuan | |