Han shih wai chuan :: :: University of Virginia Library

Here is a bird that has built its nest in the top of some reeds.
A puff of wind from the sky, the reeds break, and the nest is
ruined.[2] Why? Because what [the bird] put its reliance on was
weak. That millet wasps[3] (?) are not molested and that altar
rats[4] are not burned out is not because millet wasps and altar
rats are holy, but because what they put their reliance on serves
the purpose. Hence the saint seeks out sages to help him.[5] Now a
fish that can swallow a boat is large, but if [the lake] overflows
and he is left out of the water, he will be at the mercy of crickets
and ants.[6] [It is because] he has lost his support. Truly [the
Ode] says,[7]

All unintelligent are you of your [proper] virtue,
And so you have no [good] men behind you, nor by your side.[8]
Without any intelligence of your [proper] virtue,
You have no [good] intimate adviser nor minister.

[1]

SY 11.7b-8a incorporates this in a reproach addressed to Prince Mêng-ch`ang by
a retainer, similar to HSWC 7/17.

[2]

Chou calls attention to Hsün-tzŭ 1.3a: [OMITTED] ○ [OMITTED]
[OMITTED] ○ [OMITTED]
[OMITTED]. "In the south there is a bird called the mêng-chiu. It makes its nest of feathers,
weaving it with hair, and attaches it to the top of a reed. The wind comes and the
reed breaks off: the eggs are broken and the young die. It is not because the nest was
imperfect, but because of the nature of what it was attached to." SY seems to have
followed this.

[3]

[OMITTED]: PWYF list only this occurrence.

[4]

Cf. HSWC 7/9.

[5]

Chou would emend [OMITTED] to [OMITTED] and transfer it after [OMITTED]. Lei-chü 20.4a has [OMITTED]
[OMITTED] "seeks sages to help himself." (Chao.)

[6]

Cf. Chuang-tzŭ 6.10a: [OMITTED] "If a fish that
could swallow a boat be left by the flowing away of the water, then [even] the ants
are able to trouble it." (Legge, 2.76.)

[7]

Chou suggests emending [OMITTED] to [OMITTED]; cf. Shih 507 No. 255/4.

[8]

Cf. HSWC 10/14, note 10.