Chapter XXIV
OBSERVING DEEDS[1]
Men of antiquity, because their eyes stopped short of self-seeing,
used mirrors to look at their faces; because their
wisdom stopped short of self-knowing, they took Tao to
rectify their characters. The mirror had no guilt of making
scars seen; Tao had no demerit of making faults clear.
Without the mirror, the eyes had no other means to rectify
the whiskers and eyebrows; without Tao, the person had
no other way to know infatuation and bewilderment. For
the same reason, Hsi-mên Pao, being quick-tempered,
purposely wore hide on his feet to make himself slow;
Tung An-yü, being slow-minded, wore bowstrings on his
feet to make himself quick. Therefore, the ruler who
supplies scarcity with abundance and supplements shortness
with length is called "an intelligent sovereign".
There are in All-under-Heaven three truths: First, that
even wise men find unattainable tasks; second, that even
strong men find immovable objects; and third, that even
brave men find invincible opponents.
For instance, though you have the wisdom of Yao but
have no support of the masses of the people, you cannot
accomplish any great achievement; though you have the
physical force of Wu Huo but have no help from other
people, you cannot raise yourself; and though you have
the strength of Mêng Pên and Hsia Yü and uphold neither
law nor tact, you cannot triumph for ever.[2]
Therefore,
certain positions are untenable; certain tasks, unattainable.
Thus, Wu Huo found a thousand chün light but his own
body heavy. Not that his body was heavier than a thousand
chün, but that position would not facilitate his raising his
own body. In the same way, Li Chu found it easy to see
across one hundred steps but difficult to see his own eyelashes.
Not that one hundred steps were near and eyelashes
far, but that the way of nature would not permit him to see
his own eyelashes. For such reasons, the intelligent sovereign
neither reproaches Wu Huo for his inability to raise himself
nor embarrasses Li Chu with his inability to see himself.
Yet he counts on favourable circumstances and seeks for
the easiest way, so that he exerts small effort and accomplishes
both an achievement and a reputation.
Times[3]
wax and wane; affairs[4]
help and harm; and
things[5]
come into existence and go into extinction. As the
lord of men has these three objects to face, if he expresses
the colours of joy and anger, "personages of gold and
stone"[6]
will be estranged while the wise and shrewd will
explore the depth of the ruler's mentality. Therefore, the
intelligent sovereign observes people's deeds but never lets
people observe his own motives.
Now that you understand the inability of Yao to accomplish
the rule by himself, the inability of Wu Huo to raise his
own body by himself, and the inability of Mêng Pên and
Hsia Yü to triumph by themselves, if you uphold law and
tact, then the course of observing deeds will be completed.
