Sacred Books of the East Vol. 40 - Taoism Vol. 2

A dog is not reckoned good because it barks well; and a man is not reckoned wise because he speaks {fn. 1. This strange wish concludes the speech of Confucius. What follows is from Kwang-dze.} {fn. 2. Compare the opening chapters of the Tâo Teh King.} {fn. 3. The Tâo is greater than any and all of its attributes.} {p. 106} skilfully;--how much less can he be deemed Great! If one thinks he is Great, he is not fit to be accounted Great;--how much less is he so from the practice of the attributes (of the Tâo){fr. 1}! Now none are so grandly complete as Heaven and Earth; but do they seek for anything to make them so grandly complete? He who knows this grand completion does not seek for it; he loses nothing and abandons nothing; he does not change himself from regard to (external) things; he turns in on himself, and finds there an inexhaustible store; he follows antiquity and does not feel about (for its lessons);--such is the perfect sincerity of the Great Man. 11. Dze-khî{fr. 2} had eight sons. Having arranged them before him, he called Kiû-fang Yän{fr. 3}, and said to him, 'Look at the physiognomy of my sons for me;--which will be the fortunate one?' Yän said, 'Khwän is the fortunate one.' .Dze-khî looked startled, and joyfully said, 'In what way?' Yän replied, 'Khwän will share the meals of the ruler of a state to the end of his life.' The father looked uneasy, burst into tears, and said, 'What has my son done that he should come to such a fate?' Yin replied, 'When one shares the meals of the ruler of a state, blessings reach to all within the three branches of his kindred{fr. 4}, and how much more to his father and mother! But you, Master, weep when you hear this;--you oppose (the idea of) such happiness. It is the good fortune of your son, and