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

St. 4. Then did the True Man{fr. 1} get his birth, As 'neath the Bear the star shone down{fr. 2}. All dragon gifts his person graced; Like the stork's plumage was his hair. The complicated he resolved{fr. 3}, the sharp made blunt{fr. 3}, The mean rejected, and the generous chose; In brightness like the sun and moon, And lasting as the heaven and earth{fr. 3}. St. 5. Small to him seemed the mountains five{fr. 4}, And narrow seemed the regions nine{fr. 4}; About he went with lofty tread, And in short time he rambled far. In carriage by black oxen drawn{fr. 5}, Around the purple air was bright. Grottoes then oped to him their sombre gates, And thence, unseen, his spirit power flowed forth. St. 6. The village near the stream of Ko{fr. 6} Traces of him will still retain{fr. 6}; But now, as in the days of old, With changèd times the world is changed. {fn. 1. This of course was Lâo-dze.} {fn. 2. See above, {pr. 313}, par. 4.} {fn. 3. In the Tâo Teh King, p. 50, par. 2, and p. 52, par. 1. The reading of line 7 is different in my two authorities in the one {img 31700}, in the other {img 31701} suppose the correct reading should be {img 31702} and have given what I think is the meaning.} {fn. 4. Two well-known numerical categories. See Mayers's Manual, pp. 320, 321, and p. 340.} {fn. 5. So it was, according to the story, that Lâo-dze drew near to the barrier gate, when he wished to leave China.}