Chuang Tzu Chapter 6, Section H

[Marblehead]

Yi-er Zi having gone to see Xu You, the latter said to him, 'What benefit have you received from Yao?' The reply was, 'Yao says to me, You must yourself labour at benevolence and righteousness, and be able to tell clearly which is right and which wrong (in conflicting statements).' Xu You rejoined, 'Why then have you come to me? Since Yao has put on you the brand of his benevolence and righteousness, and cut off your nose with his right and wrong, how will you be able to wander in the way of aimless enjoyment, of unregulated contemplation, and the ever-changing forms (of dispute)?' Yi-er Zi said, 'That may be; but I should like to skirt along its hedges.' 'But,' said the other, 'it cannot be. Eyes without pupils can see nothing of the beauty of the eyebrows, eyes, and other features; the blind have nothing to do with the green, yellow, and variegated colours of the sacrificial robes.' Yi-er Zi rejoined, 'Yet, when Wu-zhuang lost his beauty, Ju-liang his strength, and Huang-Di his wisdom, they all (recovered them) under the moulding (of your system) - how do you know that the Maker will not obliterate the marks of my branding, and supply my dismemberment, so that, again perfect in my form, I may follow you as my teacher?' Xu You said, 'Ah! that cannot yet be known. I will tell you the rudiments. 0 my Master! 0 my Master! He gives to all things their blended qualities, and does not count it any righteousness; His favours reach to all generations, and He does not count it any benevolence; He is more ancient than the highest antiquity, and does not count Himself old; He overspreads heaven and supports the earth; He carves and fashions all bodily forms, and does not consider it any act of skill;-- this is He in whom I find my enjoyment.'

[konchog uma]

Master Yierh went to see Hsŭ Yu. Hsu Yu asked him: "How has

Yao aided you?"

"Yao told me," said Master Yierh, "You must dedicate

yourself to humaneness and righteousness, and speak clearly

about right and wrong."

"Then why have you come here?" asked Hsii Yu. "Yao has

already tattooed you with humaneness and righteousness and

lopped off your nose with right and wrong. How will you be able

to wander on the path of untroubled and untrammeled evolu-

tion?"

"That may be;" said Master Yierh, "but I'd like to wander

along its borders."

"No;" said Hsŭ Yu, "he who is blind has nothing to do

with the charm of human features; he who is sightless has

nothing to do with the attraction of colorfully embroidered

garments?"

"Unadorned's disregard of her beauty;" said Master Yierh,

"Bridge Support's disregard of his strength, and the Yellow

Emperor's abandonment of his knowledge were all due to a

process of remolding and reworking. How do you know that the

Creator of Things may not erase my tattoo and restore my nose,

enabling me to avail myself of wholeness so that I may become

your disciple?"

'Ah!" said Hsu Yu. " That cannot yet be known. But I will

tell you in general. My teacher, oh my teacher! She blends the

myriad things, but is not righteous; her benefits reach to a myriad

generations but she is not humane. She is senior to high antiq-

uity but is not aged. She covers heaven, supports earth, and

carves out a host of forms, but is not skillful. It is in this

that one should roam?'

[ChiDragon]

[ChiDragon]

Modern Interpretation

 

Yi-er Zi(意而子) went to visit Xu You(许由). Xu You(许由) said: "What did Yao(尧) give you...???"

 

Yi-er Zi(意而子)said: "Yao told me: 'You must experience yourself about benevolence and righteous but not mistakenly misunderstood about gossips.

 

Xu You(许由) said: "Why are you still here? Yao(尧) had already embossed 'benevolence and righteous(仁义)' on your forehead; and used 'gossip' to cut your nose off. What are you leaning on to be loitering freely, unrestrained, wandering in a constant changing path...???

 

Yi-er Zi(意而子) said: "Even so, I still hope that I can wandering in such realm.

 

Xu You(许由) said: "Wrong, a blind who has eyes but no pupils, there is no way that I can share the beautiful features of a face with him; I cannot share the joyfulness in viewing the different colorful patterns of a formal attire neither.

 

Yi-er Zi(意而子) said: "Wu-Zhuang(无庄) doesn't do make-ups on her forgotten beauty again. Ju-liang(据梁) does not flaunt with his forgotten brutal strength again. After Huang-Di(黄帝) heard of 'Tao', then he had forgotten his own wisdom. Indeed, they all had gone through smelting and foraging of 'Tao' How would I know that the creator will cure my scars from the extreme torture and replace my missing nose, and let me to have a well maintained and dependable body for my soul to reside in for me to follow you, my teacher...??"

 

Xu You(许由) said: "Ah! This is impossible to find out. Let me just give you the basic concept then. 'Tao' is my great respectable teacher! My great respectable teacher! She shattered all things into powder was not for a particular 'virtue'; given grace to the world was not from 'benevolence and righteousness', lived in the ancient time was not considered old, returned to heaven and earth, creating the shapes of all things were not considered to be skillful. Indeed, this was considered to be entered the realm of 'Tao'."

Edited February 19, 2012 by ChiDragon

[konchog uma]

awesome chidragon, i like your translations

 

thanks!!

[Marblehead]

Yeah, nice job ChiDragon.

 

Where do we look when we are blind?

 

A true story.

 

My last job before retiring was driving taxi. There was a blind woman who had a contract with the cab company to take her to work and return her from work every day. There was a regular cabbie who did this but now and again he would miss her call, for whatever the reason, and I would take the call.

 

One day we were on our way to her work place and we were talking, I said something, she turned her head as if to look at me. I said, "Don't look at me that way." and she replied, "You saw me trying, didn't you?" We both laughed.