Mair 19:10

[Marblehead]

Wane Eastwild was showing off his chariotry to Duke Chuang.  {{Of the state of Lu.}}  His horses went forward and backward as straight as a ruler, turned left and right as precisely as a compass.  Duke Chuang thought that even a draftsman could not surpass him.  He told him to do one hundred circuits and then return.

Yen Ho happened upon this scene and went in to see the duke, saying, "Wane's horses are going to jade."  The duke kept silent and did not respond.

Soon thereafter, Wane's horses actually jaded and had to return early.

"How did you know that would happen?" the duke asked.

"His horses' strength was exhausted, but yet he kept demanding more of them.  That's why I said they would jade."

[OldDog]

On 10/14/2018 at 5:47 AM, Marblehead said:

His horses' strength was exhausted, but yet he kept demanding more of them. 

 

I think there are two complementary ways of reading this.

 

First ... Is it human nature to have greater expectations when viewing something excellent than the thing being viewed can provide?

 

In the chapter 9 of the TTC, which Lin Yutang titles The Danger of Overweening Success, it says:

 

Stretch (a bow) to the very full,

And you will wish you had stopped in time.
Temper a (sword-edge) to its very sharpest,

And the edge will not last long.

 

Yet the master of chariots drove his horses to exhaution at the Dukes bidding. 

 

Second ... Would the horses have exhausted themselves if left to their natural instincts. The nature of horses is not to pull chariots ... let alone being driven to perform unnaturally. Recall the earlier story in ZZ (Horses Hoofs) about the "master" at handling horses ... where the horses being handled at odds with thier nature eventually died. Going against nature invites misfortune.

 

 

[Marblehead]

39 minutes ago, OldDog said:

Would the horses have exhausted themselves if left to their natural instincts. The nature of horses is not to pull chariots ... let alone being driven to perform unnaturally. Recall the earlier story in ZZ (Horses Hoofs) about the "master" at handling horses ... where the horses being handled at odds with thier nature eventually died. Going against nature invites misfortune.

Great observations but especially this.

 

We're not saying don't use horses as beasts of burden, we're saying to not drive the horse beyond its natural abilities.

 

And remember, horses are not good at catching mice.