[sic]
It is better to hold on to what is profitable than it has been; it is not as sharp as it is to be sharp; it is not to be guaranteed for a long time; it is golden and jade to be full of palms, and it is impossible to keep it; it is rich and proud, and it is self-inflicted. Achievement and retirement, the way of heaven.
[Translation]
If you are complacent and boastful, it is better to stop at the right time, because the water is overflowing, and those who are too complacent will fall. If the sharp edge is often revealed, this sharpness cannot be maintained for a long time; because if it is too strong, it is easy to bend, and if it is accustomed to forcing people, it will be easy to be hit. The man who is rich in gold and jade cannot keep his wealth forever, and the one who is rich and proud will eventually take his own fault. Only those who have achieved success and retreated, who are not complacent and not proud of themselves, are in line with the way of nature.
1
Smug, stealing and hunchback
There are self-righteous people in the world, there are people who steal from peace and complacency, and there are people who are physically shrewd.
The so-called self-righteous person is to study the teachings of only one teacher, and to say proudly that he is already very full, but he does not know that nothing existed at the beginning of the universe.
Those who steal peace and are complacent, living in a place where pig hair is scarce, think that it is a vast palace and a wide courtyard. They hid between the two strands of the pig, the armpits, the elbows, and the bosom, thinking that they had found a safe place, but they did not know that once the butcher raised his arm and set the pig on fire, he would be buried with the pig in the sea of fire. This is a type of thing that advances with the environment and dies with the environment.
As for the hunchback, it was Shun. Lamb doesn't like ants, but ants love lamb because of its smell. Shun was like a sheep with a smell, so the people adored him as if ants loved mutton, so he moved the capital three times, and the people followed him. The county he governs now has more than 100,000 households.
When Yao heard of Shun's merits, he sent him to undeveloped places, hoping that he would bring favors to the people. When Shun was sent to that place, he was old and his eyes and ears had declined, but he could not retire and return. Therefore, Shun is a person with a slim body. (Zhuangzi Miscellaneous Chapter 24 "Xu Wu Ghost")
2
The danger of accumulating wealth, Confucianism is not enough to learn
Mangou said, "Most of the shameless people are rich, and most of the people who speak exaggerated are prominent." (Zhuangzi Miscellaneous Chapter 29 "Thief")
Confucians went to dig ancient tombs in order to study poetry and ritual music.
Da Ru said, "It's almost dawn!" How are things going?"
Xiao Ru said, "I haven't taken off the skirt and jacket of the deceased yet." But we saw a bead in his mouth. The ancient poem says, 'The verdant wheat is born on the slope of the earth.' 'What does this person do when he is alive and does not take care of others, so what does he do with a pearl after death?'
So, pinching the sideburns of the dead body, pressing the sideburns of the corpse, tapping his jaw with a hammer, and slowly parting his cheeks. They moved very cautiously, lest they damage the beads in the corpse's mouth. (Zhuang Yu Miscellaneous Chapter 26 "Foreign Objects")
3
The story of the slaughter of sheep
Zheng Kao's father (the tenth ancestor of Confucius) held a priesthood and bent his back; Then the doctor is promoted, and he bends over; When he finally took up the post of secretary of state, he leaned over and walked along the wall. He was so humble, where else would anyone dare to insult him?
If it is an ordinary ordinary person, as soon as he takes up the post of a priest, he begins to be pretentious; When he was a doctor again, he became frantic in the car; Once he took up the post of secretary of state, he called himself an elder. (Zhuangzi Miscellaneous Chapter 32 "Lie Yu Kou")
King Chu Zhao abandoned the country and fled, and the slaughter said that he also fled with King Zhao. King Zhao returned to his country to reward those who followed him. But when he found the slaughtering sheep, the slaughtering sheep said, "When the king lost his kingdom, I gave up the work of slaughtering." Now that the king has returned home and my work has resumed, why should I say anything about the reward?" King Zhao insisted that he accept it.
The slaughterer said, "It is not my sin that the king has lost his kingdom, so I should not be punished; The return of the king is not my credit, so I dare not accept the reward. King Zhao then summoned him to the palace to meet him.
However, Tu Yang said that he refused, and said: "The law of the Chu State is that it is necessary for people with special merit to be able to meet the King, and now my intelligence is not enough to defend the country, and my courage is not enough to destroy the enemy, how dare I pretend to see the King?" Moreover, when the Wu army invaded Yingdu, I fled away because I was afraid, and I did not intend to follow the king. Now it is very unreasonable for the king to repeal the law and summon me!" (Zhuangzi Miscellaneous Chapter 28 "Let the King")
This article is selected from the twenty-eighth chapter of "Let the King", which is generally considered to be a fabrication.
(Excerpt from Lin Yutang, The Wisdom of Lao Tzu, pp. 33-36.) ）
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