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Daoism -> Zhuangzi -> Miscellaneous Chapters -> Metaphorical Language -> 5

The penumbrae (once) asked the shadow, saying,
'Formerly you were looking down, and now you are looking up;
formerly you had your hair tied up, and now it is dishevelled;
formerly you were sitting, and now you have risen up;
formerly you were walking, and now you have stopped:
?」 how is all this?'
The shadow said,
'Venerable Sirs,
how do you ask me about such small matters?
These things all belong to me, but I do not know how they do so.
I am (like) the shell of a cicada
or the cast-off skin of a snake
- like them, and yet not like them.
With light and the sun
I make my appearance;
with darkness and the night
I fade away.
Am not I dependent on the substance from which I am thrown?
And that substance is itself dependent on something else!
When it comes, I come with it;
when it goes, I go with it.
When it comes under the influence of the strong Yang, I come under the same.
Since we are both produced by that strong Yang,
!」 what occasion is there for you to question me?'


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