Follow us on Facebook to receive important updates Follow us on Twitter to receive important updates Follow us on sina.com's microblogging site to receive important updates Follow us on Douban to receive important updates
Chinese Text Project
Simplified Chinese version
Back Forward
Daoism -> Zhuangzi -> Miscellaneous Chapters -> The Robber Zhi -> 3.3

Dissatisfied (continued his argument), saying,
'In thus thinking it necessary for their reputation,
they bitterly distressed their bodies, denied themselves what was pleasant,
and restricted themselves to a bare sustenance in order to sustain their life;
。”but so they had life-long distress, and long-continued pressure till their death arrived.'
Know-the-Mean replied,
'Tranquil ease is happiness;
a superfluity is injurious:
so it is with all things,
and especially it is so, where the superfluity is of wealth.
The ears of the rich are provided with the music of bells, drums, flageolets and flutes;
and their mouths are stuffed with the flesh of fed beasts and with wine of the richest flavour;
so are their desires satisfied,
till they forget their proper business:
theirs may be pronounced a condition of disorder.
Sunk deeply in their self-sufficiency,
they resemble individuals ascending a height with a heavy burden on their backs:
their condition may be pronounced one of bitter suffering.
They covet riches, thinking to derive comfort from them;
they covet power, and would fain monopolise it;
when quiet and retired, they are drowned in luxurious indulgence;
their persons seem to shine, and they are full of boasting:
they may be said to be in a state of disease.
In their desire to be rich and striving for gain,
they fill their stores, and, deaf to all admonition, refuse to desist from their course.
They are even more elated, and hold on their way:
their conduct may be pronounced disgraceful.
When their wealth is amassed till they cannot use it,
they clasp it to their breasts and will not part with it;
when their hearts are distressed with their very fulness,
they still seek for more and will not desist:
their condition may be said to be sad.
In-doors they are apprehensive of pilfering and begging thieves,
and out-of-doors they are afraid of being injured by plundering robbers;
in-doors they have many chambers and partitions,
and out-of-doors they do not dare to go alone:
they may be said to be in a state of (constant) alarm.
These six conditions
天下 are the most deplorable in the world,
but they forget them all, and have lost their faculty of judgment.
When the evil comes,
though they begged it with all the powers of their nature, and by the sacrifice of all their wealth,
they could not bring back one day of untroubled peace.
When they look for their reputation, it is not to be seen;
when they seek for their wealth, it is not to be got.
To task their thoughts, and destroy their bodies, striving for (such an end as) this
!” - is it not a case of great delusion ?'


Enjoy this site? Please help.Site design and content copyright 2006-2024. When quoting or citing information from this site, please link to the corresponding page or to https://ctext.org/ens. Please note that the use of automatic download software on this site is strictly prohibited, and that users of such software are automatically banned without warning to save bandwidth. 沪ICP备09015720号-3Comments? Suggestions? Please raise them here.