| | 徐無鬼: |
仲尼之楚，楚王觴之，孫叔敖執爵而立，市南宜僚受酒而祭曰：「古之人乎！於此言已。」曰：「丘也聞不言之言矣，未之嘗言，於此乎言之。市南宜僚弄丸而兩家之難解，孫叔敖甘寢秉羽而郢人投兵。丘願有喙三尺。」 |
| Xu Wu-gui: |
Zhongni, having gone to Chu, the king ordered wine to be presented to him. Sun Shu-ao stood, holding the goblet in his hand. Yi-liao of Shi-nan, having received (a cup), poured its contents out as a sacrificial libation, and said, 'The men of old, on such an occasion as this, made some speech.' Zhongni said, 'I have heard of speech without words; but I have never spoken it; I will do so now. Yi-liao of Shi-nan kept (quietly) handling his little spheres, and the difficulties between the two Houses were resolved; Sun Shu-ao slept undisturbed on his couch, with his (dancer's) feather in his hand, and the men of Ying enrolled themselves for the war. I wish I had a beak three cubits long.' |
| | |
彼之謂不道之道，此之謂不言之辯。故德總乎道之所一，而言休乎知之所不知，至矣。道之所一者，德不能同也；知之所不能知者，辯不能舉也。名若儒、墨而凶矣。故海不辭東流，大之至也。聖人并包天地，澤及天下，而不知其誰氏。是故生無爵，死無諡，實不聚，名不立，此之謂大人。 |
| |
In the case of those two (ministers) we have what is called 'The Way that cannot be trodden;' in (the case of Zhongni) we have what is called 'the Argument without words.' Therefore when all attributes are comprehended in the unity of the Dao, and speech stops at the point to which knowledge does not reach, the conduct is complete. But where there is (not) the unity of the Dao, the attributes cannot (always) be the same, and that which is beyond the reach of knowledge cannot be exhibited by any reasoning. There may be as many names as those employed by the Literati and the Mohists, but (the result is) evil. Thus when the sea does not reject the streams that flow into it in their eastward course, we have the perfection of greatness. The sage embraces in his regard both Heaven and Earth; his beneficent influence extends to all tinder the sky; and we do not know from whom it comes. Therefore though when living one may have no rank, and when dead no honorary epithet; though the reality (of what he is) may not be acknowledged and his name not established; we have in him what is called 'The Great Man.' |
| | |
狗不以善吠為良，人不以善言為賢，而況為大乎！夫為大不足以為大，而況為德乎！夫大備矣，莫若天地；然奚求焉，而大備矣。知大備者，無求、無失、無棄，不以物易己也。反己而不窮，循古而不摩，大人之誠。 |
| |
A dog is not reckoned good because it barks well; and a man is not reckoned wise because be speaks skilfully - how much less can he be deemed Great! If one thinks he is Great, he is not fit to be accounted Great - how much less is he so from the practice of the attributes (of the Dao)! Now none are so grandly complete as Heaven and Earth; but do they seek for anything to make them so grandly complete? He who knows this grand completion does not seek for it; he loses nothing and abandons nothing; he does not change himself from regard to (external) things; he turns in on himself, and finds there an inexhaustible store; he follows antiquity and does not feel about (for its lessons) - such is the perfect sincerity of the Great Man. |
