Zhuangzi 莊子
《外物》 What comes from Without
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《外物》 What comes from Without外物不可必，故龍逢誅，比干戮，箕子狂，惡來死，桀、紂亡。人主莫不欲其臣之忠，而忠未必信，故伍員流於江，萇弘死於蜀，藏其血三年，化而為碧。人親莫不欲其子之孝，而孝未必愛，故孝己憂而曾參悲。
What comes from without cannot be determined beforehand. So it was that Long-feng was killed; Bi-gan immolated; and the count of Ji (made to feign himself) mad, (while) Wu-lai died, and Jie and Zhou both perished. Rulers all wish their ministers to be faithful, but that faithfulness may not secure their confidence; hence Wu Yuan became a wanderer along the Jiang, and Chang Hong died in Shu, where (the people) preserved his blood for three years, when it became changed into green jade. Parents all wish their sons to be filial, but that filial duty may not secure their love; hence Xiao-ji had to endure his sorrow, and Zeng Shen his grief.
木與木相摩則然，金與火相守則流。陰陽錯行，則天地大絯，於是乎有雷有霆，水中有火，乃焚大槐。有甚憂兩陷而無所逃，螴蜳不得成，心若縣於天地之間，慰睯沈屯，利害相摩，生火甚多，眾人焚和。月固不勝火，於是乎有僓然而道盡。
When wood is rubbed against wood, it begins to burn; when metal is subjected to fire, it (melts and) flows. When the Yin and Yang act awry, heaven and earth are greatly perturbed; and on this comes the crash of thunder, and from the rain comes fire, which consumes great locust trees. (The case of men) is still worse. They are troubled between two pitfalls, from which they cannot escape. Chrysalis-like, they can accomplish nothing. Their minds are as if hung up between heaven and earth. Now comforted, now pitied, they are plunged in difficulties. The ideas of profit and of injury rub against each other, and produce in them a very great fire. The harmony (of the mind) is consumed in the mass of men. Their moonlike intelligence cannot overcome the (inward) fire. They thereupon fall away more and more, and the Course (which they should pursue) is altogether lost.
莊周家貧，故往貸粟於監河侯。監河侯曰：「諾。我將得邑金，將貸子三百金，可乎？」莊周忿然作色曰：「周昨來，有中道而呼者。周顧視車轍中，有鮒魚焉。周問之曰：『鮒魚來！子何為者邪？』對曰：『我，東海之波臣也。君豈有斗升之水而活我哉？』周曰：『諾。我且南遊吳、越之王，激西江之水而迎子，可乎？』鮒魚忿然作色曰：『吾失我常與，我無所處。吾得斗升之水然活耳，君乃言此，曾不如早索我於枯魚之肆！』」
The family of Zhuang Zhou being poor, he went to ask the loan of some rice from the Marquis Superintendent of the He, who said, 'Yes, I shall be getting the (tax-) money from the people (soon), and I will then lend you three hundred ounces of silver - will that do?' Zhuang Zhou flushed with anger, and said, 'On the road yesterday, as I was coming here, I heard some one calling out. On looking round, I saw a goby in the carriage rut, and said to it, "Goby fish, what has brought you here?" The goby said, "I am Minister of Waves in the Eastern Sea. Have you, Sir, a gallon or a pint of water to keep me alive?" I replied, "Yes, I am going south to see the kings of Wu and Yue, and I will then lead a stream from the Western Kiang to meet you - will that do ?" The goby flushed with anger, and said, "I have lost my proper element, and I can here do nothing for myself; but if I could get a gallon or a pint of water, I should keep alive. Than do what you propose, you had better soon look for me in a stall of dry fish."'
任公子為大鉤巨緇，五十犗以為餌，蹲乎會稽，投竿東海，旦旦而釣，期年不得魚。已而大魚食之，牽巨鉤錎沒而下，騖揚而奮鬐，白波若山，海水震蕩，聲侔鬼神，憚赫千里。任公子得若魚，離而腊之，自制河以東，蒼梧以北，莫不厭若魚者。
A son of the duke of Ren, having provided himself with a great hook, a powerful black line, and fifty steers to be used as bait, squatted down on (mount) Gui Ji, and threw the line into the Eastern Sea. Morning after morning he angled thus, and for a whole year caught nothing. At the end of that time, a great fish swallowed the bait, and dived down, dragging the great hook with him. Then it rose to the surface in a flurry, and flapped with its fins, till the white waves rose like hills, and the waters were lashed into fury. The noise was like that of imps and spirits, and spread terror for a thousand li. The prince having got such a fish, cut it in slices and dried them. From the Zhi river to the east, and from Cang-wu to the north, there was not one who did not eat his full from that fish.
已而後世輇才諷說之徒，皆驚而相告也。夫揭竿累，趣灌瀆，守鯢鮒，其於得大魚難矣；飾小說以干縣令，其於大達亦遠矣。是以未嘗聞任氏之風俗，其不可與經於世亦遠矣。
In subsequent generations, story-tellers of small abilities have all repeated the story to one another with astonishment. (But) if the prince had taken his rod, with a fine line, and gone to pools and ditches, and watched for minnows and gobies, it would have been difficult for him to get a large fish. Those who dress up their small tales to obtain favour with the magistrates are far from being men of great understanding; and therefore one who has not heard the story of this scion of Ren is not fit to take any part in the government of the world - far is he from being so'.
儒以《詩》、《禮》發冢。大儒臚傳曰：「東方作矣，事之何若？」小儒曰：「未解裙襦，口中有珠。《詩》固有之曰：『青青之麥，生於陵陂。生不布施，死何含珠為？』接其鬢，壓其顪，儒以金椎控其頤，徐別其頰，無傷口中珠！」
What comes from Without:...:
Some literati, students of the Odes and Ceremonies, were breaking open a mound over a grave. The superior among them spoke down to the others, 'Day is breaking in the east; how is the thing going on?' The younger men replied, 'We have not yet opened his jacket and skirt, but there is a pearl in the mouth. As it is said in the Ode,
The bright, green grain
Is growing on the sides of the mound.
While living, he gave nothing away;
Why, when dead, should he hold a pearl in his mouth?"'
Thereupon they took hold of the whiskers and pulled at the beard, while the superior introduced a piece of fine steel into the chin, and gradually separated the jaws, so as not to injure the pearl in the mouth.
老萊子之弟子出薪，遇仲尼，反以告曰：「有人於彼，修上而趨下，末僂而後耳，視若營四海，不知其誰氏之子。」老萊子曰：「是丘也，召而來！」仲尼至。曰：「丘！去汝躬矜與汝容知，斯為君子矣。」仲尼揖而退，蹙然改容而問曰：「業可得進乎？」老萊子曰：「夫不忍一世之傷，而驁萬世之患，抑固窶邪？亡其略弗及邪？惠以歡為驁，終身之醜，中民之行進焉耳，相引以名，相結以隱。與其譽堯而非桀，不如兩忘而閉其所譽。反無非傷也，動無非邪也。聖人躊躇以興事，以每成功。奈何哉其載焉終矜爾！」
A disciple of Lao Lai-zi, while he was out gathering firewood, met with Zhongni. On his return, he told (his master), saying, 'There is a man there, the upper part of whose body is long and the lower part short. He is slightly hump-backed, and his ears are far back. When you look at him, he seems occupied with the cares of all within the four seas; I do not know whose son he is.' Lao Lai-zi said, 'It is Qiu call him here;' and when Zhongni came, he said to him, 'Qiu, put away your personal conceit, and airs of wisdom, and show yourself to be indeed a superior man.' Zhongni bowed and was retiring, when he abruptly changed his manner, and asked, 'Will the object I am pursuing be thereby advanced?' Lao Lai-zi replied, 'You cannot bear the sufferings of this one age, and are stubbornly regardless of the evils of a myriad ages: is it that you purposely make yourself thus unhappy? or is it that you have not the ability to comprehend the case? Your obstinate purpose to make men rejoice in a participation of your joy is your life-long shame, the procedure of a mediocre man. You would lead men by your fame; you would bind them to you by your secret art. Than be praising Yao and condemning Jie, you had better forget them both, and shut up your tendency to praise. If you reflect on it, it does nothing but injury; your action in it is entirely wrong. The sage is full of anxiety and indecision in undertaking anything, and so he is always successful. But what shall I say of your conduct? To the end it is all affectation.'
宋元君夜半而夢人被髮闚阿門，曰：「予自宰路之淵，予為清江使河伯之所，漁者余且得予。」元君覺，使人占之，曰：「此神龜也。」君曰：「漁者有余且乎？」左右曰：「有。」君曰：「令余且會朝。」明日，余且朝。君曰：「漁何得？」對曰：「且之網，得白龜焉，其圓五尺。」君曰：「獻若之龜。」龜至，君再欲殺之，再欲活之，心疑，卜之，曰：「殺龜以卜，吉。」乃刳龜，七十二鑽而無遺筴。
The ruler Yuan of Song (once) dreamt at midnight that a man with dishevelled hair peeped in on him at a side door and said, 'I was coming from the abyss of Zai-lu, commissioned by the Clear Jiang to go to the place of the Earl of the He; but the fisherman Yu Qie has caught me.' When the ruler Yuan awoke, he caused a diviner to divine the meaning (of the dream), and was told, 'This is a marvellous tortoise.' The ruler asked if among the fishermen there was one called Yu Qie, and being told by his attendants that there was, he gave orders that he should be summoned to court. Accordingly the man next day appeared at court, and the ruler said, 'What have you caught (lately) in fishing?' The reply was, 'I have caught in my net a white tortoise, sievelike, and five cubits round.' 'Present the prodigy here,' said the ruler; and, when it came, once and again he wished to kill it, once and again he wished to keep it alive. Doubting in his mind (what to do), he had recourse to divination, and obtained the answer, 'To kill the tortoise for use in divining will be fortunate.' Accordingly they cut the creature open, and perforated its shell in seventy-two places, and there was not a single divining slip which failed.
仲尼曰：「神龜能見夢於元君而不能避余且之網；知能七十二鑽而無遺筴，不能避刳腸之患。如是，則知有所困，神有所不及也。雖有至知，萬人謀之。魚不畏網而畏鵜鶘。去小知而大知明，去善而自善矣。」嬰兒生無石師而能言，與能言者處也。
Zhongni said, 'The spirit-like tortoise could show itself in a dream to the ruler Yuan, and yet it could not avoid the net of Yu Qie. Its wisdom could respond on seventy-two perforations without failing in a single divination, and yet it could not avoid the agony of having its bowels all scooped out. We see from this that wisdom is not without its perils, and spirit-like intelligence does not reach to everything. A man may have the greatest wisdom, but there are a myriad men scheming against him. Fishes do not fear the net, though they fear the pelican. Put away your small wisdom, and your great wisdom will be bright; discard your skilfulness, and you will become naturally skilful. A child when it is born needs no great master, and yet it becomes able to speak, living (as it does) among those who are able to speak.'
惠子謂莊子曰：「子言無用。」莊子曰：「知無用而始可與言用矣。夫地非不廣且大也，人之所用容足耳。然則廁足而墊之，致黃泉，人尚有用乎？」惠子曰：「無用。」莊子曰：「然則無用之為用也亦明矣。」
Huizi said to Zhuangzi, 'You speak, Sir, of what is of no use.' The reply was, 'When a man knows what is not useful, you can then begin to speak to him of what is useful. The earth for instance is certainly spacious and great; but what a man uses of it is only sufficient ground for his feet. If, however, a rent were made by the side of his feet, down to the yellow springs, could the man still make use of it?' Huizi said, 'He could not use it,' and Zhuangzi rejoined, 'Then the usefulness of what is of no use is clear.'
莊子曰：「人有能遊，且得不遊乎？人而不能遊，且得遊乎？夫流遁之志，決絕之行，噫！其非至知厚德之任與！覆墜而不反，火馳而不顧，雖相與為君臣，時也，易世而無以相賤。故曰：至人不留行焉。夫尊古而卑今，學者之流也。且以豨韋氏之流觀今之世，夫孰能不波？唯至人乃能遊於世而不僻，順人而不失己，彼教不學，承意不彼。
Zhuangzi said, 'If a man have the power to enjoy himself (in any pursuit), can he be kept from doing so? If he have not the power, can he so enjoy himself? There are those whose aim is bent on concealing themselves, and those who are determined that their doings shall leave no trace. Alas! they both shirk the obligations of perfect knowledge and great virtue. The (latter) fall, and cannot recover themselves; the (former) rush on like fire, and do not consider (what they are doing). Though men may stand to each other in the relation of ruler and minister, that is but for a time. In a changed age, the one of them would not be able to look down on the other. Hence it is said, "The Perfect man leaves no traces of his conduct." 'To honour antiquity and despise the present time is the characteristic of learners; but even the disciples of Khih-wei have to look at the present age; and who can avoid being carried along by its course? It is only the Perfect man who is able to enjoy himself in the world, and not be deflected from the right, to accommodate himself to others and not lose himself. He does not learn their lessons; he only takes their ideas into consideration, and does not discard them as different from his own.
目徹為明，耳徹為聰，鼻徹為顫，口徹為甘，心徹為知，知徹為德。凡道不欲壅，壅則哽，哽而不止則跈，跈則眾害生。物之有知者恃息，其不殷，非天之罪。天之穿之，日夜無降，人則顧塞其竇。胞有重閬，心有天遊。室無空虛，則婦姑勃谿；心無天遊，則六鑿相攘。大林丘山之善於人也，亦神者不勝。
'It is the penetrating eye that gives clear vision, the acute ear that gives quick hearing, the discriminating nose that gives discernment of odours, the practised mouth that gives the enjoyment of flavours, the active mind that acquires knowledge, and the far-reaching knowledge that constitutes virtue. In no case does the connexion with what is without like to be obstructed; obstruction produces stoppage; stoppage, continuing without intermission, arrests all progress; and with this all injurious effects spring up. The knowledge of all creatures depends on their breathing. But if their breath be not abundant, it is not the fault of Heaven, which tries to penetrate them with it, day and night without ceasing; but men notwithstanding shut their pores against it. The womb encloses a large and empty space; the heart has its spontaneous and enjoyable movements. If their apartment be not roomy, wife and mother-in-law will be bickering; if the heart have not its spontaneous and enjoyable movements, the six faculties of perception will be in mutual collision. That the great forests, the heights and hills, are pleasant to men, is because their spirits cannot overcome (those distracting influences).
德溢乎名，名溢乎暴，謀稽乎誸，知出乎爭，柴生乎守，官事果乎眾宜。春雨日時，草木怒生，銚鎒於是乎始修，草木之到植者過半，而不知其然。
'Virtue overflows into (the love of) fame; (the love of) fame overflows into violence; schemes originate in the urgency (of circumstances); (the show of) wisdom comes from rivalry; the fuel (of strife) is produced from the obstinate maintenance (of one's own views); the business of offices should be apportioned in accordance with the approval of all. In spring, when the rain and the sunshine come seasonably, vegetation grows luxuriantly, and sickles and hoes begin to be prepared. More than half of what had fallen down becomes straight, and we do not know how.
靜然可以補病，眥搣可以休老，寧可以止遽。雖然，若是，勞者之務也，非佚者之所未嘗過而問焉。聖人之所以駴天下，神人未嘗過而問焉；賢人所以駴世，聖人未嘗過而問焉；君子所以駴國，賢人未嘗過而問焉；小人所以合時，君子未嘗過而問焉。
'Stillness and silence are helpful to those who are ill; rubbing the corners of the eyes is helpful to the aged; rest serves to calm agitation; but they are the toiled and troubled who have recourse to these things. Those who are at ease, and have not had such experiences, do not care to ask about them. The spirit-like man has had no experience of how it is that the sagely man keeps the world in awe, and so he does not inquire about it; the sagely man has had no experience of how it is that the man of ability and virtue keeps his age in awe, and so he does not inquire about it; the man of ability and virtue has had no experience of how it is that the superior man keeps his state in awe, and so he does not inquire about it. The superior man has had no experience of how it is that the small man keeps himself in agreement with his times that he should inquire about it.'
演門有親死者，以善毀，爵為官師，其黨人毀而死者半。堯與許由天下，許由逃之；湯與務光天下，務光怒之。紀他聞之，帥弟子而踆於窾水，諸侯弔之三年，申徒狄因以踣河。
The keeper of the Yan Gate, on the death of his father, showed so much skill in emaciating his person that he received the rank of 'Pattern for Officers.' Half the people of his neighbourhood (in consequence) carried their emaciation to such a point that they died. When Yao wished to resign the throne to Xu You, the latter ran away. When Thang offered his to Wu Guang, Wu Guang became angry. When Ji Ta heard it, he led his disciples, and withdrew to the river Kuan, where the feudal princes came and condoled with him, and after three years, Shen Tu-di threw himself into the water.
荃者所以在魚，得魚而忘荃；蹄者所以在兔，得兔而忘蹄；言者所以在意，得意而忘言。吾安得忘言之人而與之言哉？」
Fishing-stakes are employed to catch fish; but when the fish are got, the men forget the stakes. Snares are employed to catch hares, but when the hares are got, men forget the snares. Words are employed to convey ideas; but when the ideas are apprehended, men forget the words. Fain would I talk with such a man who has forgot the words!
Source: Chinese Text Project http://ctext.org/zhuangzi, English translation: 'The Writings of Chuang Tzu', James Legge, 1891
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