孔子遊乎緇帷之林，休坐乎杏壇之上。弟子讀書，孔子絃歌鼓琴，奏曲未半。有漁父者下船而來，須眉交白，被髮揄袂，行原以上，距陸而止，左手據膝，右手持頤以聽。曲終而招子貢、子路，二人俱對。客指孔子曰：「彼何為者也？」子路對曰：「魯之君子也。」客問其族。子路對曰：「族孔氏。」客曰：「孔氏者何治也？」子路未應，子貢對曰：「孔氏者，性服忠信，身行仁義，飾禮樂，選人倫，上以忠於世主，下以化於齊民，將以利天下。此孔氏之所治也。」又問曰：「有土之君與？」子貢曰：「非也。」「侯王之佐與？」子貢曰：「非也。」客乃笑而還行，言曰：「仁則仁矣，恐不免其身，苦心勞形以危其真。嗚乎，遠哉其分於道也。」

Confucius, rambling in the forest of Zi-wei, stopped and sat down by the Apricot altar. The disciples began to read their books, while he proceeded to play on his lute, singing as he did so. He had not half finished his ditty when an old fisherman stepped down from his boat, and came towards them. His beard and eyebrows were turning white; his hair was all uncombed; and his sleeves hunc, idly down. He walked thus up from the bank, till he got to the dry ground, when he stopped, and, with his left hand holding one of his knees, and the right hand at his chin, listened. When the ditty was finished, he beckoned to Zi-gong and Zi-lu, who both responded and went to him. Pointing to Confucius, he said, 'Who is he?' Zi-lu replied, 'He is the Superior Man of Lu.' 'And of what family is he?' 'He is of the Kong family.' 'And what is the occupation of this Mr. Kong?' To this question Zi-lu gave no reply, but Zi-gong replied, 'This scion of the Kong family devotes himself in his own nature to leal-heartedness and sincerity; in his conduct he manifests benevolence and righteousness; he cultivates the ornaments of ceremonies and music; he pays special attention to the relationships of society; above, he would promote loyalty to the hereditary lords; below, he seeks the transformation of all classes of the people; his object being to benefit the kingdom: this is what Mr. Kong devotes himself to.' The stranger further asked, 'Is he a ruler possessed of territory?' 'No,' was Zi-gong's reply. 'Is he the assistant of any prince or king?' 'No;' and on this the other began to laugh and to retrace his steps, saying as he went, 'Yes, benevolence is benevolence! But I am afraid he will not escape (the evils incident to humanity). By embittering his mind and toiling his body, he is imperilling his true (nature)! Alas! how far removed is he from the proper way (of life)!'

子貢還，報孔子。孔子推琴而起曰：「其聖人與！」乃下求之，至於澤畔，方將杖拏而引其船，顧見孔子，還鄉而立。孔子反走，再拜而進。客曰：「子將何求？」孔子曰：「曩者先生有緒言而去，丘不肖，未知所謂，竊待於下風，幸聞咳唾之音，以卒相丘也！」客曰：「嘻！甚矣子之好學也！」孔子再拜而起曰：「丘少而修學，以至於今，六十九歲矣，無所得聞至教，敢不虛心！」

Zi-gong returned, and reported (what the man had said) to Confucius, who pushed his lute aside, and arose, saying, 'Is he not a sage?' and down the slope he went in search of him. When he reached the edge of the lake, there was the fisherman with his pole, dragging the boat towards him. Turning round and seeing Confucius, he came back towards him and stood up. Confucius then drew back, bowed to him twice, and went forward. 'What do you want with me, Sir?' asked the stranger. The reply was, 'A little while ago, my Master, you broke off the thread of your remarks and went away. Inferior to you, I do not know what you wished to say, and have ventured here to wait for your instructions, fortunate if I may but hear the sound of your words to complete the assistance that you can give me!' 'Ah!' responded the stranger, 'how great is your love of learning!' Confucius bowed twice, and then rose up, and said, 'Since I was young, I have cultivated learning till I am now sixty-nine years old; but I have not had an opportunity of hearing the perfect teaching; dare I but listen to you with a humble and unprejudiced mind?'

客曰：「同類相從，同聲相應，固天之理也。吾請釋吾之所有而經子之所以。子之所以者，人事也。天子、諸侯、大夫、庶人，此四者自正，治之美也，四者離位而亂莫大焉。官治其職，人憂其事，乃無所陵。故田荒室露，衣食不足，徵賦不屬，妻妾不和，長少無序，庶人之憂也；能不勝任，官事不治，行不清白，群下荒怠，功美不有，爵祿不持，大夫之憂也；廷無忠臣，國家昏亂，工技不巧，貢職不美，春秋後倫，不順天子，諸侯之憂也；陰陽不和，寒暑不時，以傷庶物，諸侯暴亂，擅相攘伐，以殘民人，禮樂不節，財用窮匱，人倫不飭，百姓淫亂，天子有司之憂也。今子既上無君侯有司之勢，而下無大臣職事之官，而擅飭禮樂，選人倫，以化齊民，不泰多事乎？且人有八疵，事有四患，不可不察也。非其事而事之，謂之摠；莫之顧而進之，謂之佞；希意道言，謂之諂；不擇是非而言，謂之諛；好言人之惡，謂之讒；析交離親，謂之賊；稱譽詐偽以敗惡人，謂之慝；不擇善否，兩容頰適，偷拔其所欲，謂之險。此八疵者，外以亂人，內以傷身，君子不友，明君不臣。所謂四患者，好經大事，變更易常，以挂功名，謂之叨；專知擅事，侵人自用，謂之貪；見過不更，聞諫愈甚，謂之很；人同於己則可，不同於己，雖善不善，謂之矜。此四患也。能去八疵，無行四患，而始可教已。」

The stranger replied, 'Like seeks to like, and (birds) of the same note respond to one another - this is a rule of Heaven. Allow me to explain what I am in possession of, and to pass over (from its standpoint) to the things which occupy you. What you occupy yourself with are the affairs of men. When the sovereign, the feudal lords, the great officers, and the common people, these four classes, do what is correct (in their several positions), we have the beauty of good order; and when they leave their proper duties, there ensues the greatest disorder. When the officials attend to their duties, and the common people are anxiously concerned about their business, there is no encroachment on one another's rights. Fields running to waste; leaking rooms; insufficiency of food and clothing; taxes unprovided for; want of harmony among wives and concubines; and want of order between old and young - these are the troubles of the common people. Incompetency for their charges; inattention to their official business; want of probity in conduct; carelessness and idleness in subordinates; failure of merit and excellence; and uncertainty of rank and emolument: these are the troubles of great officers. No loyal ministers at their courts; the clans in their states rebellious; want of skill in their mechanics; articles of tribute of bad quality; late appearances at court in spring and autumn; and the dissatisfaction of the sovereign: these are the troubles of the feudal lords. Want of harmony between the Yin and Yang; unseasonableness of cold and heat, affecting all things injuriously; oppression and disorder among the feudal princes, their presuming to plunder and attack one another, to the injury of the people; ceremonies and music ill-regulated; the resources for expenditure exhausted or deficient; the social relationships uncared for; and the people abandoned to licentious disorder: these are the troubles of the Son of Heaven and his ministers. Now, Sir, you have not the high rank of a ruler, a feudal lord, or a minister of the royal court, nor are you in the inferior position of a great minister, with his departments of business, and yet you take it on you to regulate ceremonies and music, and to give special attention to the relationships of society, with a view to transform the various classes of the people: is it not an excessive multiplication of your business? And moreover men are liable to eight defects, and (the conduct of) affairs to four evils; of which we must by all means take account. To take the management of affairs which do not concern him is called monopolising. To bring forward a subject which no one regards is called loquacity. To lead men on by speeches made to please them is called sycophancy. To praise men without regard to right or wrong is called flattery. To be fond of speaking of men's wickedness is called calumny. To part friends and separate relatives is called mischievousness. To praise a man deceitfully, or in the same way fix on him the character of being bad, is called depravity. Without reference to their being good or bad, to agree with men with double face, in order to steal a knowledge of what they wish, is called being dangerous. Those eight defects produce disorder among other men and injury to one's self. A superior man will not make a friend of one who has them, nor will an intelligent ruler make him his minister. To speak of what I called the four evils: To be fond of conducting great affairs, changing and altering what is of long-standing, to obtain for one's self the reputation of meritorious service, is called ambition; to claim all wisdom and intrude into affairs, encroaching on the work of others, and representing it as one's own, is called greediness; to see his errors without changing them, and to go on more resolutely in his own way when remonstrated with, is called obstinacy; when another agrees with himself, to approve of him, and, however good he may be, when he disagrees, to disapprove of him, is called boastful conceit. These are the four evils. When one can put away the eight defects, and allow no course to the four evils, he begins to be capable of being taught.'

孔子愀然而歎，再拜而起曰：「丘再逐於魯，削跡於衛，伐樹於宋，圍於陳、蔡。丘不知所失，而離此四謗者何也？」客悽然變容曰：「甚矣子之難悟也！人有畏影惡跡而去之走者，舉足愈數而跡愈多，走愈疾而影不離身，自以為尚遲，疾走不休，絕力而死。不知處陰以休影，處靜以息跡，愚亦甚矣！子審仁義之間，察同異之際，觀動靜之變，適受與之度，理好惡之情，和喜怒之節，而幾於不免矣。謹修而身，慎守其真，還以物與人，則無所累矣。今不修之身而求之人，不亦外乎！」

Confucius looked sorrowful and sighed. (Again) he bowed twice, and then rose up and said, 'I was twice driven from Lu. I had to flee from Wei; the tree under which I rested was cut down in Song; I was kept in a state of siege between Chen and Cai. I do not know what errors I had committed that I came to be misrepresented on these four occasions (and suffered as I did).' The stranger looked grieved (at these words), changed countenance, and said, 'Very difficult it is, Sir, to make you understand. There was a man who was frightened at his shadow and disliked to see his footsteps, so that he ran to escape from them. But the more frequently he lifted his feet, the more numerous his footprints were; and however fast he ran, his shadow did not leave him. He thought he was going too slow, and ran on with all his speed without stopping, till his strength was exhausted and he died. He did not know that, if he had stayed in a shady place, his shadow would have disappeared, and that if he had remained still, he would have lost his footprints: his stupidity was excessive! And you, Sir, exercise your judgment on the questions about benevolence and righteousness; you investigate the points where agreement and difference touch; you look at the changes from movement to rest and from rest to movement; you have mastered the rules of receiving and giving; you have defined the feelings of liking and disliking; you have harmonised the limits of joy and anger: and yet you have hardly been able to escape (the troubles of which you speak). If you earnestly cultivated your own person, and carefully guarded your (proper) truth, simply rendering to others what was due to them, then you would have escaped such entanglements. But now, when you do not cultivate your own person, and make the cultivation of others your object, are you not occupying yourself with what is external?'

孔子愀然曰：「請問何謂真？」客曰：「真者，精誠之至也。不精不誠，不能動人。故強哭者雖悲不哀，強怒者雖嚴不威，強親者雖笑不和。真悲無聲而哀，真怒未發而威，真親未笑而和。真在內者，神動於外，是所以貴真也。其用於人理也，事親則慈孝，事君則忠貞，飲酒則歡樂，處喪則悲哀。忠貞以功為主，飲酒以樂為主，處喪以哀為主，事親以適為主，功成之美，無一其跡矣。事親以適，不論所以矣；飲酒以樂，不選其具矣；處喪以哀，無問其禮矣。禮者，世俗之所為也；真者，所以受於天也，自然不可易也。故聖人法天貴真，不拘於俗。愚者反此，不能法天而恤於人，不知貴真，祿祿而受變於俗，故不足。惜哉！子之早湛於人偽，而晚聞大道也！」

Confucius with an air of sadness said, 'Allow me to ask what it is that you call my proper Truth.' The stranger replied, 'A man's proper Truth is pure sincerity in its highest degree - without this pure sincerity one cannot move others. Hence if one (only) forces himself to wail, however sadly he may do so, it is not (real) sorrow; if he forces himself to be angry, however he may seem to be severe, he excites no awe; if he forces himself to show affection, however he may smile, he awakens no harmonious reciprocation. True grief, without a sound, is yet sorrowful; true anger, without any demonstration, yet awakens awe; true affection, without a smile, yet produces a harmonious reciprocation. Given this truth within, it exercises a spiritual efficacy without, and this is why we count it so valuable. In our relations with others, it appears according to the requirements of each case: in the service of parents, as gentle, filial duty; in the service of rulers, as loyalty and integrity; in festive drinking, as pleasant enjoyment; in the performance of the mourning rites, as sadness and sorrow. In loyalty and integrity, good service is the principal thing; in festive drinking, the enjoyment; in the mourning rites, the sorrow; in the service of parents, the giving them pleasure. The beauty of the service rendered (to a ruler) does not require that it always be performed in one way; the service of parents so as to give them pleasure takes no account of how it is done; the festive drinking which ministers enjoyment does not depend on the appliances for it; the observance of the mourning rites with the proper sorrow asks no questions about the rites themselves. Rites are prescribed for the practice of the common people; man's proper Truth is what he has received from Heaven, operating spontaneously, and unchangeable. Therefore the sages take their law from Heaven, and prize their (proper) Truth, without submitting to the restrictions of custom. The stupid do the reverse of this. They are unable to take their law from Heaven, and are influenced by other men; they do not know how to prize the proper Truth (of their nature), but are under the dominion of ordinary things, and change according to the customs (around them): always, consequently, incomplete. Alas for you, Sir, that you were early steeped in the hypocrisies of men, and have been so late in hearing about the Great Way!'

孔子又再拜而起曰：「今者丘得遇也，若天幸然。先生不羞而比之服役，而身教之。敢問舍所在，請因受業而卒學大道。」客曰：「吾聞之：可與往者與之，至於妙道；不可與往者，不知其道，慎勿與之，身乃無咎。子勉之！吾去子矣，吾去子矣。」乃刺船而去，延緣葦間。

(Once more), Confucius bowed twice (to the fisherman), then rose again, and said, 'That I have met you to-day is as if I had the happiness of getting to heaven. If you, Master, are not ashamed, but will let me be as your servant, and continue to teach me, let me venture to ask where your dwelling is. I will then beg to receive your instructions there, and finish my learning of the Great Way.' The stranger replied, 'I have heard the saying, "If it be one with whom you can walk together, go with him to the subtlest mysteries of the Dao. If it be one with whom you cannot walk together and he do not know the Dao, take care that you do not associate with him, and you will yourself incur no responsibility." Do your utmost, Sir. I must leave you, I must leave you!' With this he shoved off his boat, and went away among the green reeds.

顏淵還車，子路授綏，孔子不顧，待水波定，不聞拏音，而後敢乘。子路旁車而問曰：「由得為役久矣，未嘗見夫子遇人如此其威也。萬乘之主，千乘之君，見夫子未嘗不分庭伉禮，夫子猶有倨敖之容。今漁者杖拏逆立，而夫子曲要磬折，言拜而應，得無太甚乎？門人皆怪夫子矣，漁人何以得此乎？」孔子伏軾而歎曰：「甚矣由之難化也！湛於禮義有間矣，而樸鄙之心至今未去。進！吾語汝。夫遇長不敬，失禮也；見賢不尊，不仁也。彼非至人，不能下人，下人不精，不得其真，故長傷身。惜哉！不仁之於人也，禍莫大焉，而由獨擅之。且道者，萬物之所出也，庶物失之者死，得之者生；為事逆之則敗，順之則成。故道之所在，聖人尊之。今漁父之道，可謂有矣，吾敢不敬乎！」

Yan Yuan (now) returned to the carriage, where Zi-lu handed to him the strap; but Confucius did not look round, (continuing where he was), till the wavelets were stilled, and he did not hear the sound of the pole, when at last he ventured to (return and) take his seat. Zi-lu, by his side in the carriage, asked him, saying, 'I have been your servant for a long time, but I have never seen you, Master, treat another with the awe and reverence which you have now shown. I have seen you in the presence of a Lord of ten thousand chariots or a Ruler of a thousand, and they have never received you in a different audience-room, or treated you but with the courtesies due to an equal, while you have still carried yourself with a reserved and haughty air; but to-day this old fisherman has stood erect in front of you with his pole in his hand, while you, bent from your loins in the form of a sounding-stone, would bow twice before you answered him - was not your reverence of him excessive? Your disciples will all think it strange in you, Master. Why did the old fisherman receive such homage from you?' Confucius leant forward on the cross-bar of the carriage, heaved a sigh, and said, 'Difficult indeed is it to change you, 0 You! You have been trained in propriety and righteousness for long, and yet your servile and mean heart has not been taken front you. Come nearer, that I may speak fully to you. If you meet one older than yourself, and do not show him respect, you fail in propriety. If you see a man of superior wisdom and goodness, and do not honour him, you want the great characteristic of humanity. If that (fisherman) did not possess it in the highest degree, how could he make others submit to him? And if their submission to him be not sincere, they do not attain to the truth (of their nature), and inflict a lasting injury on their persons. Alas! there is no greater calamity to man than the want of this characteristic; and you, 0 You, you alone, would take such want on yourself. Moreover, the Dao is the course by which all things should proceed. For things to fail in this is death; to observe it, is life. To oppose it in practice is ruin; to conform it, is success. Therefore wherever the sagely man finds the Dao, he honours it. And that old fisherman to-day might be said to possess it - dared I presume not to show him reverence?'

列御寇之齊，中道而反，遇伯昏瞀人。伯昏瞀人曰：「奚方而反？」曰：「吾驚焉。」曰：「惡乎驚？」曰：「吾嘗食於十漿，而五漿先饋。」伯昏瞀人曰：「若是，則汝何為驚已？」曰：「夫內誠不解，形諜成光，以外鎮人心，使人輕乎貴老，而齏其所患。夫漿特為食羹之貨，多餘之贏，其為利也薄，其為權也輕，而猶若是，而況於萬乘之主乎！身勞於國而知盡於事，彼將任我以事而效我以功，吾是以驚。」伯昏瞀人曰：「善哉觀乎！汝處已，人將保汝矣。」

Lie Yu-kou had started to go to Qi, but came back when he was half-way to it. He met Bo-hun Wu-ren, who said, 'Why have you come back?' His reply was, 'I was frightened.' 'What frightened you?' 'I went into ten soup-shops to get a meal, and in five of them the soup was set before me before (I had paid for it).' 'But what was there in that to frighten you?' (Liezi) said, 'Though the inward and true purpose be not set forth, the body like a spy gives some bright display of it. And this outward demonstration overawes men's minds, and makes men on light grounds treat one as noble or as aged, from which evil to him will be produced. Now vendors of soup supply their commodity simply as a matter of business, and however much they may dispose of, their profit is but little, and their power is but slight; and yet they treated me as I have said: how much more would the lord of ten thousand chariots do so! His body burdened with (the cares of his) kingdom, and his knowledge overtasked by its affairs, he would entrust those affairs to me, and exact from me the successful conduct (of its government). It was this which frightened me.' Po-hwan W?-zan replied, 'Admirable perspicacity! But if you carry yourself as you do, men will flock to you for protection.'

無幾何而往，則戶外之屨滿矣。伯昏瞀人北面而立，敦杖蹙之乎頤，立有間，不言而出。賓者以告列子，列子提屨，跣而走，暨乎門，曰：「先生既來，曾不發藥乎？」曰：「已矣！吾固告汝曰『人將保汝』，果保汝矣。非汝能使人保汝，而汝不能使人無保汝也，而焉用之感豫出異也！必且有感，搖而本才，又無謂也。與汝遊者，又莫汝告也，彼所小言，盡人毒也。莫覺莫悟，何相孰也！巧者勞而知者憂，無能者無所求，飽食而敖遊，汎若不繫之舟，虛而敖遊者也。」

Not long after, Bo-hun Wu-ren went (to visit Liezi), and found the space outside his door full of shoes. There he stood with his face to the north, holding his staff upright, and leaning his chin on it till the skin was wrinkled. After standing so for some time, and without saying a word, he was going away, when the door-keeper went in, and told Liezi. The latter (immediately) took up his shoes, and ran barefoot after the visitor. When he overtook him at the (outer) gate, he said, 'Since you, Sir, have come, are you going away without giving me some medicine?' The other replied, 'It is of no use. I did tell you that men would flock to you, and they do indeed do so. It is not that you can cause men to flock to you, but you cannot keep them from not so coming - of what use is (all my warning)? What influences them and makes them glad is the display of your extraordinary (qualities); but you must also be influenced in your turn, and your proper nature be shaken, and no warning can be addressed to you. Those who associate with you do not admonish you of this. The small words which they speak are poison to a man. You perceive it not; you understand it not - how can you separate yourself from them? The clever toil on, and the wise are sad. Those who are without ability seek for nothing. They eat to the full, and wander idly about. They drift like a vessel loosed from its moorings, and aimlessly wander about.'

鄭人緩也呻吟裘氏之地。祗三年而緩為儒，潤河九里，澤及三族，使其弟墨。儒、墨相與辯，其父助翟。十年而緩自殺。其父夢之，曰：「使而子為墨者，予也。闔胡嘗視其良，既為秋柏之實矣！」夫造物者之報人也，不報其人而報其人之天。彼故使彼。夫人以己為有以異於人，以賤其親，齊人之井，飲者相捽也。故曰：「今之世皆緩也。」自是，有德者以不知也，而況有道者乎！古者謂之遁天之刑。

A man of Zheng, called Huan, learned his books in the neighbourhood of Qiu-shi, and in no longer time than three years became a Confucian scholar, benefiting the three classes of his kindred as the He extends its enriching influence for nine li. He made his younger brother study (the principles of) Mo, and then they two - the scholar and the Mohist - disputed together (about their respective systems), and the father took the side of the younger. After ten years Huan killed himself. (By and by) he appeared to his father in a dream, saying, 'It was I who made your son become a Mohist; why did you not recognise that good service? I am become (but) the fruit of a cypress in autumn.' But the Creator, in apportioning the awards of men, does not recompense them for their own doings, but recompenses them for the (use of the) Heavenly in them. It was thus that Huan's brother was led to learn Mohism. When this Huan thought that it was he who had made his brother different from what he would have been, and proceeded to despise his father, he was like the people of Qi, who, while they drank from a well, tried to keep one another from it. Hence it is said, 'Now-a-days all men are Huans.' From this we perceive that those who possess the characteristics (of the Dao) consider that they do not know them; how much more is it so with those who possess the Dao itself! The ancients called such (as Huan) 'men who had escaped the punishment of Heaven.'

聖人安其所安，不安其所不安；眾人安其所不安，不安其所安。

The sagely man rests in what is his proper rest; he does not rest in what is not so - the multitude of men rest in what is not their proper rest; they do not rest in their proper rest.

莊子曰：「知道易，勿言難。知而不言，所以之天也；知而言之，所以之人也。古之人，天而不人。」

Zhuangzi said, 'To know the Dao is easy; not to say (that you know it) is difficult. To know it and not to speak of it is the way to attain to the Heavenly; to know and to speak of it, is the way to show the Human. The ancients pursued the Heavenly (belonging to them), and not the Human.'

朱泙漫學屠龍於支離益，單千金之家，三年技成，而無所用其巧。

Zhu Ping-man learned how to slaughter the dragon from Zhi-li Yi, expending (in doing so) all his wealth of a thousand ounces of silver. In three years he became perfect in the art, but he never exercised his skill.

聖人以必不必，故無兵；眾人以不必必之，故多兵。順於兵，故行有求。兵，恃之則亡。

The sage looks on what is deemed necessary as unnecessary, and therefore is not at war (in himself). The mass of men deem what is unnecessary to be necessary, and therefore they are often at war (in themselves). Therefore those who pursue this method of (internal) war, resort to it in whatever they seek for. But reliance on such war leads to ruin.

小夫之知，不離苞苴竿牘，敝精神乎蹇淺，而欲兼濟道物，太一形虛。若是者，迷惑於宇宙，形累不知太初。彼至人者，歸精神乎無始，而甘冥乎無何有之鄉。水流乎無形，發泄乎太清。悲哉乎！汝為知在毫毛，而不知大寧！

The wisdom of the small man does not go beyond (the minutiae of) making presents and writing memoranda, wearying his spirits out in what is trivial and mean. But at the same time he wishes to aid in guiding to (the secret of) the Dao and of (all) things in the incorporeity of the Grand Unity. In this way he goes all astray in regard to (the mysteries of) space and time. The fetters of embodied matter keep him from the knowledge of the Grand Beginning. (On the other hand), the perfect man directs the energy of his spirit to what was before the Beginning, and finds pleasure in the mysteriousness belonging to the region of nothingness. He is like the water which flows on without the obstruction of matter, and expands into the Grand Purity. Alas for what you do, (0 men)! You occupy yourselves with things trivial as a hair, and remain ignorant of the Grand Rest!

宋人有曹商者，為宋王使秦。其往也，得車數乘；王說之，益車百乘。反於宋，見莊子曰：「夫處窮閭阨巷，困窘織屨，槁項黃馘者，商之所短也；一悟萬乘之主，而從車百乘者，商之所長也。」莊子曰：「秦王有病召醫，破癰潰痤者得車一乘，舐痔者得車五乘，所治愈下，得車愈多。子豈治其痔邪？何得車之多也？子行矣！」

There was a man of Song, called Cao Shang, who was sent by the king of Song on a mission to Qin. On setting out, he had several carriages with him; and the king (of Qin) was so pleased with him that he gave him another hundred. When he returned to Song, he saw Zhuangzi, and said to him, 'To live in a narrow lane of a poor mean hamlet, wearing sandals amid distress of poverty, with a weazen neck and yellow face - that is what I should find it difficult to do. But as soon as I come to an understanding with the Lord of a myriad carriages, to find myself with a retinue of a hundred carriages - that is wherein I excel.' Zhuangzi replied, 'When the king of Qin is ill, the doctor whom he calls to open an ulcer or squeeze a boil receives a carriage; and he who licks his piles receives five. The lower the service, the more are the carriages given. Did you, Sir, lick his piles? How else should you have got so many carriages? Begone!'