The reply was, "Yâo says to me, 'You must yourself labor at benevolence and righteousness, and be able to tell clearly which is right and which wrong in conflicting statements.'"
Hsü Yû rejoined, "Why then have you come to me? Since Yâo has put on you the brand of his benevolence and righteousness, and cut off your nose with his right and wrong, how will you be able to wander in the way of aimless enjoyment, of unregulated contemplation, and the ever-changing forms of dispute?"
Î-r Tsze said, "That may be; but I should like to skirt along its hedges."
"But," said the other, "it cannot be. Eyes without pupils can see nothing of the beauty of the eyebrows, eyes, and other features; the blind have nothing to do with the green, yellow, and variegated colors of the sacrificial robes."
Î-r Tsze rejoined, "Yet, when Wû-kwang lost his beauty, Kü-liang his strength, and Hwang-Tì his wisdom, they all recovered them under the moulding of your system—how do you know that the Maker will not obliterate the marks of my branding, and supply my dismemberment, so that, again perfect in my form, I may follow you as my teacher?"
Hsü Yû said, "Ah! That cannot yet be known. I will tell you the rudiments. 0 my Master! 0 my Master! He gives to all things their blended qualities, and does not count it any righteousness; His favors reach to all generations, and He does not count it any benevolence; He is more ancient than the highest antiquity, and does not count Himself old; He overspreads heaven and supports the earth; He carves and fashions all bodily forms, and does not consider it any act of skill;- this is He in whom I find my enjoyment."
IMAGE: M.C. Escher, Eye (1946)
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