The Complete Works of Zhuangzi

«The Universal Harmony3 records various wonders, and it says: “When the Peng journeys to the southern darkness, the waters are roiled for three thousand li. He beats the whirlwind and rises ninety thousand li, setting off on the sixth-month gale.”» — el texto acredita el vuelo del Peng citando a *The Universal Harmony*, que le da tres mil li de aguas revueltas y noventa mil de altura; el *3* es la llamada a la nota de Watson.

«If water is not piled up deep enough, it won’t have the strength to bear up a big boat. Pour a cup of water into a hollow in the floor, and bits of trash will sail on it like boats. But set the cup there, and it will stick fast, for the water is too shallow and the boat too large.» — el capítulo primero razona por acumulación: sin hondura bastante el agua no sostiene el barco, y la taza vertida en un hueco del piso solo mueve basuras.

«If wind is not piled up deep enough, it won’t have the strength to bear up great wings. Therefore when the Peng rises ninety thousand li, he must have the wind under him like that. Only then can he mount on the back of the wind, shoulder the blue sky, and nothing can hinder or block him. Only then can he set his eyes to the south.» — el mismo razonamiento aplicado al viento: solo con noventa mil li de aire debajo puede el Peng montarse en el viento y poner rumbo al sur.

«The cicada and the little dove laugh at this, saying, “When we make an effort and fly up, we can get as far as the elm or the sapanwood tree, but sometimes we don’t make it and just fall down on the ground. Now how is anyone going to go ninety thousand li to the south!”» — la cigarra y la tórtola, en el capítulo primero, se ríen del vuelo del Peng midiéndolo con su propio alcance, que llega al olmo y a veces ni eso.

«What do these two creatures understand? Little understanding cannot come up to great understanding; the short-lived cannot come up to the long-lived.» — el texto saca la regla de la burla de los dos bichos: el entendimiento pequeño no alcanza al grande ni el de vida corta al de vida larga.

«How do I know this is so? The morning mushroom knows nothing of twilight and dawn; the summer cicada knows nothing of spring and autumn. They are the short-lived.» — el texto prueba la regla por los plazos: el hongo de la mañana no sabe de crepúsculo ni de alba, ni la cigarra de estío de primavera ni de otoño.

«South of Chu there is a caterpillar that counts five hundred years as one spring and five hundred years as one autumn. Long, long ago there was a great rose of Sharon that counted eight thousand years as one spring and eight thousand years as one autumn. They are the long-lived.» — el reverso del ejemplo: la oruga del sur de Chu y la rosa de Sarón, que cuentan quinientos y ocho mil años por estación.

«Yet Pengzu4 alone is famous today for having lived a long time, and everybody tries to ape him. Isn’t it pitiful!» — el texto remata con Pengzu, famoso por longevo y remedado por todos, y llama lastimoso el remedo; el *4* es la llamada a la nota de Watson.

«Therefore a man who has wisdom enough to fill one office effectively, good conduct enough to impress one community, virtue enough to please one ruler, or talent enough to be called into service in one state, has the same kind of self-pride as these little creatures.» — el texto equipara al hombre de cargo, buena conducta, virtud o talento bastantes para un oficio, una comunidad, un señor o un Estado con la codorniz y la cigarra que se ríen del Peng.

«In the northern darkness there is a fish and his name is Kun.1 The Kun is so huge I don’t know how many thousand li he measures. He changes and becomes a bird whose name is Peng. The back of the Peng measures I don’t know how many thousand li across, and when he rises up and flies off, his wings are like clouds all over the sky.» — abre *Free and Easy Wandering* con la metamorfosis del pez Kun en el ave Peng, las dos de tamaño incalculable; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Among the questions of Tang to Qi we find the same thing.5 In the bald and barren north, there is a dark sea, the Lake of Heaven. In it is a fish that is several thousand li across, and no one knows how long. His name is Kun. There is also a bird there, named Peng, with a back like Mount Tai and wings like clouds filling the sky. He beats the whirlwind, leaps into the air, and rises up ninety thousand li, cutting through the clouds and mist, shouldering the blue sky, and then he turns his eyes south and prepares to journey to the southern darkness.» — el capítulo primero repite la escena del Kun y el Peng como cosa hallada en las preguntas de Tang a Qi, con variantes: el mar oscuro del norte, el lomo como el monte Tai; la duplicación deliberada es del propio texto; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The little quail laughs at him, saying, “Where does he think he’s going? I give a great leap and fly up, but I never get more than ten or twelve yards before I come down fluttering among the weeds and brambles. And that’s the best kind of flying, anyway! Where does he think he’s going?” Such is the difference between big and little.» — la codorniz, tercera burladora, mide el vuelo del Peng con sus diez o doce yardas y llama a eso la mejor manera de volar; el texto cierra nombrando la diferencia entre lo grande y lo pequeño.

«Liezi7 could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn’t fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on?» — Liezi cabalga el viento quince días y vuelve, y el texto le pone el límite: se ahorró el caminar pero seguía dependiendo de algo; quien montara la verdad del Cielo y la Tierra y las mudanzas de los seis alientos no dependería de nada.

«Therefore I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame.» — la fórmula de las tres figuras sin sí mismo, sin mérito y sin fama, que el capítulo primero da por conclusión.

«Song Rongzi6 would certainly burst out laughing at such a man. The whole world could praise Song Rongzi and it wouldn’t make him exert himself; the whole world could condemn him and it wouldn’t make him mope. He drew a clear line between the internal and the external and recognized the boundaries of» — el texto pone a Song Rongzi por encima de esos hombres, indiferente al elogio y a la condena del mundo entero por haber trazado la línea entre lo interno y lo externo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 33 con el reparo que también a él le pone.

«true glory and disgrace. But that was all. As far as the world went, he didn’t fret and worry, but there was still ground he left» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: al propio Song Rongzi el texto le señala terreno sin remover; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Xu You said, “You govern the world and the world is already well governed. Now if I take your place, will I be doing it for a name? But name is only the guest of reality—will I be doing it so I can play the part of a guest? When the tailorbird builds her nest in the deep wood, she uses no more than one branch. When the mole drinks at the river, he takes no more than a bellyful. Go home and forget the matter, my lord. I have no use for the rulership of the world!» — Xu You rechaza el imperio: el nombre es solo huésped de la realidad, el pájaro sastre usa una rama y el topo bebe lo que le cabe en la panza.

«Though the cook may not run his kitchen properly, the priest and the impersonator of the dead at the sacrifice do not leap over the wine casks and sacrificial stands and go take his place.» — Xu You cierra su negativa con la imagen del cocinero: aunque cocine mal, ni el sacerdote ni el que personifica al muerto saltan sobre las tinajas para ocupar su sitio.

«Yao wanted to cede the empire to Xu You. “When the sun and moon have already come out,” he said, “it’s a waste of light to go on burning the torches, isn’t it? When the seasonal rains are falling, it’s a waste of water to go on irrigating the fields. If you took the throne, the world would be well ordered. I go on occupying it, but all I can see are my failings. I beg to turn over the world to you.”» — Yao ofrece el imperio a Xu You con dos imágenes de lo superfluo, la antorcha encendida a pleno sol y el riego bajo la lluvia de estación, y alega que solo ve sus propias faltas; el capítulo 28 vuelve sobre la misma cesión con otras palabras, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«Jian Wu said to Lian Shu, “I was listening to Jie Yu’s talk—big and nothing to back it up, going on and on without turning around. I was completely dumbfounded at his words—no more end than the Milky Way, wild and wide of the mark, never coming near human affairs!”» — Jian Wu refiere a Lian Shu las palabras de Jie Yu como grandilocuentes y sin respaldo, sin fin como la Vía Láctea y ajenas a los asuntos humanos.

«“You would!” said Lian Shu. “We can’t expect a blind man to appreciate beautiful patterns or a deaf man to listen to bells and drums. And blindness and deafness are not confined to the body alone—the understanding has them, too, as your words just now have shown.» — Lian Shu responde que la ceguera y la sordera no son solo del cuerpo, que también las tiene el entendimiento, y da las palabras de Jian Wu por prueba; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«This man, with this virtue of his, is about to embrace the ten thousand things and roll them into one. Though the age calls for reform, why should he wear himself out over the affairs of the world?» — Lian Shu declara del Hombre Santo que abarca las diez mil cosas y las hace una, y pregunta por qué habría de desgastarse en los asuntos del mundo aunque la época pida reformas.

«There is nothing that can harm this man. Though floodwaters pile up to the sky, he will not drown. Though a great drought melts metal and stone and scorches the earth and hills, he will not be burned.» — Lian Shu declara al Hombre Santo indemne: ni la inundación que sube hasta el cielo lo ahoga ni la sequía que funde el metal y la piedra lo quema.

«From his dust and leavings alone, you could mold a Yao or a Shun! Why should he consent to bother about mere things?» — Lian Shu remata: del polvo y las sobras del Hombre Santo se moldearía un Yao o un Shun, y por eso no tiene por qué ocuparse de meras cosas.

«A man of Song who sold ceremonial hats made a trip to Yue, but the Yue people cut their hair short and tattooed their bodies and had no use for such things.» — la anécdota del vendedor de gorros ceremoniales que viaja a Yue, donde llevan el pelo corto y el cuerpo tatuado y no tienen uso para ellos.

«Yao brought order to the people of the world and directed the government of all within the seas. But he went to see the Four Masters of the faraway Gushe Mountain, [and when he got home] north of the Fen River, he was dazed and had forgotten his kingdom there.» — Yao, que había ordenado el mundo, vuelve aturdido de ver a los Cuatro Maestros del monte Gushe y ha olvidado su reino; los corchetes son añadidura declarada del traductor.

«Mountain, with skin like ice or snow and gentle and shy like a young girl. He doesn’t eat the five grains but sucks the wind, drinks the dew, climbs up on the clouds and mist, rides a flying dragon, and wanders beyond the four seas. By concentrating his spirit, he can protect creatures from sickness and plague and make the harvest plentiful. I thought this all was insane and refused to believe it.”» — Jian Wu describe al Hombre Santo del monte Gushe: piel de nieve, no come los cinco granos sino que sorbe viento y bebe rocío, cabalga un dragón volador y, concentrando su espíritu, libra a las criaturas de plaga y hace abundante la cosecha; y declara no haberlo creído; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana, con la palabra que completa el nombre del monte.

«Huizi10 said to Zhuangzi, “The king of Wei gave me some seeds of a huge gourd. I planted them, and when they grew up, the fruit was big enough to hold five piculs. I tried using it for a water container, but it was so heavy I couldn’t lift it. I split it in half to make dippers, but they were so large and unwieldy that I couldn’t dip them into anything. It’s not that the gourds weren’t fantastically big—but I decided they were of no use, and so I smashed them to pieces.”» — Huizi cuenta a Zhuangzi que rompió una calabaza gigante por inútil: demasiado pesada de llenar y demasiado ancha de partir en cazos.

«Now you had a gourd big enough to hold five piculs. Why didn’t you think of making it into a great tub so you could go floating around the rivers and lakes, instead of worrying because it was too big and unwieldy to dip into things! Obviously you still have a lot of underbrush in your head!”» — Zhuangzi aplica la moraleja a la calabaza: bastaba hacerla tina y echarse a flotar por ríos y lagos en vez de lamentar que no sirviera de cazo.

«Huizi said to Zhuangzi, “I have a big tree called a shu. Its trunk is too gnarled and bumpy to apply a measuring line to, its branches too bent and twisty to match up to a compass or square. You could stand it by the road, and no carpenter would look at it twice. Your words, too, are big and useless, and so everyone alike spurns them!”» — Huizi vuelve con el árbol shu, nudoso y torcido, que ningún carpintero mira, y equipara a él las palabras de Zhuangzi: grandes e inútiles.

«Zhuangzi said, “You certainly are dense when it comes to using big things! In Song there was a man who was skilled at making a salve to prevent chapped hands, and generation after» — Zhuangzi reprocha a Huizi su torpeza con las cosas grandes y arranca la historia del ungüento de Song contra las manos agrietadas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 35.

«generation his family made a living by bleaching silk in water. A traveler heard about the salve and offered to buy the prescription for a hundred measures of gold. The man called everyone to a family council. ‘For generations we’ve been bleaching silk, and we’ve never made more than a few measures of gold,’ he said. ‘Now, if we sell our secret, we can make a hundred measures in one morning. Let’s let him have it!’» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el forastero compra la receta por cien medidas de oro y el consejo de familia acepta, porque blanqueando seda nunca habían juntado tanto; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The traveler got the salve and introduced it to the king of Wu, who was having trouble with the state of Yue. The king put the man in charge of his troops, and that winter they fought a naval battle with the men of Yue and gave them a bad beating.11 A portion of the conquered territory was awarded to the man as a fief. The salve had the power to prevent chapped hands in either case; but one man used it to get a fief, while the other one never got beyond silk bleaching— because they used it in different ways.» — el desenlace de la historia del ungüento: el mismo remedio contra las manos agrietadas dio un feudo a quien lo llevó a la guerra naval del rey de Wu y dejó a la familia blanqueando seda, porque le dieron usos distintos; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Then again there’s the yak, big as a cloud covering the sky. It certainly knows how to be big, though it doesn’t know how to catch rats.» — el yak, del tamaño de una nube, sabe ser grande y no sabe cazar ratones: la utilidad medida por una sola vara.

«Now you have this big tree, and you’re distressed because it’s useless. Why don’t you plant it in Not-Even-Anything Village or the field of Broad-and-Boundless, relax and do nothing by its side, or lie down for a free and easy sleep under it? Axes will never shorten its life, nothing can ever harm it. If there’s no use for it, how can it come to grief or pain?”» — Zhuangzi cierra el capítulo primero: el árbol inútil plantado en la aldea de Nada-en-Absoluto, donde nadie lo tala, es justamente el que no llega a daño ni a pena.

«Zhuangzi said, “Maybe you’ve never seen a wildcat or a weasel. It crouches down and hides, watching for something to come along. It leaps and races east and west, not hesitating to go» — Zhuangzi contrapone al árbol inútil la comadreja hábil, que salta y corre sin detenerse; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk, dentro de la plana 35, y sigue con la caída en la trampa.

«high or low—until it falls into the trap and dies in the net.» — el remate al otro lado del corte de chunk: la habilidad de la comadreja acaba en la trampa y en la red.

«Ziqi of South Wall sat leaning on his armrest, staring up at the sky and breathing—vacant and far away, as though he’d lost his companion.1 Yan Cheng Ziyou, who was standing by his side in attendance, said, “What is this? Can you really make the body like a withered tree and the mind like dead ashes? The man leaning on the armrest now is not the one who leaned on it before!”» — abre *Discussion on Making All Things Equal* con Ziqi de la Muralla del Sur ausente de sí, y Yan Cheng Ziyou preguntándole si de veras se puede hacer el cuerpo como árbol seco y la mente como ceniza apagada; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Ziqi said, “You do well to ask the question, Yan. Now I have lost myself. Do you understand that? You hear the piping of men, but you haven’t heard the piping of earth. Or if you’ve heard the piping of earth, you haven’t heard the piping of Heaven!”» — Ziqi declara haberse perdido a sí mismo y escalona tres flautas: la de los hombres, la de la tierra y la del Cielo.

«Ziqi said, “Blowing on the ten thousand things in a different way, so that each can be itself—all take what they want for themselves, but who does the sounding?”» — Ziqi define la flauta del Cielo por una pregunta que no responde: soplar sobre las diez mil cosas de modo que cada una sea ella misma, y quién es el que suena.

«Great understanding is broad and unhurried; little understanding is cramped and busy. Great words are clear and limpid;3 little words are shrill and quarrelsome.» — el capítulo segundo opone el entendimiento grande al pequeño y las palabras claras a las chillonas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Joy, anger, grief, delight, worry, regret, fickleness, inflexibility, modesty, willfulness, candor, insolence—music from empty holes, mushrooms springing up in dampness, day and night replacing each other before us, and no one knows where they sprout from.» — el texto enumera doce afecciones y las compara con música de agujeros vacíos y con hongos que brotan de la humedad, sin saberse de dónde salen.

«Let it be! Let it be! [It is enough that] morning and evening we have them, and they are the means by which we live. Without them, we would not exist; without us, they would have nothing to take hold of.» — el texto consigna la dependencia mutua entre las afecciones y quien las tiene: sin ellas no existiríamos y sin nosotros no tendrían de qué asirse; los corchetes son añadidura declarada del traductor.

«But I do not know what makes them the way they are. It would seem as though they have some True Master, and yet I find no trace of him. He can act —that is certain. Yet I cannot see his form. He has identity but no form.» — el texto plantea el Verdadero Amo del que no halla rastro y le adjudica acción e identidad sin forma.

«The hundred joints, the nine openings, the six organs, all come together and exist here [as my body]. But which part should I feel closest to? I should delight in all parts, you say? But there must be one I ought to favor more. If not, are they all of them mere servants? But if they all are servants, then how can they keep order among themselves? Or do they take turns being lord and servant?» — el texto interroga el propio cuerpo: cien coyunturas, nueve aberturas y seis órganos, sin saber a cuál favorecer ni cómo se ordenan entre sí; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«It would seem as though there must be some True Lord among them. But whether or not I succeed in discovering his identity, it neither adds to nor detracts from his Truth.» — el texto declara que dar o no con la identidad del Verdadero Señor no añade ni quita nada a su Verdad.

«Ziqi said, “The Great Clod belches out breath, and its name is wind. So long as it doesn’t come forth, nothing happens. But when it does, then ten thousand hollows begin crying wildly. Can’t you hear them, long drawn out? In the mountain forests that lash and sway, there are huge trees a hundred spans around with hollows and openings like noses, like mouths, like ears, like jugs, like cups, like mortars, like rifts, like ruts.» — Ziqi describe la flauta de la tierra: el Gran Terrón eructa aliento, que se llama viento, y diez mil huecos se ponen a gritar por bocas, narices, orejas, jarras, morteros y surcos de los árboles enormes.

«They roar like waves, whistle like arrows, screech, gasp, cry, wail, moan, and howl, those in the lead calling out yeee!, those behind calling out yuuu! In a gentle breeze they answer faintly, but in a full gale the chorus is gigantic. And when the fierce wind has passed on, then all the hollows are empty again.» — la continuación del pasaje de la flauta de la tierra: el coro de los huecos crece con el vendaval y, pasado este, todos quedan vacíos otra vez.

«In sleep, men’s spirits go visiting; in waking hours, their bodies hustle. With everything they meet they become entangled. Day after day they use their minds in strife, sometimes grandiose, sometimes sly, sometimes petty. Their little fears are mean and trembly; their great fears are stunned and overwhelming. They bound off like an arrow or a crossbow pellet, certain that they are the arbiters of right and wrong. They cling to their position as though they had sworn before the gods, sure that they are holding on to victory.» — el texto describe la trabazón del hombre con las cosas: pelea con la mente día tras día y se aferra a su posición como si lo hubiera jurado ante los dioses.

«They fade like fall and winter—such is the way they dwindle day by day. They drown in what they do—you cannot make them turn back. They grow dark, as though sealed with seals—such are the excesses of their old age. And when their minds draw near to death, nothing can restore them to the light.» — el texto lleva esa trabazón hasta el final: el hombre se apaga como el otoño y el invierno, se sella como con sellos, y cuando su mente se acerca a la muerte nada la devuelve a la luz.

«Is he not pathetic? Sweating and laboring to the end of his days and never seeing his accomplishment, utterly exhausting himself and never knowing where to look for rest—can you help pitying him? I’m not dead yet! he says, but what good is that? His body decays, his mind follows it—can you deny that this is a great sorrow? Man’s life has always been a muddle like this. How could I be the only muddled one, and other men not muddled?» — el texto llama enredo la vida entera del hombre y se incluye en el enredo en vez de exceptuarse; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«If a man follows the mind given him and makes it his teacher, then who can be without a teacher? Why must you comprehend the process of change and form your mind on that basis before you can have a teacher? Even an idiot has his teacher.» — el texto declara que quien toma por maestro la mente que le fue dada no carece de maestro, y que hasta el necio tiene el suyo.

«But to fail to abide by this mind and still insist on your rights and wrongs— this is like saying that you set off for Yue today and got there yesterday.» — el texto compara insistir en los propios aciertos y errores sin atenerse a esa mente con partir hoy a Yue y haber llegado ayer.

«This is to claim that what doesn’t exist exists. If you claim that what doesn’t exist exists, then even the holy sage Yu couldn’t understand you, much less a person like me!» — el texto lleva la comparación al absurdo: afirmar que lo inexistente existe, cosa que ni el santo Yu entendería.

«People suppose that words are different from the peeps of baby birds, but is there any difference, or isn’t there?» — el texto compara las palabras con los pipíos de los polluelos y deja la diferencia en pregunta.

«When the Way relies on little accomplishments and words rely on vain show, then we have the rights and wrongs of the Confucians and the Mohists. What one calls right, the other calls wrong; what one calls wrong, the other calls right.» — el texto sitúa el origen del pleito entre confucianos y mohístas en que el Camino se apoye en logros menores y las palabras en vanas apariencias, y describe la simetría del pleito.

«But if we want to right their wrongs and wrong their rights, then the best thing to use is clarity.» — el texto propone la claridad como el mejor recurso frente a ese pleito.

«Everything has its “that,” everything has its “this.” From the point of view of “that,” you cannot see it; but through understanding, you can know it. So I say, “that” comes out of “this,” and “this” depends on “that”—which is to say that “this” and “that” give birth to each other.» — el texto enuncia la correlación de *esto* y *aquello*: cada uno sale del otro y depende del otro, y se engendran mutuamente.

«But where there is birth, there must be death; where there is death, there must be birth. Where there is acceptability, there must be unacceptability; where there is unacceptability, there must be acceptability. Where there is recognition of right, there must be recognition of wrong; where there is recognition of wrong, there must be recognition of right.» — el texto extiende la correlación a nacimiento y muerte, aceptable e inaceptable, acierto y error.

«Once a man receives this fixed bodily form, he holds on to it, waiting for the end. Sometimes clashing with things, sometimes bending before them, he runs his course like a galloping steed,» — el texto describe la carrera del hombre en su forma corporal fija, chocando con las cosas o doblándose ante ellas como corcel a galope; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 39.

«Words are not just wind. Words have something to say. But if what they have to say is not fixed, then do they really say something? Or do they say nothing?» — el texto pone en duda la palabra misma: dice algo, pero si lo que dice no es fijo, cabe preguntar si dice algo o nada.

«What does the Way rely on,5 that we have true and false? What do words rely on, that we have right and wrong? How can the Way go away and not exist? How can words exist and not be acceptable?» — el texto pregunta de qué se apoya el Camino para que haya verdad y falsedad, y de qué las palabras para que haya acierto y error.

«Therefore the sage does not proceed in such a way but illuminates all in the light of Heaven.6 He, too, recognizes a “this” but a “this” that is also “that,” a “that” that is also “this.”» — el texto describe el proceder del sabio: ilumina todo a la luz del Cielo y reconoce un *esto* que es también *aquello*; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«A state in which “this” and “that” no longer find their opposites is called the hinge of the Way. When the hinge is fitted into the socket, it can respond endlessly. Its right, then, is a single endlessness, and its wrong, too, is a single endlessness.» — el texto nombra el gozne del Camino: el estado en que *esto* y *aquello* dejan de hallar su contrario, y encajado en su cuenco responde sin fin.

«To use an attribute to show that attributes are not attributes is not as good as using a nonattribute to show that attributes are not attributes. To use a horse to show that a horse is not a horse is not as good as using a non-horse to show that a horse is not a horse;7 Heaven and earth are one attribute; the ten thousand things are one horse.» — el texto vuelve del revés el argumento de los lógicos sobre el caballo y el atributo, y remata declarando el cielo y la tierra un atributo y las diez mil cosas un caballo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Only the man of far-reaching vision knows how to make them into one. So he has no use [for categories] but relegates all to the constant. The constant is the useful; the useful is the passable; the passable is the successful; and with success, all is accomplished. He relies on this alone, relies on it and does not know he is doing so. This is called the Way.» — el texto adjudica esa unificación al hombre de visión lejana, que renuncia a las categorías y se atiene a lo constante sin saber que lo hace; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«But to wear out your brain trying to make things into one without realizing that they are all the same—this is called “three in the morning.”» — el texto nombra *tres por la mañana* el desgaste de intentar unificar las cosas sin advertir que ya son lo mismo.

«A road is made by people walking on it; things are so because they are called so. What makes them so? Making them so makes them so. What makes them not so? Making them not so makes them not so. Things all must have that which is so; things all must have that which is acceptable. There is nothing that is not so, nothing that is not acceptable.» — el texto enuncia la fórmula del camino hecho al andar, cierra en círculo la pregunta por lo que hace así a las cosas y concluye que nada hay que no sea así ni nada que no sea aceptable; el capítulo 27 repite la misma fórmula con otra entrada, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«For this reason, whether you point to a little stalk or a great pillar, a leper or the beautiful Xishi, things ribald and shady, or things grotesque and strange, the Way makes them all into one. Their dividedness is their completeness; their completeness is their impairment. No thing is either complete or impaired, but all are made into one again.» — el texto empareja el tallo y el pilar, el leproso y la bella Xishi, lo obsceno y lo grotesco, declara que el Camino los hace todos uno y enuncia la reversibilidad de la división y la entereza; el capítulo 25 repite esa segunda mitad y una nota de Watson la cita de vuelta, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«There was no change in the reality behind the words, and yet the monkeys responded with joy and anger. Let them, if they want to. So the sage harmonizes with both right and wrong and rests in Heaven the Equalizer. This is called walking two roads.» — el texto saca la moraleja: nada cambió en la realidad tras las palabras, y por eso el sabio armoniza con el acierto y el error y descansa en el Cielo Igualador, que es andar los dos caminos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Because right and wrong appeared, the Way was injured, and because the Way was injured, love became complete. But do such things as completion and injury really exist, or do they not?» — el texto adjudica al surgimiento del acierto y el error la herida del Camino, y a esa herida el completarse del amor, y enseguida pone en duda que completarse y herirse existan.

«There is such a thing as completion and injury—Mr. Zhao playing the lute is an example. There is such a thing as no completion and no injury—Mr. Zhao not playing the lute is an example.» — el texto ilustra completarse y herirse con el señor Zhao tocando el laúd, y su contrario con el señor Zhao sin tocarlo.

«Zhao Wen played the lute; Music Master Kuang waved his baton; Huizi leaned on his desk. The knowledge of these three was close to perfection. All were masters, and therefore their names have been handed down to later ages.» — el texto nombra tres maestros, Zhao Wen con el laúd, el Maestro de Música Kuang con la batuta y Huizi apoyado en su mesa, y dice que por eso sus nombres llegaron a las edades posteriores.

«What do I mean by “three in the morning”? When the monkey trainer was handing out acorns, he said, “You get» — el texto cuenta la historia del cuidador de monos y las bellotas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el reparto sigue en la 41.

«three in the morning and four at night.” This made all the monkeys furious. “Well, then,” he said, “you get four in the morning and three at night.” The monkeys all were delighted.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: invertido el orden del reparto, los monos pasan de la furia al contento; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The understanding of the men of ancient times went a long way. How far did it go? To the point where some of them believed that things have never existed—so far, to the end, where nothing can be added. Those at the next stage thought that things exist but recognized no boundaries among them. Those at the next stage thought there were boundaries but recognized no right and wrong.» — el texto escalona tres grados del entendimiento antiguo: los que tenían las cosas por nunca existidas, los que no les reconocían fronteras y los que no les reconocían acierto ni error; el capítulo 23 abre el mismo pasaje palabra por palabra y a partir del tercer grado se va por otro camino, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«Only in their likes were they different from him [the true sage]. What they liked, they tried to make clear. What he is not clear about, they tried to make clear, and so they ended in the foolishness of “hard” and» — el texto pone el límite a los tres maestros: quisieron hacer claro lo que el sabio verdadero no tiene por claro, y así acabaron en la necedad de *duro* y *blanco*; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor y el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«The torch of chaos and doubt—this is what the sage steers by.11 So he does not use things but relegates all to the constant. This is what it means to use clarity.» — el texto nombra la antorcha del caos y la duda como aquello por lo que el sabio se guía, y da eso por usar la claridad; el tramo arranca en la plana 41; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Now I am going to make a statement here. I don’t know whether or not it fits into the category of other people’s statements. But whether it fits into their category or whether it doesn’t, it obviously fits into some category. So in that respect, it is no different from» — el texto se aplica a sí mismo la sospecha: quien va a hacer una afirmación no sabe si cae o no en la categoría de las ajenas, y en ese respecto no difiere de ellas; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«There is a beginning. There is a not yet beginning to be a beginning. There is a not yet beginning to be a not yet beginning to be a beginning. There is being. There is nonbeing. There is a not yet beginning to be nonbeing. There is a not yet beginning to be a not yet beginning to be nonbeing. Suddenly there is being and nonbeing. But between this being and nonbeing, I don’t really know which is being and which is nonbeing.» — el texto retrocede por escalones desde el comienzo y desde el no ser, y acaba declarando que no sabe cuál de los dos es cuál; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Now I have just said something. But I don’t know whether what I have said has really said something or whether it hasn’t said something.» — el texto vuelve la sospecha sobre lo que acaba de decir.

«There is nothing in the world bigger than the tip of an autumn hair, and Mount Tai is little. No one has lived longer than a dead child, and Pengzu died young.12 Heaven and earth were born at the same time I was, and the ten thousand things are one with me.» — el texto invierte las medidas: nada mayor que la punta de un pelo de otoño y el monte Tai pequeño, nadie más longevo que un niño muerto y Pengzu muerto joven, y remata haciendo el cielo, la tierra y las diez mil cosas una sola cosa con quien habla; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«We have already become one, so how can I say anything? But I have just said that we are one, so how can I not be saying something? The one and what I said about it make two, and two and the original one make three. If we go on this way, then even the cleverest mathematician, much less an ordinary man, can’t tell where we’ll end. If by moving from nonbeing to being, we get to three, how far will we get if we move from being to being? Better not to move but to let things be!» — el texto se pone la objeción a sí mismo: decir que somos uno hace dos, y dos con el uno hacen tres, y de ahí no hay matemático que saque el final; por eso concluye que es mejor no moverse.

«The Way has never known boundaries; speech has no constancy. But because of [the recognition of a] “this,” there came to be boundaries. Let me tell you what the boundaries are. There is left, there is right, there are theories, there are debates,13 there are divisions, there are discriminations, there are emulations, and there are contentions. These are called the Eight Virtues.» — el texto declara que el Camino nunca tuvo fronteras y que el habla no tiene constancia, y que las fronteras vinieron del reconocer un *esto*; enseguida las enumera y las llama las Ocho Virtudes; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«As to what is beyond the Six Realms,15 the sage admits it exists but does not theorize. As to what is within the Six Realms, he theorizes but does not debate. In the case of the Spring and Autumn,16 the record of the former kings of past ages, the sage debates but does not discriminate.» — el texto gradúa la reserva del sabio por dominios: de lo que está más allá de los Seis Reinos admite que existe y no teoriza, de lo que está dentro teoriza y no debate, y de la crónica de los reyes antiguos debate y no discrimina.

«So [I say,] those who divide fail to divide; those who discriminate fail to discriminate. What does this mean, you ask? The sage embraces things. Ordinary men discriminate among them and parade their discriminations before others. So I say, those who discriminate fail to see.» — el texto da la paradoja de la división: quien divide no divide y quien discrimina no ve, porque el sabio abraza las cosas mientras el común desfila sus distingos; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«The Great Way is not named; Great Discriminations are not spoken; Great Benevolence is not benevolent; Great Modesty is» — el texto enuncia las cinco grandezas por negación: el Gran Camino sin nombre, las Grandes Distinciones sin habla, la Gran Benevolencia sin benevolencia; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«not humble; Great Daring does not attack. If the Way is made clear, it is not the Way. If discriminations are put into words, they do not suffice. If benevolence has a constant object, it cannot be universal.17 If modesty is fastidious, it cannot be trusted. If daring attacks, it cannot be complete. These five all are round, but they tend toward the square.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: cada grandeza se pierde al ejercerse, y las cinco, siendo redondas, tienden al cuadrado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«So it is that long ago Yao said to Shun, “I want to attack the rulers of Zong, Kuai, and Xuao. Even as I sit on my throne, this thought nags at me. Why is this?” Shun replied, “These three rulers are only little dwellers in the weeds and brush. Why this nagging desire? Long ago, ten suns came out all at once, and the ten thousand things were all lighted up. And how much greater is virtue than these suns!”» — Shun responde a Yao, que no puede quitarse de la cabeza atacar a tres señores menores, con la imagen de los diez soles que salieron a la vez y con la virtud como mayor que ellos.

«Nie Que asked Wang Ni, “Do you know what all things agree in calling right?” “How would I know that?”» — Nie Que pregunta a Wang Ni si sabe en qué concuerdan todas las cosas, y la respuesta es una pregunta que retrocede tres veces.

«However, suppose I try saying something. What way do I have of knowing that if I say I know something I don’t really not know it? Or what way do I have of knowing that if I say I don’t know something I don’t really in fact know it?» — Wang Ni formula la duda de segundo grado: no tiene modo de saber si al decir que sabe no ignora, ni si al decir que ignora no sabe.

«Now let me ask you some questions. If a man sleeps in a damp place, his back aches and he ends up half paralyzed, but is this true of a loach? If he lives in a tree, he is terrified and shakes with fright, but is this true of a monkey? Of these three creatures, then, which one knows the proper place to live?» — Wang Ni pone la prueba del lugar: lo que enferma al hombre no enferma al pez ni al mono, y ninguno de los tres sabe cuál es el sitio propio.

«Men eat the flesh of grass-fed and grain-fed animals, deer eat grass, centipedes find snakes tasty, and hawks and falcons relish mice. Of these four, which knows how food ought to taste?» — Wang Ni pone la prueba del gusto: cuatro criaturas y cuatro alimentos, sin norma que decida.

«Therefore understanding that rests in what it does not understand is the finest. Who can understand discriminations that are not spoken, the Way that is not a way? If he can understand this, he may be called the Reservoir of Heaven. Pour into it and it is never full, dip from it and it never runs dry, and yet it does not know where the supply comes from. This is called the Shaded Light.» — el texto llama lo más fino al entendimiento que reposa en lo que no entiende, y nombra Depósito del Cielo y Luz Velada a quien lo alcanza: se vierte en él sin llenarlo y se saca sin agotarlo, y no sabe de dónde le viene el suministro; una nota de Watson a otro capítulo cita de vuelta esta frase, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«Of these four, which knows how to fix the standard of beauty for the world? The way I see it, the rules of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of right and wrong all are hopelessly snarled and jumbled. How could I know anything about such dis criminations?”» — Wang Ni concluye que las reglas de la benevolencia y la rectitud y las sendas del acierto y el error están enmarañadas sin remedio; la capa de texto parte *discriminations* en dos y la herramienta la devuelve así, con el espacio dentro.

«Nie Que said, “If you don’t know what is profitable or harmful, then does the Perfect Man likewise know nothing of such things?”» — Nie Que reformula la pregunta hacia el Hombre Perfecto.

«Wang Ni replied, “The Perfect Man is godlike. Though the great swamps blaze, they cannot burn him; though the great rivers freeze, they cannot chill him; though swift lightning splits the hills and howling gales shake the sea, they cannot frighten him.» — Wang Ni describe al Hombre Perfecto como divino, a quien no queman los grandes pantanos en llamas, no enfrían los ríos helados ni asustan el rayo ni el vendaval.

«A man like this rides the clouds and mist, straddles the sun and moon, and wanders beyond the four seas. Even life and death have no effect on him, much less the rules of profit and loss!”» — Wang Ni remata: quien es así cabalga nubes y niebla, horcaja el sol y la luna y vaga más allá de los cuatro mares, y ni la vida ni la muerte lo afectan.

«Ju Que said to Zhang Wuzi, “I have heard Confucius say that the sage does not work at anything, does not pursue profit, does not dodge harm, does not enjoy being sought after, does not follow the Way, says nothing yet says something, says something yet says nothing, and wanders beyond the dust and grime. Confucius himself regarded these as wild and flippant words, though I believe they describe the working of the mysterious Way. What do you think of them?”» — Ju Que refiere a Zhang Wuzi unas palabras que atribuye a Confucius sobre el sabio que nada persigue y vaga más allá del polvo, y añade que el propio Confucius las tuvo por desatinadas mientras él las cree descripción del Camino misterioso.

«Monkeys pair with monkeys, deer go out with deer, and fish play around» — Wang Ni abre la prueba de la belleza por los apareamientos de cada especie; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 44 con Maoqiang y la dama Li.

«with fish. Men claim that Maoqiang and Lady Li were beautiful; but if fish saw them, they would dive to the bottom of the stream; if birds saw them, they would fly away; and if deer saw them, they would break into a run.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: Maoqiang y la dama Li, tenidas por hermosas entre los hombres, harían huir al pez, al ave y al ciervo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Zhang Wuzi said, “Even the Yellow Emperor would be confused if he heard such words, so how could you expect Confucius to understand them? What’s more, you’re too hasty in your own appraisal. You see an egg and demand a crowing cock, see a crossbow pellet and demand a roast dove.» — Zhang Wuzi objeta a Ju Que su prisa en juzgar con dos imágenes: pedir un gallo que cante al huevo y una paloma asada a la bala de ballesta.

«I’m going to try speaking some reckless words, and I want you to listen to them recklessly. How will that be? The sage leans on the sun and moon, tucks the universe under his arm, merges himself with things, leaves the confusion and muddle as it is, and looks on slaves as exalted.» — Zhang Wuzi anuncia hablar temerariamente y pide que se le escuche con la misma temeridad; y describe al sabio que se apoya en el sol y la luna, se mete el universo bajo el brazo y deja la confusión como está.

«Ordinary men strain and struggle; the sage is stupid and blockish. He takes part in ten thousand ages and achieves simplicity in oneness. For him, all the ten thousand things are what they are, and thus they enfold one another.» — Zhang Wuzi opone el común que se afana al sabio estúpido y tosco, que toma parte en diez mil edades y alcanza la simplicidad en la unidad.

«“How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten the way back?» — Zhang Wuzi pone en duda el amor a la vida y el odio a la muerte con la imagen de quien salió de casa joven y olvidó el camino de vuelta; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Lady Li was the daughter of the border guard of Ai.21 When she was first taken captive and brought to the state of Jin, she wept until her tears drenched the collar of her robe. But later, when she went to live in the palace of the ruler, shared his couch with him, and ate the delicious meats of his table, she wondered why she had ever wept. How do I know that the dead do not wonder why they ever longed for life?» — Zhang Wuzi cuenta que la dama Li lloró al ser llevada cautiva a Jin y después se preguntó por qué había llorado, y traslada la pregunta a los muertos; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“He who dreams of drinking wine may weep when morning comes; he who dreams of weeping may in the morning go off to hunt. While he is dreaming, he does not know it is a dream, and in his dream, he may even try to interpret a dream. Only after he wakes does he know it was a dream.» — Zhang Wuzi describe el sueño que no se sabe sueño, dentro del cual aún cabe interpretar otro sueño.

«And someday there will be a great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream. Yet the stupid believe they are awake, busily and brightly assuming they understand things, calling this man ruler, that one herdsman—how dense! Confucius and you both are dreaming! And when I say you are dreaming, I am dreaming, too.» — Zhang Wuzi anuncia el gran despertar en que se sabrá que todo esto era un gran sueño, y se incluye a sí mismo en el sueño al decirlo.

«Words like these will be labeled the Supreme Swindle. Yet after ten thousand generations, a great sage may appear who will know their meaning, and it will still be as though he appeared with astonishing speed.» — Zhang Wuzi nombra Supremo Engaño el rótulo que esas palabras recibirán, y aplaza a diez mil generaciones al sabio que las entienda.

«“Suppose you and I have had an argument. If you have beaten me instead of my beating you, then are you necessarily right, and am I necessarily wrong? If I have beaten you instead of your beating me, then am I necessarily right, and are you necessarily wrong? Is one of us right and the other wrong? Are both of us right, or are both of us wrong? If you and I don’t know the answer, then other people are bound to be even more in the dark. Whom shall we get to decide what is right? Shall we get someone who agrees with you to decide? But if he already agrees with you, how can he decide fairly? Shall we get someone who agrees with me? But if he already agrees with me, how can he decide?» — Zhang Wuzi recorre los cuatro árbitros posibles de una disputa y niega que ninguno de ellos pueda decidir.

«“But waiting for one shifting voice [to pass judgment on] another is the same as waiting for none of them.22 Harmonize them all with the Heavenly Equality, leave them to their endless changes, and so live out your years.» — Zhang Wuzi propone armonizarlo todo con la Igualdad Celeste y dejar las cosas a sus mudanzas sin fin; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Shadow said, “Do I have to wait for something before I can be like this? Does what I wait for also have to wait for something before it can be like this? Am I waiting for the scales of a snake or the wings of a cicada? How do I know why it is so? How do I know why it isn’t so?”» — la Sombra responde con una cadena de esperas sin fondo y acaba diciendo que no sabe por qué es así ni por qué no lo es.

«Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up, and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn’t know if he were Zhuang Zhou who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly, there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things.» — el capítulo segundo cierra con el sueño de la mariposa: despierto, Zhuang Zhou no sabe si es él quien soñó ser mariposa o la mariposa que sueña ser él, y el texto lo llama la Transformación de las Cosas.

«argument. Forget the years; forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!”» — el remate del pasaje, ya en la plana siguiente: olvidar los años y los distingos y saltar a lo sin límites para hacer de ello la propia casa; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Penumbra said to Shadow, “A little while ago you were walking, and now you’re standing still; a little while ago you were sitting, and now you’re standing up. Why this lack of independent action?”» — la Penumbra reprocha a la Sombra su falta de acción independiente; el capítulo 27 repite la escena con las mismas dos figuras y otro arranque, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«What do I mean by harmonizing them with the Heavenly Equality? Right is not right; so is not so. If right were really right, it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for» — Zhang Wuzi explica la Igualdad Celeste: si lo recto fuera de veras recto, se distinguiría de lo no recto sin necesidad de argumento; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk, dentro de la plana 46, y sigue con el mandato de olvidar los años y los distingos.

«Your life has a limit, but knowledge has none.1 If you use what is limited to pursue what has no limit, you will be in danger. If you understand this and still strive for knowledge, you will be in danger for certain!» — abre *The Secret of Caring for Life* con la desproporción entre la vida, que tiene límite, y el conocimiento, que no lo tiene; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«If you do good, stay away from fame. If you do evil, stay away from punishments. Follow the middle; go by what is constant and you can stay in one piece, keep yourself alive, look after your parents, and live out your years.» — el texto da la regla de conducta del capítulo tercero: ni fama por el bien ni castigo por el mal, seguir el medio y atenerse a lo constante.

«Cook Ding was cutting up an ox for Lord Wenhui.2 At every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, every thrust of his knee—zip! zoop! He slithered the knife along with a zing, and all was in perfect rhythm, as though he were performing the dance of the Mulberry Grove or keeping time to the Jingshou music.» — presenta al cocinero Ding desollando un buey para el señor Wenhui con todos sus movimientos en ritmo, como danza y como música; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Cook Ding laid down his knife and replied, “What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole ox. And now—now I go at it by spirit and don’t look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to a stop, and spirit moves where it wants. I go along with the natural makeup, strike in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big openings, and follow things as they are. So I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon, much less a main joint.» — Cook Ding declara que lo suyo es el Camino y va más allá de la destreza: a los tres años dejó de ver el buey entero y ahora obra por espíritu, detenidos la percepción y el entendimiento.

«“A good cook changes his knife once a year—because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month—because he hacks. I’ve had this knife of mine for nineteen years and I’ve cut up thousands of oxen with it, and yet the blade is as good as though it had just come from the grindstone.» — Cook Ding gradúa a los cocineros por el filo: el bueno corta y cambia cuchillo cada año, el mediano hachea y lo cambia cada mes, y el suyo lleva diecinueve años como recién afilado; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«thickness. If you insert what has no thickness into such spaces, then there’s plenty of room—more than enough for the blade to play about in. That’s why after nineteen years, the blade of my knife is still as good as when it first came from the grindstone.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el filo sin grosor entra en los espacios de las junturas y le sobra sitio para moverse; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“However, whenever I come to a complicated place, I size up the difficulties, tell myself to watch out and be careful, keep my eyes on what I’m doing, work very slowly, and move the knife with the greatest subtlety, until—flop! the whole thing comes apart like a clod of earth crumbling to the ground. I stand there holding the knife and look all around me, completely satisfied and reluctant to move on, and then I wipe off the knife and put it away.”» — Cook Ding declara el límite de su propia maestría: ante un sitio difícil mide la dificultad, se dice a sí mismo que tenga cuidado y trabaja muy despacio, y solo entonces la res se deshace como terrón.

«“Excellent!” said Lord Wenhui. “I have heard the words of Cook Ding and learned how to care for life!”» — el señor Wenhui cierra la escena declarando haber aprendido a cuidar la vida de las palabras del cocinero.

«When Gongwen Xuan saw the Commander of the Right,5 he was startled and said, “What kind of man is this? How did he come to lose his foot? Was it Heaven? Or was it man?”» — Gongwen Xuan pregunta ante el Comandante de la Derecha si la pérdida del pie fue obra del Cielo o del hombre.

«“It was Heaven, not man,” said the commander. “When Heaven gave me life, it saw to it that I would be one-footed. Men’s looks are given to them. So I know this was the work of Heaven and not of man. The swamp pheasant has to walk ten paces for one peck and a hundred paces for one drink, but it doesn’t want to be kept in a cage. Though you treat it like a king, its spirit won’t be content.”» — el comandante adjudica al Cielo su pie único y añade la imagen del faisán del pantano, que anda cien pasos por un trago y aun así no quiere jaula por regia que sea.

«When Lao Dan6 died, Qin Shi went to mourn for him, but after giving three cries, he left the room.» — Qin Shi va al duelo por Lao Dan, da tres gritos y sale del cuarto.

«“Yes,” said Qin Shi. “At first I took him for a real man, but now I know he wasn’t. A little while ago, when I went in to mourn, I found old men weeping for him as though they were weeping for a son, and young men weeping for him as though they were weeping for a mother. To have gathered a group like that, he must have done something to make them talk about him, though he didn’t ask them to talk or make them weep for him, though he» — Qin Shi retira a Lao Dan la condición de hombre verdadero por lo que vio en el duelo: viejos llorándolo como a un hijo y jóvenes como a una madre, señal de que algo hizo para atar así a esa gente.

«didn’t ask them to weep. This is to hide from Heaven, turn your back on the true state of affairs, and forget what you were born with. In the old days, this was called the crime of hiding from Heaven.» — Qin Shi nombra el cargo: esconderse del Cielo, volver la espalda al estado verdadero de las cosas y olvidar aquello con que uno nació.

«In the old days, this was called being freed from the bonds of God.» — Qin Shi nombra ese estado con la fórmula antigua de ser librado de las ataduras de Dios.

«“Though the grease burns out of the torch, the fire passes on, and no one knows where it ends.”» — el capítulo tercero cierra con la imagen de la grasa que se consume en la antorcha mientras el fuego sigue pasando sin que se sepa dónde acaba.

«and he happened to leave because things follow along. If you are content with the time and willing to follow along, then grief and joy have no way to enter.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: quien se contenta con el tiempo y consiente en seguir la corriente no deja entrada al duelo ni al gozo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Ah,” said Confucius, “you will probably go and get yourself executed, that’s all. The Way doesn’t want things mixed in with it. When it becomes a mixture, it becomes many ways; with many ways, there is a lot of bustle; and where there is a lot of bustle, there is trouble—trouble that has no remedy!» — abre *In the World of Men* con Confucius augurando a Yan Hui la ejecución si va a Wei, y declarando que el Camino no quiere mezclas porque de la mezcla salen muchos caminos y de ahí el trajín y el problema sin remedio.

«The Perfect Man of ancient times made sure that he had it in himself before he tried to give it to others. When you’re not even sure what you’ve got in yourself, how do you have time to bother about what some tyrant is doing?» — Confucius pone la regla del orden: el Hombre Perfecto de la antigüedad se aseguraba de tenerlo en sí antes de darlo a otros.

«Virtue is destroyed by fame, and wisdom comes out of wrangling. Fame is something to beat people down with, and wisdom is a device for wrangling. Both are evil weapons—not the sort of thing to bring you success.» — Confucius nombra lo que destruye la virtud y de dónde sale la sabiduría, y llama armas malas a la fama y a la disputa.

«instead appear before a tyrant and force him to listen to sermons on benevolence and righteousness, measures and standards— this is simply using other men’s bad points to parade your own excellence. You will be called a plaguer of others. He who plagues others will be plagued in turn. You will probably be plagued by this man.» — Confucius describe qué es predicar benevolencia y rectitud ante un tirano: usar los defectos ajenos para lucir la propia excelencia, y el que apesta a otros acaba apestado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“And suppose he is the kind who actually delights in worthy men and hates the unworthy—then why does he need you to try to make him any different? You had best keep your advice to yourself!» — Confucius plantea el caso contrario y lo niega igual: si el gobernante ya prefiere a los dignos, no hace falta que nadie lo cambie.

«Kings and dukes always lord it over others and fight to win the argument. You will find your eyes growing dazed, your color changing, your mouth working to invent excuses, your attitude becoming more and more humble, until in your mind you end by supporting him. This is to pile fire on fire, to add water to water, and is called ‘increasing the excessive.’ If you give in at the beginning, there will be no place to stop.» — Confucius describe la mecánica de ceder ante el poderoso: ojos aturdidos, color mudado, boca inventando excusas, hasta acabar apoyándolo, y lo llama echar fuego al fuego y agua al agua.

«“In ancient times Jie put Guan Longfeng to death, and Zhou put Prince Bi Gan to death. Both Guan Longfeng and Prince Bi Gan were scrupulous in their conduct, bent down to comfort and aid the common people, and used their positions as ministers to oppose their superiors. Therefore their rulers, Jie and Zhou, utilized their scrupulous conduct as a means to trap them, for they were too fond of good fame.» — el texto pone dos ejemplares de la trampa de la buena fama: Guan Longfeng y el príncipe Bi Gan, escrupulosos, y sus gobernantes usando ese escrúpulo para atraparlos.

«In ancient times Yao attacked Congzhi and Xuao, and Yu attacked Youhu, and these states were left empty and unpeopled, their rulers cut down. It was because they employed their armies constantly and never ceased their search for gain. All were seekers of fame or gain—have you alone not heard of them? Even the sages cannot cope with men who are after fame or gain, much less a person like you!» — el texto pone los ejemplos del otro lado, reyes que vaciaron Estados por no cesar en la busca de ganancia, y concluye que ni los sabios pueden con los hombres que van tras la fama o el provecho.

«Yan Hui said, “If I am grave and empty-hearted, diligent and of one mind, won’t that do?”» — Yan Hui propone su primer plan, grave y de corazón vacío, diligente y de una sola mente.

«“Well then, suppose I am inwardly direct, outwardly compliant, and do my work through the examples of antiquity? By being inwardly direct, I can be the companion of Heaven.» — Yan Hui propone su segundo plan y explica la primera de sus tres partes: ser compañero del Cielo, con lo que él y el Hijo del Cielo son por igual hijos del Cielo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“By being outwardly compliant, I can be a companion of men.» — Yan Hui explica la segunda parte, ser compañero de los hombres cumpliendo la etiqueta del ministro que todos cumplen.

«“By doing my work through the examples of antiquity, I can be the companion of ancient times. Though my words may in fact be lessons and reproaches, they belong to ancient times and not to me. In this way, though I may be blunt, I cannot be blamed. This is what I mean by being a companion of antiquity. If I go about it in this way, will it do?”» — Yan Hui explica la tercera parte, ser compañero de la antigüedad, con lo que sus reproches pertenecen a los antiguos y no a él.

«Confucius said, “Goodness, how could that do? You have too many policies and plans, and you haven’t seen what is needed. You will probably get off without incurring any blame, yes. But that will be as far as it goes. How do you think you can actually convert him? You are still making the mind4 your teacher!”» — Confucius rechaza el plan triple: demasiadas políticas y planes, y el reparo de fondo es que Yan Hui sigue tomando la mente por maestro.

«“You must fast!” said Confucius. “I will tell you what that means. Do you think it is easy to do anything while you have a mind? If you do, Bright Heaven will not sanction you.”» — Confucius manda ayunar y pregunta si se cree fácil hacer algo teniendo mente.

«Yan Hui said, “My family is poor. I haven’t drunk wine or eaten any strong foods for several months. So can I be considered as having fasted?” “That is the fasting one does before a sacrifice, not the fasting of the mind.”» — Yan Hui confunde el mandato con la abstinencia y Confucius distingue el ayuno del sacrificio del ayuno de la mente.

«Confucius said, “Make your will one! Don’t listen with your ears, listen with your mind. No, don’t listen with your mind, but listen with your spirit. Listening stops with the ears, the mind stops with recognition, but spirit is empty and waits for all things. The Way gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.”» — Confucius define el ayuno de la mente: no oír con los oídos sino con la mente, y no con la mente sino con el espíritu, porque el oír para en el oído y la mente para en el reconocer, mientras el espíritu está vacío y espera a todas las cosas; el Camino se junta solo en el vacío; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Yan Hui said, “Before I heard this, I was certain that I was Hui. But now that I have heard it, there is no more Hui. Can this be called emptiness?”» — Yan Hui declara que antes de oírlo estaba cierto de ser Hui y que ahora ya no hay Hui, y pregunta si a eso se llama vacío.

«“That’s all there is to it,” said Confucius. “Now I will tell you. You may go and play in his bird cage but never be moved by fame. If he listens, then sing; if not, keep still. Have no gate, no opening,5 but make oneness your house and live with what cannot be avoided. Then you will be close to success.» — Confucius da la regla de estar en la corte del tirano: jugar en su jaula sin moverse por la fama, cantar si escucha y callar si no, no tener puerta ni abertura y hacer casa de la unidad.

«“It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touching the ground. It is easy to cheat when you work for men but hard to cheat when you work for Heaven. You have heard of flying with wings, but you have never heard of flying without wings. You have heard of the knowledge that knows, but you have never heard of the knowledge that does not know.» — Confucius escalona tres paradojas: andar sin tocar el suelo, volar sin alas y el conocimiento que no conoce.

«Look into that closed room, the empty chamber where brightness is born! Fortune and blessing gather where there is stillness. But if you do not keep still—this is what is called sitting but racing around.» — Confucius nombra la cámara vacía donde nace la claridad y llama sentarse corriendo a la falta de quietud.

«Let your ears and eyes communicate with what is inside and put mind and knowledge on the outside. Then even gods and spirits will come to dwell, not to speak of men! This is the changing of the ten thousand things, the bond of Yu and Shun, the constant practice of Fu Xi and Ji Qu.7 How much more should it be a rule for lesser men!”» — Confucius cierra el pasaje del ayuno: oídos y ojos hacia dentro y mente y conocimiento afuera, y entonces hasta dioses y espíritus vienen a morar; y lo declara práctica constante de Fu Xi y Ji Qu; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Zigao, duke of She,8 who was being sent on a mission to Qi, consulted Confucius. “The king is sending me on a very important mission. Qi will probably treat me with great honor but will be in no hurry to do anything more. Even a commoner cannot be forced to act, much less one of the feudal lords.» — Zigao, duque de She, consulta a Confucius su embajada a Qi y teme que allí lo honren sin resolver nada.

«I am a man who eats plain food that is simply cooked, so that no one ever complains of the heat in my kitchens.10 Yet this morning I received my orders from the king and by evening I am gulping ice water—do you suppose I have developed some kind of internal fever? I have not even gone to Qi to see what the situation is like, and already I am suffering from the yin and yang. And if I do not succeed, I am bound to suffer from the judgment of men. I will have both worries.» — Zigao describe el síntoma: recibidas las órdenes por la mañana, por la tarde traga agua helada, y declara sufrir ya del yin y del yang sin haber salido; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«You once said to me, ‘In all affairs, whether large or small, there are few men who reach a happy conclusion except through the Way. If you do not succeed, you are bound to suffer from the judgment of men. If you do succeed, you are bound to suffer from the yin and yang.» — Zigao cita a Confucius la sentencia de la doble amenaza: quien no logra el encargo sufre el juicio de los hombres y quien lo logra sufre el yin y el yang; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 56 con la salvedad del hombre de virtud.

«Confucius said, “In the world, there are two great decrees: one is fate and the other is duty.11 That a son should love his parents is fate—you cannot erase this from his heart. That a subject should serve his ruler is duty—there is no place he can go and be without his ruler, no place he can escape to between heaven and earth. These are called the great decrees.» — Confucius nombra los dos grandes decretos, el destino y el deber, y los ilustra con el amor del hijo a los padres y el servicio del súbdito al señor, del que no hay dónde escapar entre el cielo y la tierra; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Therefore, to serve your parents and be content to follow them anywhere—this is the perfection of filial piety. To serve your ruler and be content to do anything for him—this is the peak of loyalty. And to serve your own mind so that sadness or joy does not sway or move it; to understand what you can do nothing about and to be content with it as with fate—this is the perfection of virtue.» — Confucius gradúa tres perfecciones: la piedad filial, la cumbre de la lealtad y la perfección de la virtud, que es servir a la propia mente de modo que ni la tristeza ni el gozo la muevan.

«As a subject and a son, you are bound to find things you cannot avoid. If you act in accordance with the state of affairs and forget about yourself, then what leisure will you have to love life and hate death? Act in this way, and you will be all right.» — Confucius cierra el consejo: obrar conforme al estado de las cosas y olvidarse de sí no deja ocio para amar la vida ni odiar la muerte.

«you succeed—only the man who has virtue can do that.’» — el remate de la sentencia que Zigao cita, ya al otro lado del cambio de plana: solo el hombre que tiene virtud queda a salvo de las dos amenazas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«In all human relations, if the two parties are living close to each other, they may form a bond through personal trust. But if they are far apart, they must use words to communicate their loyalty, and words» — Confucius distingue el trato de cerca, que se ata por confianza personal, del trato de lejos, que necesita palabras; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 56.

«must be transmitted by someone. To transmit words that are either pleasing to both parties or infuriating to both parties is one of the most difficult things in the world. When both parties are pleased, there must be some exaggeration of the good points; and when both parties are angered, there must be some exaggeration of the bad points. Anything that smacks of exaggeration is irresponsible. Where there is irresponsibility, no one will trust what is said, and when that happens, the man who is transmitting the words will be in danger.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: transmitir palabras que agradan o enfurecen a ambas partes exagera, y de la exageración viene la irresponsabilidad y el peligro para el mensajero; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«aphorism says, ‘Transmit the established facts; do not transmit words of exaggeration.’ If you do that, you will probably come out all right.» — Confucius cita el aforismo de transmitir los hechos establecidos y no las palabras de exageración; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“When men get together to pit their strength in games of skill, they start off in a light and friendly mood but usually end up in a dark and angry one, and if they go on too long, they start resorting to various underhanded tricks. When men meet at some ceremony to drink, they start off in an orderly manner but usually end up in disorder; and if they go on too long, they start indulging in various irregular amusements. It is the same with all things. What starts out being sincere usually ends up being deceitful. What was simple in the beginning acquires monstrous proportions in the end.» — Confucius describe la deriva de las cosas humanas por el ejemplo del juego y el del convite: lo que empieza sincero acaba engañoso y lo que era simple acaba monstruoso.

«“Words are like wind and waves; actions are a matter of gain and loss. Wind and waves are easily moved; questions of gain and loss easily lead to danger. Hence anger arises from no other cause than clever words and one-sided speeches.» — Confucius compara las palabras con el viento y las olas y las acciones con la ganancia y la pérdida, y adjudica la ira a las palabras hábiles y a los discursos parciales.

«When animals face death, they do not care what cries they make; their breath comes in gasps, and a wild fierceness is born in their hearts. [Men, too,] if you press them too hard, are bound to answer you with ill-natured hearts, though they do not know why they do so. If they themselves do not understand why they behave like this, then who knows where it will end?» — Confucius compara al hombre apremiado con el animal ante la muerte: le nace una fiereza que no sabe de dónde le viene; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«“Therefore the aphorism says, ‘Do not deviate from your orders; do not press for completion.’ To go beyond the limit is excess; to deviate from orders or press for completion is a dangerous thing. A good completion takes a long time; a bad completion cannot be changed later. Can you afford to be careless?» — Confucius cita el segundo aforismo, no desviarse de las órdenes ni apremiar la conclusión, y advierte que la buena conclusión tarda y la mala no se enmienda después.

«“Just go along with things and let your mind move freely. Resign yourself to what cannot be avoided and nourish what is within you—this is best. What more do you have to do to fulfill your mission? Nothing is as good as following orders (obeying fate)—that’s how difficult it is!”» — Confucius cierra el consejo a Zigao: ir con las cosas, resignarse a lo inevitable y nutrir lo de dentro, y declara que nada iguala a seguir las órdenes y qué difícil es eso; los paréntesis son añadidura declarada del traductor.

«Yan He, who had been appointed tutor to the crown prince, son of Duke Ling of Wei, went to consult Ju Boyu.13 “Here is this man who by nature is lacking in virtue. If I let him go on with his unruliness, I will endanger the state. If I try to impose some rule on him, I will endanger myself.» — Yan He plantea a Ju Boyu el problema del preceptor de un príncipe sin virtud: dejarlo suelto arriesga el Estado y sujetarlo lo arriesga a él.

«If in your actions you follow along to the extent of being pulled in with him, then you will be overthrown, destroyed, wiped out, and brought to your knees. If in your mind you harmonize to the extent of being drawn out, then you will be talked about, named, blamed, and condemned.» — Ju Boyu detalla los dos peligros: el arrastrado acaba derribado y el sacado afuera acaba nombrado y condenado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«If he wants to be a child, be a child with him. If he wants to follow erratic ways, follow erratic ways with him. If he wants to be reckless, be reckless with him. Understand him thoroughly, and lead him to the point where he is without fault.» — Ju Boyu manda acompañar al príncipe en lo que sea, hasta llevarlo al punto en que no tenga falta.

«“Don’t you know about the praying mantis that waved its arms angrily in front of an approaching carriage, unaware that it was incapable of stopping it? Such was the high opinion it had of its talents. Be careful, be on your guard! If you offend him by parading your store of talents, you will be in danger!» — Ju Boyu pone la mantis que agita los brazos ante el carro como figura de quien desfila su talento.

«“Don’t you know how the tiger trainer goes about it? He doesn’t dare give the tiger any living thing to eat for fear it will learn the taste of fury by killing it. He doesn’t dare give it any whole thing to eat for fear it will learn the taste of fury by tearing it apart. He gauges the state of the tiger’s appetite and thoroughly understands its fierce disposition. Tigers are a different breed from men, and yet you can train them to be gentle with their keepers by following along with them. The men who get killed are the ones who go against them.» — Ju Boyu pone al domador de tigres, que nunca da a la fiera cosa viva ni entera para que no aprenda el sabor de la furia, y consigna que a los que matan es a los que van contra ellos.

«“The horse lover uses a fine box to catch the dung and a giant clam shell to catch the stale. But if a mosquito or a fly lights on the horse and he slaps it at the wrong time, then the horse will break the bit, hurt its head, and bang its chest. The horse lover tries to think of everything, but his affection leads him into error. Can you afford to be careless?”» — Ju Boyu cierra con el amante de los caballos, cuyo cariño lo lleva al error: por espantar una mosca a destiempo el caballo rompe el bocado y se hiere.

«“Forget it—say no more!” said the carpenter. “It’s a worthless tree! Make boats out of it and they’d sink; make coffins and they’d rot in no time; make vessels and they’d break at once. Use it for doors and it would sweat sap like pine; use it for posts and the worms would eat them up. It’s not a timber tree—there’s nothing it can be used for. That’s how it got to be that old!”» — el carpintero Shi declara sin valor al roble por lo que no sirve y saca de ahí la razón de su vejez.

«“A very good question,” said Ju Boyu. “Be careful, be on your guard, and make sure that you yourself are in the right! In your actions, it is best to follow along with him, and in your mind, it is best to harmonize with him. However, these two courses involve certain dangers. Though you follow along, you don’t want to be pulled into his doings, and though you harmonize, you don’t want to be drawn out too far.» — Ju Boyu da la regla doble, seguirle en los actos y armonizar con él en la mente, y le pone enseguida sus dos peligros.

«Carpenter Shi went to Qi and, when he got to Crooked Shaft, he saw a serrate oak standing by the village shrine. It was broad» — el carpintero Shi ve el roble gigante junto al santuario de la aldea; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la descripción sigue en la 59.

«enough to shelter several thousand oxen and measured a hundred spans around, towering above the hills. The lowest branches were eighty feet from the ground, and a dozen or so of them could have been made into boats. There were so many sightseers that the place looked like a fair, but the carpenter didn’t even glance around and went on his way without stopping.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el roble da sombra a miles de bueyes y atrae gentío como una feria, y el carpintero pasa de largo sin mirarlo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«After Carpenter Shi had returned home, the oak tree appeared to him in a dream and said, “What are you comparing me with? Are you comparing me with those useful trees? The cherry apple, the pear, the orange, the citron, the rest of those fructiferous trees and shrubs—as soon as their fruit is ripe, they are torn apart and subjected to abuse. Their big limbs are broken off, their little limbs are yanked around. Their utility makes life miserable for them, and so they don’t get to finish out the years Heaven gave them but are cut off in mid-journey. They bring it on themselves—the pulling and tearing of the common mob. And it’s the same way with all other things.» — el roble se aparece en sueños al carpintero y le opone los árboles útiles, desgajados en cuanto madura su fruto: su utilidad les impide cumplir los años que el Cielo les dio.

«“As for me, I’ve been trying a long time to be of no use, and though I almost died, I’ve finally got it. This is of great use to me. If I had been of some use, would I ever have grown this large? Moreover, you and I are both of us things. What’s the point of this —things condemning things? You, a worthless man about to die —how do you know I’m a worthless tree?”» — el roble declara su inutilidad como logro largamente buscado y de gran provecho para él, y devuelve al carpintero el juicio: cosas condenando cosas.

«When Carpenter Shi woke up, he reported his dream. His apprentice said, “If it’s so intent on being of no use, what’s it doing there at the village shrine?”» — el aprendiz objeta al roble su propia posición junto al santuario, que parece un uso.

«The region of Jingshi in Song is fine for growing catalpas, cypresses, and mulberries. But those that are more than one or two arm lengths around are cut down for people who want monkey perches; those that are three or four spans around are cut down for the ridgepoles of tall roofs;16 and those that are seven or eight spans are cut down for the families of nobles or rich merchants who want side boards for coffins. So they never get to live out the years Heaven gave them but are cut down in mid-journey by axes. This is the danger of being usable.» — el texto enumera las medidas a que se tala cada árbol de Jingshi, según el uso a que sirve, y nombra eso el peligro de ser utilizable.

«In the Jie sacrifice,17 oxen with white foreheads, pigs with turned-up snouts, and men with piles cannot be offered to the river. This is something all the shamans know, and hence they consider them inauspicious creatures. But the Holy Man, for the same reason, considers them highly auspicious.» — el texto opone dos lecturas del mismo dato: lo que los chamanes tienen por inauspicioso, por no servir para el sacrificio, el Hombre Santo lo tiene por muy auspicioso, y por la misma razón.

«“Shhh! Say no more! It’s only resting there. If we carp and criticize, it will merely conclude that we don’t understand it. Even if it weren’t at the shrine, do you suppose it would be cut down? It» — el carpintero responde que el roble solo descansa ahí y que sería necio carpirle; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 60 con el modo en que se protege.

«protects itself in a different way from ordinary people. If you try to judge it by conventional standards, you’ll be way off!”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el roble se protege de otro modo que la gente común, y juzgarlo por baremos convencionales yerra el blanco; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Ziqi of Nanbo was wandering around the Hill of Shang when he saw a huge tree there, different from all the rest. A thousand teams of horses could have taken shelter under it, and its shade would have covered them all. Ziqi said, “What tree is this? It must certainly have some extraordinary usefulness!”» — Ziqi de Nanbo halla en la colina de Shang un árbol enorme y le supone alguna utilidad extraordinaria.

«But looking up, he saw that the smaller limbs were gnarled and twisted, unfit for beams or rafters, and looking down, he saw that the trunk was pitted and rotten and could not be used for coffins. He licked one of the leaves, and it blistered his mouth and made it sore. He sniffed the odor, and it was enough to make a man drunk for three days. “It turns out to be a completely unusable tree,” said Ziqi, “and so it has been able to grow this big. Aha!—it is this unusableness that the Holy Man makes use of!”» — Ziqi examina el árbol rama por rama y hoja por hoja, lo halla inservible en todo y concluye que de esa inutilidad se sirve el Hombre Santo.

«There’s Crippled Shu—chin stuck down in his navel, shoulders up above his head, pigtail pointing at the sky, his five organs on the top, his two thighs pressing his ribs. By sewing and washing, he gets enough to fill his mouth; by handling a winnow and sifting out the good grain, he makes enough to feed ten people. When the authorities call out the troops, he stands in the crowd waving goodbye; when they get up a big work party, they pass him over because he’s a chronic invalid. And when they are doling out grain to the ailing, he gets three big measures and ten bundles of» — Crippled Shu, deforme, vive de coser y cribar, se libra de la leva y del trabajo forzado y cobra grano y leña de los enfermos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«firewood. With a crippled body, he’s still able to look after himself and finish out the years Heaven gave him. How much better, then, if he had crippled virtue!» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: con el cuerpo lisiado cumple los años que el Cielo le dio, y el texto pregunta cuánto mejor le iría con la virtud lisiada; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When Confucius visited Chu, Jie Yu, the madman of Chu, wandered by his gate crying, “Phoenix, phoenix, how has virtue failed! The future you cannot wait for; the past you cannot pursue. When the world has the Way, the sage succeeds; when the world is without the Way, the sage survives.» — Jie Yu, el loco de Chu, pasa cantando ante la puerta de Confucius: cuando el mundo tiene el Camino el sabio prospera y cuando no lo tiene el sabio sobrevive.

«In times like the present, we do well to escape penalty. Good fortune is as light as a feather, but nobody knows how to pick it up. Misfortune is as heavy as the earth, but nobody knows how to stay out of its way.» — Jie Yu describe el presente como tiempo de librarse apenas del castigo, con la fortuna ligera que nadie sabe recoger y la desgracia pesada que nadie sabe esquivar.

«Leave off, leave off—this teaching men virtue! Dangerous, dangerous—to mark off the ground and run! Fool, fool—don’t spoil my walking! I walk a crooked way—don’t step on my feet.» — Jie Yu manda dejar de enseñar virtud a los hombres y declara andar un camino torcido.

«The mountain trees do themselves harm; the grease in the torch burns itself up. The cinnamon can be eaten, and so it gets cut down; the lacquer tree can be used, and so it gets hacked apart. All men know the use of the useful, but nobody knows the use of the useless!”» — el capítulo cuarto cierra con la fórmula de la utilidad de lo inútil: el canelo se come y por eso lo talan, el árbol de la laca sirve y por eso lo hachan.

«Chang Ji asked Confucius, “This Wang Tai who’s lost a foot— how does he get to divide up Lu with you, Master, and make half of it his disciples? He doesn’t stand up and teach, he doesn’t sit down and discuss, yet they go to him empty and come home full. Does he really have some wordless teaching, some formless way of bringing the mind to completion? What sort of man is he?”» — abre *The Sign of Virtue Complete* con Chang Ji preguntando a Confucius cómo Wang Tai, sin un pie, junta tantos discípulos sin enseñar de pie ni discutir sentado, y si tiene una enseñanza sin palabras.

«Confucius said, “This gentleman is a sage. It’s just that I’ve been tardy and haven’t gone to see him yet. But if I go to him as my teacher, how much more should those who are not my equals! Why only the state of Lu? I’ll bring the whole world along, and we’ll all become his followers!”» — Confucius declara sabio a Wang Tai y dice que se pondría él mismo bajo su magisterio y llevaría consigo al mundo entero.

«Confucius said, “Life and death are great affairs, and yet they are no change to him. Though heaven and earth flop over and fall down, it is no loss to him. He sees clearly into what has no falsehood and does not shift with things. He takes it as fate that things should change, and he holds fast to the source.”» — Confucius describe a Wang Tai: la vida y la muerte no lo mudan, ve claro en lo que no tiene falsedad, toma por destino que las cosas cambien y se aferra a la fuente.

«Confucius said, “If you look at them from the point of view of their differences, then there is liver and gall, Chu and Yue. But if you look at them from the point of view of their sameness, then the ten thousand things all are one. A man like this doesn’t know what his ears or eyes should approve—he lets his mind play in the harmony of virtue.» — Confucius opone las dos miradas: por la diferencia, hígado y hiel son Chu y Yue; por la igualdad, las diez mil cosas son una, y quien mira así deja jugar su mente en la armonía de la virtud.

«Confucius said, “Men do not mirror themselves in running water—they mirror themselves in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of other things.» — Confucius da la figura del agua quieta: los hombres no se miran en el agua que corre, y solo lo quieto puede aquietar la quietud de las demás cosas.

«Of those that receive life from the earth, the pine and cypress alone are best—they stay as green as ever in winter or summer. Of those that receive life from Heaven, Yao and Shun alone are best—they stand at the head of the ten thousand things. Luckily they were able to order their lives and thereby order the lives of other things.» — Confucius reparte los mejores por su origen: de la tierra, el pino y el ciprés siempre verdes; del Cielo, Yao y Shun a la cabeza de las diez mil cosas.

«Proof that a man is holding fast to the beginning lies in the fact of his fearlessness. A brave soldier will plunge alone into the midst of nine armies. He seeks fame and can bring himself to this.» — Confucius da por prueba del que se aferra al comienzo su falta de miedo, con el ejemplo del soldado que se mete solo entre nueve ejércitos por fama.

«How much more, then, is possible for a man who governs Heaven and earth, stores up the ten thousand things, lets the six parts of his body2 be only a dwelling, makes ornaments of his ears and eyes, unifies the knowledge of what he knows, and in his mind never tastes death. He will soon choose the day and ascend far off. Men may become his followers, but how could he be willing to bother himself about things?”» — Confucius describe al que gobierna el cielo y la tierra: hace del cuerpo mera morada, adorno de los oídos y los ojos, y su mente nunca prueba la muerte.

«As for things, he sees them as one and does not see their loss. He regards the loss of a foot as a lump of» — Confucius remata que Wang Tai ve las cosas como una y no ve su pérdida; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la comparación termina en la 64 con el terrón de tierra tirado.

«Chang Ji said, “In the way he goes about it, he uses his knowledge to get at his mind and uses his mind to get at the constant mind. Why should things gather around him?”» — Chang Ji objeta que Wang Tai obra para sí, del conocimiento a la mente y de la mente a la mente constante, y pregunta por qué habrían de reunirse las cosas en torno suyo; el tramo arranca en la plana 64.

«Shentu Jia, who had lost a foot, was studying under Bohun Wuren, along with Zichan of Zheng.3 Zichan said to Shentu Jia, “If I go out first, you stay behind, and if you go out first, I’ll stay behind.”» — Shentu Jia, sin un pie, estudia con Bohun Wuren junto a Zichan de Zheng, que le propone no salir los dos a la vez; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Shentu Jia said, “Within the gates of the Master, is there any such thing as a prime minister? You take delight in being a prime minister and pushing people behind you. But I’ve heard that if the mirror is bright, no dust will settle on it; if dust settles, it isn’t really bright. When you live around worthy men a long time, you’ll be free of faults. You regard the Master as a great man, and yet you talk like this—it’s not right, is it?”» — Shentu Jia responde a Zichan con la figura del espejo brillante donde no se posa el polvo, y le señala la contradicción de tener al Maestro por grande y hablar como habla.

«Zichan said, “You, a man like this—and still you claim to be better than a Yao! Take a look at your virtue and see if it’s not enough to give you cause to reflect!”» — Zichan replica apuntando a la virtud del propio Shentu Jia; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Shentu Jia said, “People who excuse their faults and claim they didn’t deserve to be punished—there are lots of them. But those who don’t excuse their faults and who admit they didn’t deserve to be spared—they are few. To know what you can’t do anything about and to be content with it as you would with fate— only a man of virtue can do that.» — Shentu Jia opone los muchos que excusan sus faltas a los pocos que no las excusan, y declara que solo el hombre de virtud se contenta con lo que no puede remediar como con el destino.

«If you play around in front of Archer Yi’s target, you’re right in the way of the arrows, and if you don’t get hit, it’s a matter of fate.» — Shentu Jia pone la imagen del blanco del arquero Yi: quien se pasea delante está en el camino de las flechas y que no le den es cosa del destino.

«There are lots of men with two feet who laugh at me for having only one. It makes me boil with rage, but I come here to the Master’s place, and I feel calmed down again and go home. I don’t know whether he washes me clean with goodness or whether I come to understand things by myself.» — Shentu Jia declara la rabia que le dan los burlones y el apaciguamiento que halla en casa del Maestro, sin saber si lo lava la bondad ajena o si entiende por sí mismo.

«The Master and I have been friends for nineteen years, and he’s never once let on that he’s aware I’m missing a foot. Now you and I are supposed to be wandering outside the realm of forms and bodies, and you come looking for me inside it4— you’re at fault, aren’t you?”» — Shentu Jia da el dato decisivo, que en diecinueve años el Maestro nunca dio señal de notarle la falta del pie, y reprocha a Zichan buscarlo dentro del reino de las formas.

«In Lu there was a man named Shushan No-Toes who had had his foot cut off. Stumping along, he went to see Confucius. “You weren’t careful enough!” said Confucius. “Since you’ve already broken the law and gotten yourself into trouble like this, what do you expect to gain by coming to me now?”» — Shushan No-Toes llega cojeando ante Confucius y recibe un reproche por no haber sido bastante cuidadoso.

«No-Toes said, “I just didn’t understand my duty and was too careless of my body, and so I lost a foot. But I’ve come now because I still have something that is worth more than a foot and I want to try to hold on to it. There is nothing that heaven doesn’t cover, nothing that earth doesn’t bear up. I supposed, Master, that you would be like heaven and earth. How did I know you would act like this?”» — No-Toes declara traer algo que vale más que un pie y reprocha a Confucius no ser como el cielo y la tierra, que todo lo cubren y todo lo sostienen.

«“It was stupid of me,” said Confucius. “Please, sir, won’t you come in? I’d like to describe to you what I have learned.” But No-Toes went out.» — Confucius se retracta y ofrece hablar, y No-Toes se va sin entrar.

«No-Toes told the story to Lao Dan. “Confucius certainly hasn’t reached the stage of a Perfect Man, has he? What does he mean coming around so obsequiously to study with you?5 He is after the sham illusion of fame and reputation and doesn’t know that the Perfect Man looks on these as so many handcuffs and fetters!”» — No-Toes cuenta el caso a Lao Dan y niega que Confucius haya llegado al Hombre Perfecto, porque va tras la ilusión de la fama, que el Hombre Perfecto tiene por esposas y grillos; el tramo arranca en la plana 66.

«Lao Dan said, “Why don’t you just make him see that life and death are the same story, that acceptable and unacceptable are on a single string? Wouldn’t it be good to free him from his handcuffs and fetters?”» — Lao Dan propone librar a Confucius haciéndole ver que vida y muerte son la misma historia y que lo aceptable y lo inaceptable van en un solo hilo.

«No-Toes said, “When Heaven has punished him, how can you set him free?”» — No-Toes cierra el diálogo con una objeción a Lao Dan: si el Cielo ya lo castigó, nadie puede soltarlo.

«Duke Ai of Lu said to Confucius, “In Wei there was an ugly man named Ai Taituo. But when men were around him, they thought only of him and couldn’t break away, and when women saw him, they ran begging to their fathers and mothers, saying, ‘I’d rather be this gentleman’s concubine than another man’s wife!’—there were more than ten such cases, and it hasn’t stopped yet.» — el duque Ai de Lu describe a Ai Taituo, feo y sin embargo irresistible para hombres y mujeres.

«No one ever heard him take the lead—he always just chimed in with other people. He wasn’t in the position of a ruler in which he could save men’s lives, and he had no store of provisions to fill men’s bellies. On top of that, he was ugly enough to astound the whole world, chimed in but never led, and knew no more than what went on right around him. And yet men and women flocked to him.» — el duque Ai enumera lo que a Ai Taituo le faltaba, poder, provisiones y hasta iniciativa en la conversación, y consigna que aun así la gente acudía a él.

«Confucius said, “Be diligent, my disciples! Here is No-Toes, a man who has had his foot cut off, and still he’s striving to learn so» — Confucius saca de la escena una lección para sus discípulos que sigue midiendo a No-Toes por su falta; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 66.

«he can make up for the evil of his former conduct. How much more, then, should men whose virtue is still unimpaired!”» — el remate de la lección, ya en la plana siguiente: cuánto más deberían esforzarse aquellos cuya virtud sigue intacta; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When women are selected to be consorts of the Son of Heaven, their nails are not pared and their ears are not pierced. When a man has just taken a wife, he is kept in posts outside [the palace] and is no longer sent on [dangerous] missions.6 If so much care is taken to keep the body whole, how much more in the case of a man whose virtue is whole?» — Confucius pone dos cuidados del cuerpo entero, la consorte a la que no se cortan las uñas y el recién casado al que no se manda a misiones peligrosas, y pregunta cuánto más valdrá el cuidado del hombre de virtud entera; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Now Ai Taituo says nothing and is trusted, accomplishes nothing and is loved, so that people want to turn over their states to him and are afraid only that he won’t accept. It must be that his powers are whole, though his virtue takes no form.”» — Confucius declara de Ai Taituo que nada dice y se le cree, nada hace y se le ama, y adjudica eso a que sus poderes son enteros aunque su virtud no tome forma.

«Confucius said, “Life, death, preservation, loss, failure, success, poverty, riches, worthiness, unworthiness, slander, fame, hunger, thirst, cold, heat—these are the alternations of the world, the workings of fate. Day and night they change place before us, and wisdom cannot spy out their source.» — Confucius enumera dieciséis alternancias del mundo y las llama obra del destino, cuyo origen la sabiduría no alcanza a espiar.

«Confucius said, “I once went on a mission to Chu, and as I was» — Confucius arranca la respuesta al duque Ai con un recuerdo de su embajada a Chu; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la escena de los lechoncillos sigue en la 67.

«going along, I saw some little pigs nursing at the body of their dead mother. After a while, they gave a start, and all ran away and left her because they could no longer see their likeness in her; she was not the same. In loving their mother, they loved not her body but the thing that moved her body. When a man has been killed in battle and people come to bury him, he has no use for his medals. When a man has had his feet amputated, he doesn’t care much about shoes. For both, the thing that is basic no longer exists.» — la escena, ya en la plana siguiente: los lechoncillos huyen de la madre muerta al no verse ya en ella, y de ahí saca Confucius que amaban no su cuerpo sino lo que movía su cuerpo, como el muerto en batalla no usa sus medallas ni el amputado sus zapatos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Therefore, they should not be enough to destroy your harmony; they should not be allowed to enter the storehouse of spirit.» — Confucius pone la consecuencia de las alternancias: no han de bastar para destruir la armonía ni se les ha de dejar entrar en el almacén del espíritu; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«harmonize and delight in them, master them and never be at a loss for joy; if you can do this day and night without break and make it be spring with everything, mingling with all and creating the moment within your own mind—this is what I call being whole in power.”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: armonizarse y deleitarse con ellas día y noche sin quiebra, y hacer primavera con todo, es lo que Confucius llama ser entero en poder; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Among level things, water at rest is the most perfect, and therefore it can serve as a standard. It guards what is inside and shows no movement outside. Virtue is the establishment of perfect harmony. Though virtue takes no form, things cannot break away from it.”» — Confucius define la virtud sin forma con la figura del agua en reposo, que sirve de nivel porque guarda lo de dentro y no muestra movimiento fuera.

«Mr. Lame-Hunchback-No-Lips talked to Duke Ling of Wei, and Duke Ling was so pleased with him that when he looked at normal men, he thought their necks looked too lean and skinny.» — dos deformes agradan tanto a sus príncipes que después los cuellos normales les parecen flacos; la escena se repite palabra por palabra con otro deforme y otro duque, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición; el tramo arranca en la plana 68.

«Therefore, if virtue is preeminent, the body will be forgotten. But when men do not forget what can be forgotten but forget what cannot be forgotten—that may be called true forgetting.» — el texto saca la regla: donde la virtud es preeminente se olvida el cuerpo, y llama olvido verdadero al que olvida lo que no puede olvidarse.

«So the sage has his wanderings. For him, knowledge is an offshoot, promises are glue, favors are a patching up, and skill is a peddler. The sage hatches no schemes, so what use has he for knowledge? He does no carving, so what use has he for glue? He suffers no loss, so what use has he for favors? He hawks no goods, so what use has he for peddling?» — el texto reduce a cuatro oficios lo que el sabio no necesita: el conocimiento, las promesas, los favores y la destreza.

«These four are called Heavenly Gruel. Heavenly Gruel is the food of Heaven, and if he’s already gotten food from Heaven, what use does he have for men?» — el texto nombra Gachas Celestes a esas cuatro y declara que quien ya come del Cielo no precisa de los hombres.

«He has the form of a man but not the feelings of a man. Since he has the form of a man, he bands together with other men. Since he doesn’t have the feelings of a man, right and wrong cannot get at him. Puny and small, he sticks with the rest of men. Massive and great, he perfects his Heaven alone.» — el texto describe la doble condición del sabio: por la forma se junta con los hombres, por la falta de sentimientos el acierto y el error no lo alcanzan.

«Some days later, Duke Ai reported his conversation to Min Zi.7 “At first, when I faced south and became ruler of the realm, I tried» — el duque Ai refiere a Min Zi su conversación y recuerda lo que creía entender cuando se sentó a gobernar; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 68.

«to look after the regulation of the people and worried that they might die. I really thought I understood things perfectly. But now that I’ve heard the words of a Perfect Man, I’m afraid there was nothing to my understanding—I was thinking too little of my own welfare and ruining the state. Confucius and I are not subject and ruler—we are friends in virtue, that’s all.”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el duque Ai declara que ya no se tiene por entendido y que él y Confucius no son señor y súbdito sino amigos en la virtud; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Huizi said to Zhuangzi, “Can a man really be without feelings?”» — Huizi disputa a Zhuangzi que un hombre pueda carecer de sentimientos, y Zhuangzi responde que el Camino le dio cara y el Cielo forma.

«Huizi: “If he doesn’t try to help life along, then how can he keep himself alive?” Zhuangzi: “The Way gave him a face; Heaven gave him a form. He doesn’t let likes or dislikes get in and do him harm. You, now—you treat your spirit like an outsider. You wear out your energy, leaning on a tree and moaning, slumping at your desk and dozing—Heaven picked out a body for you and you use it to gibber about ‘hard’ and ‘white’!”» — Huizi objeta cómo se mantendría vivo, y Zhuangzi le devuelve el reproche: trata a su propio espíritu como a un extraño y gasta la energía que el Cielo le dio en balbucear sobre lo duro y lo blanco; el tramo arranca en la plana 69.

«Zhuangzi: “That’s not what I mean by feelings. When I talk» — Zhuangzi acota su propia afirmación sobre los sentimientos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la acotación termina en la 69.

«about having no feelings, I mean that a man doesn’t allow likes or dislikes to get in and do him harm. He just lets things be the way they are and doesn’t try to help life along.”» — la acotación, ya en la plana siguiente: no tener sentimientos es no dejar que gustos y disgustos entren a hacer daño, dejar que las cosas sean como son y no forzar la vida; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«He who knows what it is that Heaven does, and knows what it is that man does, has reached the peak. Knowing what it is that Heaven does, he lives with Heaven. Knowing what it is that man does, he uses the knowledge of what he knows to help out the knowledge of what he doesn’t know and lives out the years that Heaven gave him without being cut off midway—this is the perfection of knowledge.» — abre *The Great and Venerable Teacher* poniendo la cima en saber qué hace el Cielo y qué hace el hombre, y llama perfección del conocimiento a vivir los años recibidos sin ser cortado a media senda.

«However, there is a difficulty. Knowledge must wait for something before it can be applicable, and that which it waits for is never certain. How, then, can I know that what I call Heaven is not really man and what I call man is not really Heaven? There must first be a True Man1 before there can be true knowledge.» — el texto se pone enseguida la dificultad: el conocimiento espera algo que nunca es cierto, y de ahí que primero haya de haber un Hombre Verdadero para que haya conocimiento verdadero.

«What do I mean by a True Man? The True Man of ancient times did not rebel against want, did not grow proud in plenty, and did not plan his affairs. A man like this could commit an error and not regret it, could meet with success and not make a show. A man like this could climb the high places and not be frightened, could enter the water and not get wet, could enter the fire and not get burned. His knowledge was able to climb all the way up to the Way like this.» — el texto describe al Hombre Verdadero de la antigüedad: ni se rebelaba en la escasez ni se engreía en la abundancia, y ni el agua lo mojaba ni el fuego lo quemaba.

«The True Man of ancient times slept without dreaming and woke without care; he ate without savoring; and his breath came from deep inside. The True Man breathes with his heels; the mass of men breathe with their throats. Crushed and bound down, they gasp out their words as though they were retching. Deep in their passions and desires, they are shallow in the workings of Heaven.» — el texto da la marca del Hombre Verdadero por el aliento: respira con los talones mientras la masa de los hombres respira con la garganta, y quien es hondo en pasiones es somero en las obras del Cielo.

«The True Man of ancient times knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hating death. He emerged without delight; he went back in without a fuss. He came briskly, he went briskly, and that was all. He didn’t forget where he began; he didn’t try to find» — el texto declara que el Hombre Verdadero nada sabía de amar la vida ni de odiar la muerte, y venía y se iba con presteza; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«out where he would end. He received something and took pleasure in it; he forgot about it and handed it back again. This is what I call not using the mind to repel the Way, not using man to help out Heaven. This is what I call the True Man.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: recibía algo y lo gozaba, lo olvidaba y lo devolvía, sin usar la mente para repeler el Camino ni al hombre para ayudar al Cielo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Since he is like this, his mind forgets;2 his face is calm; his forehead is broad. He is chilly like autumn, balmy like spring, and his joy and anger prevail through the four seasons. He goes along with what is right for things, and no one knows his limit.» — el texto retrata al Hombre Verdadero por su temple: frío como el otoño y templado como la primavera, con su gozo y su ira corriendo por las cuatro estaciones.

«Therefore, when the sage calls out the troops, he may overthrow nations, but he will not lose the hearts of the people. His bounty enriches ten thousand ages, but he has no love for men.» — el texto declara del sabio que puede derribar naciones sin perder el corazón del pueblo, y que su largueza enriquece diez mil edades sin que ame a los hombres.

«Therefore he who delights in bringing success to things is not a sage; he who has affections is not benevolent; he who looks for the right time is not a worthy man; he who cannot encompass both profit and loss is not a gentleman; he who thinks of conduct and fame and misleads himself is not a man of breeding; and he who destroys himself and is without truth is not a user of men.» — el texto enumera seis figuras que quedan fuera por exceso de virtud aparente: el que se deleita en el éxito de las cosas no es sabio, ni es benevolente el que tiene afectos.

«Those like Hu Buxie, Wu Guang, Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Ji Zi, Xu Yu, Ji Tuo, and Shentu Di—all of them slaved in the service of other men, took joy in bringing other men joy, but could not find joy in any joy of their own.» — el texto nombra ocho ejemplares de esa servidumbre: todos se afanaron al servicio de otros y no hallaron gozo en gozo propio.

«This was the True Man of old: his bearing was lofty and did not crumble; he appeared to lack but accepted nothing; he was dignified in his correctness but not insistent; he was vast in his emptiness but not ostentatious. Mild and cheerful, he seemed to be happy; reluctant, he could not help doing certain things; annoyed, he let it show in his face; relaxed, he rested in his virtue. Tolerant,4 he seemed to be part of the world; towering alone, he could be checked by nothing; withdrawn, he seemed to prefer to cut himself off; bemused, he forgot what he was going to say.» — el texto da otro retrato del Hombre Verdadero por pares que se contrapesan: digno sin insistir, vasto en su vacío sin ostentación, solo en su altura y sin que nada lo detenga.

«He regarded penalties as the body, rites as the wings, wisdom as what is timely, virtue as what is reasonable. Because he regarded penalties as the body, he was benign in his killing. Because he regarded rites as the wings, he got along in the world. Because he regarded wisdom as what is timely, there were things that he could not keep from doing. Because he regarded virtue as what is reasonable, he was like a man with two feet who gets to the top of the hill. And yet people really believed that he worked hard to get there.» — el texto reparte en cuatro lo que el Hombre Verdadero tenía por cuerpo, alas, oportunidad y razón, y remata con la gente creyendo que le costaba trabajo llegar arriba.

«Therefore his liking was one, and his not liking was one. His being one was one, and his not being one was one. In being one, he was acting as a companion of Heaven. In not being one, he was acting as a companion of man. When man and Heaven do not defeat each other, then we may be said to have the True Man.» — el texto cierra el retrato con la doble unidad: siendo uno era compañero del Cielo y no siendo uno compañero del hombre, y del no vencerse mutuamente los dos sale el Hombre Verdadero; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Life and death are fated—constant as the succession of dark and dawn, a matter of Heaven. There are some things that man can do nothing about—all are a matter of the nature of creatures.» — el texto declara fatales la vida y la muerte, constantes como la sucesión de la noche y el alba, y pone lo que el hombre no puede remediar en la naturaleza de las criaturas.

«If a man is willing to regard Heaven as a father and to love it, then how much more should he be willing to do for that which is even greater!7 If he is willing to regard the ruler as superior to himself and to die for him, then how much more should he be willing to do for the Truth!» — el texto arguye a fortiori desde el padre y desde el señor hacia aquello que es aún mayor, y hacia la Verdad.

«When the springs dry up and the fish are left stranded on the ground, they spew one another with moisture and wet one another down with spit—but it would be much better if they could forget one another in the rivers and lakes. Instead of praising Yao and condemning Jie, it would be better to forget both of them and transform yourself with the Way.» — el texto pone los peces varados que se humedecen con saliva y declara que mejor sería olvidarse unos de otros en ríos y lagos, como mejor sería olvidar a Yao y a Jie en vez de alabar al uno y condenar al otro; el capítulo 14 repite la primera mitad palabra por palabra y sigue por otro camino, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«The Great Clod burdens me with form, labors me with life, eases me in old age, and rests me in death. So if I think well of my life, for the same reason I must think well of my death.8 You hide your boat in the ravine and your fish net9 in the swamp and tell yourself that they will be safe. But in the middle of the night, a strong man shoulders them and carries them off, and in your stupidity, you don’t know why it happened.» — el texto enuncia el argumento que ata la vida a la muerte, el Gran Terrón que carga de forma, afana con la vida, alivia en la vejez y descansa en la muerte, y lo sigue con el barco escondido en la cañada del que un forzudo se lleva de noche; el propio capítulo sexto repite la sentencia del Gran Terrón en la plana 75 y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición, que es la que lleva la llamada a la nota 8; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«You think you do right to hide little things in big ones, and yet they get away from you. But if you were to hide the world in the world, so that nothing could get away, this would be the final reality of the constancy of things.» — el texto saca la moraleja del barco escondido: esconder lo pequeño en lo grande no basta, y solo esconder el mundo en el mundo sería la realidad última de la constancia de las cosas.

«You have had the audacity to take on human form, and you are delighted. But the human form has ten thousand changes that never come to an end. Your joys, then, must be uncountable.» — el texto declara que la forma humana tiene diez mil cambios sin fin y que por eso los gozos de quien la toma son incontables.

«Therefore, the sage wanders in the realm where things cannot get away from him, and all are preserved. He delights in early death; he delights in old age; he delights in the beginning; he delights in the end. If he can serve as a model for men, how much more so that which the ten thousand things are tied to and all changes alike wait for!» — el texto sitúa al sabio en el reino del que nada se escapa, donde se deleita por igual en la muerte temprana y en la vejez, en el comienzo y en el fin.

«The Way has its reality and its signs but is without action or form. You can hand it down, but you cannot receive it; you can get it, but you cannot see it. It is its own source, its own root.» — el texto define el Camino por lo que tiene y lo que no: realidad y signos, sin acción ni forma; se transmite y no se recibe, se obtiene y no se ve, y es su propia fuente y su propia raíz; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Before Heaven and earth existed, it was there, firm from ancient times. It gave spirituality to the spirits and to God; it gave birth to Heaven and to earth.» — el texto pone al Camino antes del cielo y la tierra, y le adjudica haber dado espiritualidad a los espíritus y a Dios y haber engendrado el cielo y la tierra.

«It exists beyond the highest point, and yet you cannot call it lofty; it exists beneath the limit of the six directions, and yet you cannot call it deep. It was born before Heaven and earth, and yet you cannot say it has been there for long; it is earlier than the earliest time, and yet you cannot call it old.» — el texto niega al Camino los predicados que parecerían seguirse de su posición: ni alto ni hondo, ni antiguo ni viejo.

«Xiwei got it and held up heaven and earth.10 Fu Xi got it and entered into the mother of breath. The Big Dipper got it and from ancient times has never wavered.» — el texto abre el catálogo de quienes obtuvieron el Camino, de Xiwei sosteniendo cielo y tierra a la Osa Mayor que nunca vaciló; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The Yellow Emperor got it and ascended to the cloudy heavens. Zhuan Xu got it and dwelled in the Dark Palace. Yuqiang got it and stood at the limit of the north. The Queen Mother of the West got it and took her seat on Shaoguang—nobody knows her beginning, nobody knows her end. Pengzu got it and lived from the age of Shun to the age of the Five Dictators.12 Fu Yue got it and became minister to Wuding, who extended his rule over the whole world; then Fu Yue climbed up to the Eastern Governor, straddled the Winnowing Basket and the Tail, and took his place among the ranks of stars.» — el catálogo sigue con el Emperador Amarillo que ascendió a los cielos nubosos, la Reina Madre de Occidente en Shaoguang de quien nadie sabe principio ni fin, y Fu Yue que acabó entre las filas de las estrellas; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Nanpo Zikui said to the Woman Crookback, “You are old in years, and yet your complexion is that of a child. Why is this?”» — Nanpo Zikui pregunta a la Mujer Jorobada por su tez de niña en tantos años, y ella responde haber oído el Camino.

«“Goodness, how could that be? Anyway, you aren’t the man to do it. Now there’s Buliang Yi—he has the talent of a sage but not the Way of a sage, whereas I have the Way of a sage but not the talent of a sage. I thought I would try to teach him and see if I could really get anywhere near to making him a sage. It’s easier to explain the Way of a sage to someone who has the talent of a sage, you know. So I began explaining and kept at him for three days,14 and after that he was able to put the world outside» — la Mujer Jorobada niega que el Camino se aprenda así y distingue el talento de sabio del Camino de sabio, que ella tiene sin el talento; y cuenta que a Buliang Yi le llevó tres días poner el mundo fuera de sí; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«Nanpo Zikui asked, “Where did you happen to hear this?” “I heard it from the son of Aided-by-Ink, and Aided-by-Ink heard it from the grandson of Repeated-Recitation, and the grandson of Repeated-Recitation heard it from Seeing-Brightly, and Seeing-Brightly heard it from Whispered-Agreement, and Whispered-Agreement heard it from Waiting-for-Use, and Waiting-for-Use heard it from Exclaimed-Wonder, and Exclaimed-Wonder heard it from Dark-Obscurity, and Dark-Obscurity heard it from Participation-in-Mystery, and Participation-in-Mystery heard it from Copy-the-Source!”» — la Mujer Jorobada da la cadena por la que le llegó el Camino, con diez eslabones de nombre propio, de Ayudado-por-la-Tinta a Copia-la-Fuente.

«himself. When he had put the world outside himself, I kept at him for seven days more, and after that he was able to put things outside himself. When he had put things outside himself, I kept at him for nine days more, and after that he was able to put life outside himself. After he had put life outside himself, he was able to achieve the brightness of dawn, and when he had achieved the brightness of dawn, he could see his own aloneness. After he had managed to see his own aloneness, he could do away with past and present, and after he had done away with past and present, he was able to enter where there is no life and no death.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: la escala de días con que Buliang Yi puso fuera el mundo, luego las cosas, luego la vida, y alcanzó la claridad del alba, vio su propia soledad, abolió el pasado y el presente y entró donde no hay vida ni muerte; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«That which kills life does not die; that which gives life to life does not live.15 This is the kind of thing it is: there’s nothing it doesn’t send off, nothing it doesn’t welcome, nothing it doesn’t destroy, nothing it doesn’t complete. Its name is Peace-in-Strife. After the strife, it attains completion.”» — la Mujer Jorobada nombra aquello de lo que habla: lo que mata la vida no muere y lo que da vida a la vida no vive, y su nombre es Paz-en-la-Contienda; el capítulo 22 repite la primera sentencia y se ancla aquí, en la aparición que lleva la llamada a la nota 15; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«All at once, Master Yu fell ill. Master Si went to ask how he was. “Amazing!” said Master Yu. “The Creator is making me all crookedy like this! My back sticks up like a hunchback, and my vital organs are on top of me. My chin is hidden in my navel, my shoulders are up above my head, and my pigtail points at the sky. It must be some dislocation of the yin and yang!”» — Master Yu, enfermo y deforme, llama asombroso lo que el Creador hace con él y lo atribuye a una dislocación del yin y el yang.

«Yet he seemed calm at heart and unconcerned. Dragging himself haltingly to the well, he looked at his reflection and said, “My, my! So the Creator is making me all crookedy like this!”» — el texto consigna que Master Yu, mirándose en el pozo, sigue tranquilo de corazón; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Why no, what would I resent? If the process continues, perhaps in time he’ll transform my left arm into a rooster. In that case I’ll keep watch during the night. Or perhaps in time he’ll transform my right arm into a cross-bow pellet, and I’ll shoot down an owl for roasting. Or perhaps in time he’ll transform my buttocks into cartwheels. Then, with my spirit for a horse, I’ll climb up and go for a ride. What need will I ever have for a carriage again?» — Master Yu declara no tener nada que resentir y enumera en qué podría tocarle convertirse: gallo para dar la hora, bala de ballesta, ruedas de carro con el espíritu por caballo.

«“I received life because the time had come; I will lose it because the order of things passes on. Be content with this time and dwell in this order, and then neither sorrow nor joy can touch you. In ancient times this was called the ‘freeing of the bound.’ There are those who cannot free themselves because they are bound by things. But nothing can ever win against Heaven— that’s the way it’s always been. What would I have to resent?”» — Master Yu nombra la fórmula antigua del soltar las ataduras: recibió la vida porque llegó su tiempo y la perderá porque el orden pasa, y contra el Cielo nada gana nadie.

«Suddenly Master Lai grew ill. Gasping and wheezing, he lay at the point of death. His wife and children gathered round in a circle and began to cry. Master Li, who had come to ask how he was, said, “Shoo! Get back! Don’t disturb the process of change!”» — Master Li aparta de Master Lai moribundo a la familia que llora, para no estorbar el proceso del cambio.

«Then he leaned against the doorway and talked to Master Lai. “How marvelous the Creator is! What is he going to make out of you next? Where is he going to send you? Will he make you into a rat’s liver? Will he make you into a bug’s arm?”» — Master Li pregunta al moribundo en qué lo hará el Creador ahora, si hígado de rata o brazo de bicho.

«Master Lai said, “A child, obeying his father and mother, goes wherever he is told, east or west, south or north. And the yin and yang—how much more are they to a man than father or mother! Now that they have brought me to the verge of death, if I should refuse to obey them, how perverse I would be! What fault is it of» — Master Lai compara el yin y el yang con los padres a quienes el hijo obedece y llama perverso resistirse a ellos ante la muerte; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«Master Si, Master Yu, Master Li, and Master Lai were all four talking together. “Who can look on nonbeing as his head, on life» — los cuatro maestros se juntan a hablar y plantean la pregunta que los hará amigos; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la pregunta termina en la 74.

«as his back, and on death as his rump?” they said. “Who knows that life and death, existence and annihilation, are all a single body? I will be his friend!” The four men looked at one another and smiled. There was no disagreement in their hearts, and so the four of them became friends.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: quien tiene el no ser por cabeza, la vida por lomo y la muerte por grupa, y sabe que vida y muerte, existencia y aniquilación son un solo cuerpo, será amigo de los cuatro; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«theirs? The Great Clod burdens me with form, labors me with life, eases me in old age, and rests me in death. So if I think well of my life, for the same reason I must think well of my death. When a skilled smith is casting metal, if the metal should leap up and say, ‘I insist on being made into a Moye!’17 he would surely regard it as very inauspicious metal indeed.» — Master Lai repite la sentencia del Gran Terrón que el capítulo ya trajo en la plana 72, esta vez sin la llamada de nota, y la sigue con el herrero al que el metal exigiera ser hecho una espada Moye; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Master Sanghu, Mengzi Fan, and Master Qinzhang, three friends, said to one another, “Who can join with others without joining with others? Who can do with others without doing with others? Who can climb up to heaven and wander in the mists, roam the infinite, and forget life forever and forever?” The three men looked at one another and smiled. There was no disagreement in their hearts, and so they became friends.» — otros tres amigos se juntan por la misma clase de pregunta: quién puede juntarse con otros sin juntarse, y olvidar la vida por siempre; el tramo arranca en la plana 76.

«After some time had passed without event, Master Sanghu died. He had not yet been buried when Confucius, hearing of his death, sent Zigong to assist at the funeral. When Zigong arrived, he found one of the dead man’s friends weaving frames for silkworms, while the other strummed a lute. Joining their voices, they sang this song: Ah, Sanghu! Ah, Sanghu! You have gone back to your true form While we remain as men, O!» — muerto Master Sanghu y sin enterrar, Zigong halla a sus dos amigos tejiendo bastidores y tañendo el laúd, y cantándole que ha vuelto a su forma verdadera mientras ellos siguen de hombres.

«Zigong hastened forward and said, “May I be so bold as to ask what sort of ceremony this is—singing in the very presence of the corpse?” The two men looked at each other and laughed. “What does this man know of the meaning of ceremony?” they said.» — Zigong objeta el canto ante el cadáver y los dos amigos le devuelven la pregunta por el sentido de la ceremonia.

«“Such men as they,” said Confucius, “wander beyond the realm; men like me wander within it. Beyond and within can never meet. It was stupid of me to send you to offer condolences.» — Confucius reparte los dos ámbitos: ellos vagan fuera del reino y él dentro, y los dos no pueden encontrarse, por lo que llama estupidez suya haber mandado el pésame.

«Now, having had the audacity to take on human form once, if I should say, ‘I don’t want to be anything but a man! Nothing but a man!’ the Creator would surely regard me as a most inauspicious sort of person.» — Master Lai aplica la figura del herrero a sí mismo: insistir en ser nada más que hombre lo volvería persona de mal agüero.

«think of heaven and earth as a great furnace, and the Creator as a skilled smith. Where could he send me that would not be all right? I will go off to sleep peacefully, and then with a start, I will wake up.”» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: Master Lai tiene el cielo y la tierra por un gran horno y al Creador por herrero diestro, y ningún destino le parece mal; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Even now they have joined with the Creator as men to wander in the single breath of heaven and earth. They look on life as a swelling» — Confucius describe a esos hombres unidos al Creador en el aliento único del cielo y la tierra; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la comparación remata en la 77.

«tumor, a protruding wen, and on death as the draining of a sore or the bursting of a boil.» — la comparación, ya en la plana siguiente: tienen la vida por tumor hinchado y la muerte por el vaciarse de la llaga; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Zigong returned and reported to Confucius what had happened. “What sort of men are they, anyway?” he asked. “They pay no attention to proper behavior, disregard their personal appearance and, without so much as changing the expression on their faces, sing in the very presence of the corpse! I can think of no name for them!» — Zigong refiere el caso a Confucius y declara no hallar nombre para hombres que desatienden la conducta propia y cantan ante el cadáver; el capítulo 21 repite el arranque de la frase con otro desenlace, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«They borrow the forms of different creatures and house them in the same body. They forget liver and gall, cast aside ears and eyes, turning and revolving, ending and beginning again, unaware of where they start or finish. Idly they roam beyond the dust and dirt; they wander free and easy in the service of inaction.» — Confucius describe a los que vagan fuera del reino: toman prestadas las formas de criaturas distintas para alojarlas en un mismo cuerpo, olvidan hígado y hiel y descartan oídos y ojos.

«Why should they fret and fuss about the ceremonies of the vulgar world and make a display for the ears and eyes of the common herd?”» — Confucius pregunta por qué habrían de afanarse esos hombres en las ceremonias del mundo vulgar.

«Confucius said, “I am one of those men punished by Heaven. Nevertheless, I will share with you what I have.”» — Confucius se declara a sí mismo castigado por el Cielo y aun así dispuesto a compartir lo que tiene.

«Confucius said, “Fish thrive in water, man thrives in the Way. For those that thrive in water, dig a pond, and they will find nourishment enough. For those that thrive in the Way, don’t bother about them, and their lives will be secure. So it is said, the fish forget one another in the rivers and lakes, and men forget one another in the arts of the Way.”» — Confucius define el reino con el paralelo del pez y el hombre: como los peces se olvidan unos de otros en ríos y lagos, los hombres se olvidan unos de otros en las artes del Camino.

«Zigong said, “May I ask about the singular man?” “The singular man is singular in comparison to other men, but a companion of Heaven. So it is said, the petty man of Heaven is a gentleman among men; the gentleman among men is the petty man of Heaven.”» — Confucius define al hombre singular por el cruce de las dos escalas: el hombre menudo del Cielo es caballero entre los hombres y el caballero entre los hombres es el hombre menudo del Cielo.

«Yan Hui said to Confucius, “When Mengsun Cai’s mother died, he wailed without shedding any tears; he did not grieve in his heart; and he conducted the funeral without any look of sorrow. He fell down on these three counts, and yet he is known all over the state of Lu for the excellent way he managed the funeral. Is it really possible to gain such a reputation when there are no facts to support it? I find it very peculiar indeed!”» — Yan Hui plantea el caso de Mengsun Cai, que faltó en los tres deberes del duelo y aun así tiene fama en Lu por su manejo del funeral.

«Confucius said, “Mengsun did all there was to do. He was advanced beyond ordinary understanding, and he would have simplified things even more, but that wasn’t practical. However, there is still a lot that he simplified.» — Confucius responde que Mengsun hizo todo lo que había que hacer y que habría simplificado más de haber sido practicable.

«he lives and doesn’t know why he dies. He doesn’t know why he should go ahead; he doesn’t know why he should fall behind. In the process of change, he has become a thing [among other things], and he is merely waiting for some other change that he doesn’t yet know about.» — Confucius describe a Mengsun como quien no sabe por qué vive ni por qué muere y, vuelto cosa en el proceso del cambio, espera otro cambio que aún ignora; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor y el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Moreover, when he is changing, how does he know that he really is changing? And when he is not changing, how does he know that he hasn’t already changed?» — Confucius lleva la duda al propio cambio: quien cambia no sabe que cambia ni quien no cambia sabe que no ha cambiado ya.

«You and I, now—we are dreaming and haven’t waked up yet. But in his case, though something may startle his body, it won’t injure his mind; though something may alarm the house [his spirit lives in], his emotions will suffer no death. Mengsun alone has waked up. Men wail and so he wails, too—that’s the reason he acts like this.» — Confucius declara que él y Yan Hui siguen soñando y que solo Mengsun ha despertado, y explica su llanto: llora porque los hombres lloran; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«“What’s more, we go around telling one another, I do this, I do that—but how do we know that this ‘I’ we talk about has any ‘I’ to it? You dream you’re a bird and soar up into the sky; you dream you’re a fish and dive down in the pool. But now when you tell me about it, I don’t know whether you are awake or whether you are dreaming.» — Confucius pone en duda el propio yo del que se habla, y da los sueños del pájaro y del pez como casos en que no se sabe si quien cuenta está despierto.

«Running around accusing others19 is not as good as laughing, and enjoying a good laugh is not as good as going along with things. Be content to go along and forget about change, and then you can enter the mysterious oneness of Heaven.”» — Confucius escalona tres actitudes, acusar, reír e ir con las cosas, y pone en la última la entrada a la unidad misteriosa del Cielo.

«Yi Erzi went to see Xu You.20 Xu You said, “What kind of assistance has Yao been giving you?” Yi Erzi said, “Yao told me, ‘You must learn to practice benevolence and righteousness and to speak clearly about right and wrong!’” “Then why come to see me?” said Xu You. “Yao has already tattooed you with benevolence and righteousness and cut off your nose with right and wrong.21 Now how do you expect to go wandering in any faraway, carefree, and as-you-like-it paths?”» — Xu You objeta a Yi Erzi que Yao ya lo tatuó con la benevolencia y la rectitud y le cortó la nariz con el acierto y el error, y pregunta cómo espera vagar por sendas libres; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“That may be,” said Yi Erzi. “But I would like, if I may, to wander in a little corner of them.” “Impossible!” said Xu You. “Eyes that are blind have no way to tell the loveliness of faces and features; eyes with no pupils have no way to tell the beauty of colored and embroidered silks.”» — Yi Erzi pide al menos un rincón de esas sendas y Xu You lo niega con la imagen del ciego que no puede juzgar rostros ni sedas bordadas.

«Yi Erzi said, “Yes, but Wuzhuang forgot her beauty, Juliang forgot his strength, and the Yellow Emperor forgot his wisdom— all were content to be recast and remolded.22 How do you know that the Creator will not wipe away my tattoo, stick my nose back on again, and let me ride on the process of completion and follow after you, Master?”» — Yi Erzi replica con tres que olvidaron lo suyo, la belleza, la fuerza y la sabiduría, y confía en que el Creador borre su tatuaje y le devuelva la nariz; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“Ah—we can never tell,” said Xu You. “I will just speak to you about the general outline. This Teacher of mine, this Teacher of mine—he passes judgment on the ten thousand things, but he doesn’t think himself righteous; his bounty extends to ten thousand generations, but he doesn’t think himself benevolent. He is older than the highest antiquity, but he doesn’t think himself long-lived; he covers heaven, bears up the earth, carves and fashions countless forms, but he doesn’t think himself skilled. It is with him alone I wander.”» — Xu You describe a su Maestro por lo que no se atribuye: juzga las diez mil cosas sin tenerse por recto, cubre el cielo y sostiene la tierra sin tenerse por diestro.

«Yan Hui said, “I’m improving!” Confucius said, “What do you mean by that?” “I’ve forgotten benevolence and righteousness!” “That’s good. But you still haven’t got it.” Another day, the two met again, and Yan Hui said, “I’m improving!” “What do you mean by that?” “I’ve forgotten rites and music!” “That’s good. But you still haven’t got it.” Another day, the two met again, and Yan Hui said, “I’m improving!” “What do you mean by that?” “I can sit down and forget everything!”» — la escalera de olvidos de Yan Hui: primero la benevolencia y la rectitud, después los ritos y la música, y al fin el sentarse y olvidarlo todo, con Confucius negando cada vez que baste; el propio capítulo repite tres veces la misma fórmula de apertura y se ancla en la primera.

«Yan Hui said, “I smash up my limbs and body, drive out perception and intellect, cast off form, do away with understanding, and make myself identical with the Great Thoroughfare. This is what I mean by sitting down and forgetting everything.”» — Yan Hui define el sentarse a olvidar: deshacer miembros y cuerpo, expulsar percepción e intelecto, desechar la forma y hacerse idéntico a la Gran Vía; el troceo imprime este pasaje con una palabra por renglón y la herramienta las devuelve seguidas.

«Confucius said, “If you’re identical with it, you must have no more likes! If you’ve been transformed, you must have no more constancy! So you really are a worthy man after all!23 With your permission, I’d like to become your follower.”» — Confucius saca las dos consecuencias del sentarse a olvidar, ya sin gustos y sin constancia, y pide volverse seguidor de su propio discípulo.

«Master Yu and Master Sang were friends. Once, it rained incessantly for ten days. Master Yu said to himself, Master Sang is probably having a bad time, and he wrapped up some rice and took it for his friend to eat. When he got to Master Sang’s gate, he heard something like singing or crying and someone striking a lute and saying: Father? Mother? Heaven? Man? It was as though the voice would not hold out and the singer were rushing to get through the words.» — Master Yu lleva arroz a Master Sang tras diez días de lluvia y lo halla cantando cuatro palabras sueltas, padre, madre, Cielo, hombre; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“I was pondering what it is that has brought me to this extremity, but I couldn’t find the answer. My father and mother surely wouldn’t wish this poverty on me. Heaven covers all without partiality; earth bears up all without partiality—heaven and earth surely wouldn’t single me out to make me poor. I try to discover who is doing it, but I can’t get the answer. Still, here I am —at the very extreme. It must be fate.”» — Master Sang cierra el capítulo sexto descartando uno por uno a los culpables posibles de su miseria, padres, Cielo y tierra, y llamando destino a lo que queda.

«Nie Que was questioning Wang Ni. Four times he asked a question, and four times Wang Ni said he didn’t know. Nie Que proceeded to hop around in great glee and went and told Master Puyi.» — abre *Fit for Emperors and Kings* con Nie Que brincando de alegría porque Wang Ni le respondió cuatro veces que no sabía.

«Master Puyi said, “Are you just now finding that out?1 The clansman Youyu was no match for the clansman Tai.2 The clansman Youyu still held on to benevolence and worked to win men over. He won men over all right, but he never got out into» — Master Puyi opone dos jefes de clan: Youyu, que se aferró a la benevolencia y ganó a los hombres sin salir del reino del no hombre; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor y el tramo se corta; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The clansman Tai, now—he lay down peaceful and easy; he woke up wide-eyed and blank. Sometimes he thought he was a horse; sometimes he thought he was a cow. His understanding was truly trustworthy; his virtue was perfectly true. He never entered [the realm of] ‘non-man.’”» — Master Puyi describe al clansman Tai, que despertaba con los ojos abiertos y en blanco y a ratos se tenía por caballo y a ratos por vaca; el troceo imprime *notman* sin guion en la primera mención y *non-man* con guion en esta.

«Jian Wu went to see the madman Jie Yu. Jie Yu said, “What was Zhong Shi telling you the other day?”4 Jian Wu said, “He told me that the ruler of men should devise his own principles, standards, ceremonies, and regulations, and then there will be no one who will fail to obey him and be transformed by them.”» — Jian Wu refiere a Jie Yu la doctrina de Zhong Shi, que el que manda ha de dictar sus principios y reglas para que todos obedezcan.

«The madman Jie Yu said, “This is bogus virtue! To try to govern the world like this is like trying to walk the ocean, to drill through a river, or to make a mosquito shoulder a mountain! When the sage governs, does he govern what is on the outside? He makes sure of himself first, and then he acts. He makes absolutely certain that things can do what they are supposed to do, that is all.» — Jie Yu llama virtud espuria a eso y lo compara con caminar el océano o hacer que un mosquito cargue una montaña, y dice qué hace el sabio en cambio: asegurarse de sí primero.

«The bird flies high in the sky where it can escape the danger of stringed arrows. The field mouse burrows deep down under the sacred hill where it won’t have to worry about men digging and smoking it out. Have you got less sense than these two little creatures?”» — Jie Yu cierra con el ave que vuela alto y el ratón que se hunde bajo el cerro sagrado, y pregunta si el hombre tiene menos sentido que esos dos bichos.

«The Nameless Man said, “Get away from me, you peasant! What kind of a dreary question is that! I’m just about to set off with the Creator. And if I get bored with that, then I’ll ride on the Light-and-Lissome Bird out beyond the six directions, wandering in the village of Not-Even-Anything and living in the Broad-and-Borderless field. What business5 do you have coming with this talk of governing the world and disturbing my mind?”» — el Hombre Sin Nombre echa a Tian Gen por preguntarle cómo gobernar el mundo, y dice lo que él está a punto de hacer, salir con el Creador y vagar por la aldea de Nada-en-Absoluto; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«But Tian Gen repeated his question. The Nameless Man said, “Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views—then the world will be governed.”» — ante la insistencia, el Hombre Sin Nombre da la única regla de gobierno que concede: dejar vagar la mente en la simplicidad y no hacer sitio a las opiniones personales.

«Yangzi Ju6 went to see Lao Dan and said, “Here is a man swift as an echo, strong as a beam, with a wonderfully clear understanding of the principles of things, studying the Way without ever letting up—a man like this could compare with an enlightened king, couldn’t he?”» — Yangzi Ju propone a Lao Dan al hombre veloz, fuerte y de entendimiento claro que estudia el Camino sin descanso como comparable a un rey iluminado.

«Lao Dan said, “In comparison with the sage, a man like this is a drudging slave, a craftsman bound to his calling, wearing out his body, grieving his mind. They say it is the beautiful markings of the tiger and the leopard that call out the hunters, the nimbleness of the monkey and the ability of the dog to catch rats7 that make them end up chained. A man like this—how could he compare with an enlightened king?”» — Lao Dan llama a ese hombre esclavo afanado y artesano atado a su oficio, y lo compara con el tigre y el leopardo, cuyas bellas marcas llaman al cazador, y con el mono y el perro, que acaban encadenados por sus habilidades.

«Lao Dan said, “The government of the enlightened king? His achievements blanket the world but appear not to be his own doing. His transforming influence touches the ten thousand things, but the people do not depend on him. With him there is no promotion or praise—he lets everything find its own enjoyment. He takes his stand on what cannot be fathomed and wanders where there is nothing at all.”» — Lao Dan describe el gobierno del rey iluminado: sus logros cubren el mundo sin parecer suyos, su influencia toca las diez mil cosas sin que el pueblo dependa de él.

«Liezi went to see him and was completely intoxicated. Returning, he said to Huzi,9 “I used to think, Master, that your Way was perfect. But now I see there is something even higher!”» — Liezi sale embriagado del chamán y declara a Huzi que ve algo más alto que el Camino de su maestro; el tramo arranca en la plana 85.

«Huzi said, “I have already showed you all the outward forms, but I haven’t yet showed you the substance—and do you really think you have mastered this Way of mine? There may be a flock of hens, but if there is no rooster, how can they lay fertile eggs? You take what you know of the Way and wave it in the face of the world, expecting to be believed! This is the reason men can see right through you. Try bringing your shaman along next time and letting him get a look at me.”» — Huzi reprocha a Liezi haber aprendido solo las formas exteriores, con la imagen de las gallinas sin gallo, y lo reta a traerle al chamán.

«The next day Liezi brought the shaman to see Huzi. When they had left the room, the shaman said, “I’m so sorry—your master is dying! There’s no life left in him—he won’t last the week. I saw something very strange—something like wet ashes!”» — el chamán sentencia a Huzi moribundo tras la primera visita, por haber visto en él algo como ceniza mojada.

«Huzi said, “Just now I appeared to him with the Pattern of Earth—still and silent, nothing moving, nothing standing up. He probably saw in me the Workings of Virtue Closed Off.10 Try bringing him around again.”» — Huzi nombra la primera de sus cuatro apariencias, el Patrón de la Tierra, quieto y callado, y lo que el chamán tomó por ella; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Huzi said, “Just now I appeared to him as Heaven and Earth— no name or substance to it, but still the workings, coming up from the heels. He probably saw in me the Workings of the Good One.11 Try bringing him again.”» — Huzi nombra la segunda apariencia, Cielo y Tierra, sin nombre ni sustancia y con las obras subiendo desde los talones; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«In Zheng there was a shaman of the gods named Ji Xian. He could tell whether men would live or die, survive or perish, be fortunate or unfortunate, live a long time or die young, and he» — presenta al chamán Ji Xian, que sabía decir si un hombre viviría o moriría, prosperaría o perecería; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 85 con el detalle de sus predicciones.

«would predict the year, month, week,8 and day as though he were a god himself. When the people of Zheng saw him, they dropped everything and ran out of his way.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el chamán predecía año, mes, semana y día como si fuera un dios, y la gente de Zheng lo esquivaba; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The next day the two came to see Huzi again, but before the shaman had even come to a halt before Huzi, his wits left him and he fled. “Run after him!” said Huzi, but though Liezi ran after him, he could not catch up. Returning, he reported to Huzi, “He’s vanished! He’s disappeared! I couldn’t catch up with him.” Huzi said, “Just now I appeared to him as Not Yet Emerged from My Source. I came at him empty, wriggling and turning, not knowing anything about ‘who’ or ‘what,’ now dipping and bending, now flowing in waves—that’s why he ran away.”» — a la cuarta el chamán huye sin llegar a detenerse, y Huzi nombra la cuarta apariencia, No Salido Aún de Mi Fuente, con la que vino vacío y sin saber nada de quién ni de qué; el tramo arranca en la plana 86.

«After this, Liezi concluded that he had never really begun to learn anything.14 He went home and, for three years, did not go out. He replaced his wife at the stove, fed the pigs as though he were feeding people, and showed no preferences in the things he did. He got rid of the carving and polishing and returned to plainness, letting his body stand alone like a clod. In the midst of entanglement he remained sealed, and in this oneness he ended his life.» — Liezi concluye no haber empezado nunca a aprender y pasa tres años sin salir de casa, cocinando en lugar de su mujer y alimentando a los cerdos como a personas, vuelto a la simpleza como un terrón; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Do not be an embodier for fame; do not be a storehouse of schemes; do not be an undertaker of projects; do not be a proprietor of wisdom. Embody to the fullest what has no end and wander where there is no trail. Hold on to all that you have received from Heaven, but do not think you have gotten anything. Be empty, that is all.» — el texto da cuatro prohibiciones y dos mandatos: no ser encarnación de la fama ni almacén de planes, encarnar a fondo lo que no tiene fin y vagar donde no hay senda.

«Huzi said, “Just now I appeared to him as the Great Vastness Where Nothing Wins Out. He probably saw in me the Workings of» — Huzi nombra la tercera apariencia, la Gran Vastedad Donde Nada Vence; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 86 con los nueve nombres del abismo.

«the Balanced Breaths. Where the swirling waves12 gather, there is an abyss; where the still waters gather, there is an abyss; where the running waters gather, there is an abyss. The abyss has nine names, and I have shown him three.13 Try bringing him again.”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: las tres clases de abismo, el de las olas que giran, el de las aguas quietas y el de las corrientes, y la declaración de que el abismo tiene nueve nombres y le ha mostrado tres; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The emperor of the South Sea was called Shu [Brief]; the emperor of the North Sea was called Hu [Sudden]; and the emperor of the central region was called Hundun [Chaos]. From time to time, Shu and Hu came together for a meeting in the territory of Hundun, and Hundun treated them very generously. Shu and Hu discussed how they could repay his kindness. “All men,” they said, “have seven openings so they can see, hear, eat, and breathe. But Hundun alone doesn’t have any. Let’s trying» — presenta a Shu, Hu y Hundun, los tres emperadores, y el plan de los dos primeros para pagar la hospitalidad del Caos; los corchetes con la traducción de cada nombre son añadidura del traductor y el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«boring him some!” Every day they bored another hole, and on the seventh day Hundun died.» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: cada día un agujero, y al séptimo Hundun murió; con eso acaban los siete capítulos interiores; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Be empty, that is all. The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror —going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing. Therefore he can win out over things and not hurt himself.» — el texto da la figura del espejo: el Hombre Perfecto no persigue ni recibe, responde sin almacenar, y por eso vence a las cosas sin dañarse; una nota de Watson al capítulo 22 cita de vuelta la sentencia, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«Two toes webbed together, a sixth finger forking off—these come from the inborn nature but are excretions as far as Virtue is concerned.1 Swelling tumors and protruding wens—these come from the body but are excretions as far as the inborn nature is concerned.» — abre *Webbed Toes*, primero de los capítulos exteriores, con la pareja de excrecencias: los dedos palmeados vienen de la naturaleza innata pero sobran a la Virtud, y los tumores vienen del cuerpo pero sobran a la naturaleza innata; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Men over-nice in the ways of benevolence and righteousness try to put these into practice, even to line them up with the five vital organs!2 This is not the right approach to the Way and its Virtue.» — el texto acusa a los escrupulosos de la benevolencia y la rectitud de querer alinearlas hasta con los cinco órganos vitales, y lo niega como acercamiento al Camino.

«Thus he who is web toed in eyesight will be confused by the five colors, bewitched by patterns and designs, by the dazzling hues of blue and yellow, of embroidery and brocade—am I wrong? So we have Li Zhu.» — el texto aplica la figura al ojo: el palmeado de vista se confunde con los cinco colores y se embruja con bordados y brocados, y nombra a Li Zhu; el troceo imprime *web toed* sin guion.

«He who is overnice in hearing will be confused by the five notes, bewitched by the six tones, by the sounds of metal and stone, strings and woodwinds, the huangzhong and dalü pitch pipes— am I wrong? So we have Music Master Kuang.» — el texto aplica la figura al oído y nombra al Maestro de Música Kuang.

«He who is fork fingered with benevolence will tear out the Virtue given him and stifle his inborn nature in order to seize fame and reputation, leading the world on with pipe and drum in the service of an unattainable ideal—am I wrong? So we have Zeng and Shih.» — el texto aplica la figura a la benevolencia: el de dedo bifurcado arranca la Virtud que le fue dada y ahoga su naturaleza innata por la fama, y nombra a Zeng y a Shih.

«He who is web toed in argumentation will pile up bricks, knot the plumb line, apply the curve,6 letting his mind wander in the realm of “hard” and “white,” “likeness” and “difference,” huffing and puffing away, lauding his useless words—am I wrong? So we have Yang and Mo.» — el texto aplica la figura a la argumentación, con la mente vagando entre lo duro y lo blanco, y nombra a Yang y a Mo.

«He who holds to True Rightness8 does not lose the original form of his inborn nature. So for him, joined things are not webbed toes; things forking off are not superfluous fingers; the long is never too much; the short is never too little.» — el texto define al que se atiene a la Rectitud Verdadera por lo que no pierde, y por lo que en él deja de ser exceso o defecto; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The duck’s legs are short, but to stretch them out would worry him; the crane’s legs are long, but to cut them down would make him sad. What is long by nature needs no cutting off; what is short by nature needs no stretching. That would be no way to get rid of worry.» — el texto da la pareja del pato y la grulla: estirar las patas cortas y cortar las largas afligiría a cada uno, porque lo que es largo por naturaleza no pide corte.

«I wonder, then, whether benevolence and righteousness are part of man’s true form? Those benevolent men—how much worrying they do!» — el texto pone en duda que la benevolencia y la rectitud sean parte de la forma verdadera del hombre, y señala cuánto se afligen los benevolentes.

«If we must use curve and plumb line, compass and square, to make something right, this means cutting away its inborn nature; if we must use cords and knots, glue and lacquer, to make something firm, this means violating its natural Virtue. So the crouchings and bendings of rights and music, the smiles and beaming looks of benevolence and righteousness, which are intended to comfort the hearts of the world, in fact destroy their constant naturalness.» — el texto niega los instrumentos de la corrección: la curva y la plomada cortan la naturaleza innata y la cuerda y la laca violan la Virtud natural, y con ellos los ritos y la música destruyen la naturalidad constante.

«For in the world, there can be constant naturalness. Where there is constant naturalness, things are arced not by the use of the curve, straightened not by the use of the plumb line, rounded not by the compasses, squared not by T squares, joined not by glue and lacquer, bound not by ropes and lines.» — el texto describe la naturalidad constante por la lista de instrumentos que no hacen falta: nada arqueado por la curva ni cuadrado por la escuadra ni pegado por la laca.

«Then all things in the world, simple and compliant, live and never know how they happen to live; all things, rude and unwitting,12 get what they need and never know how they happen to get it.» — el texto declara que las cosas viven sin saber cómo viven y obtienen lo que necesitan sin saber cómo lo obtienen.

«A little confusion can alter the sense of direction; a great confusion can alter the inborn nature. How do I know this is so? Ever since that man of the Yu clan13 began preaching benevolence and righteousness and stirring up the world, all the men in the world have dashed headlong for benevolence and righteousness. This is because benevolence and righteousness have altered their inborn nature, is it not?» — el texto gradúa la confusión, la pequeña que altera el rumbo y la grande que altera la naturaleza innata, y pone por prueba la carrera del mundo entero tras la benevolencia desde el hombre del clan Yu; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Let me try explaining what I mean. From the Three Dynasties on down, everyone in the world has altered his inborn nature because of some [external] thing. The petty man?—he will risk death for the sake of profit. The knight?—he will risk it for the sake of fame. The high official?—he will risk it for family; the sage?—he will risk it for the world. All these various men go about the business in a different way and are tagged differently when it comes to fame and reputation; but in blighting their inborn nature and risking their lives for something, they are the same.» — el texto empareja al hombre menudo, al caballero, al alto funcionario y al sabio: cada cual arriesga la vida por otra cosa, y en malograr su naturaleza innata son lo mismo; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«The slave boy and the slave girl were out together herding their sheep, and both of them lost their flocks. Ask the slave boy how it happened: well, he had a bundle of writing slips and was reading a book.14 Ask the slave girl how it happened: well, she was playing a game of toss-and-wait-your-turn. They went about the business in different ways, but in losing their sheep, they were equal.» — el texto da la pareja de los dos esclavos que pierden sus rebaños, uno leyendo un libro y otra jugando: distinto el modo, igual la pérdida; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Bo Yi died for reputation at the foot of Shouyang Mountain; Robber Zhi died for gain on top of Eastern Mound.15 The two of them died different deaths, but in destroying their lives and blighting their inborn nature, they were equal. Why, then, must we say that Bo Yi was right and Robber Zhi wrong?» — el texto empareja a Bo Yi muerto por la fama y a Robber Zhi muerto por el botín, y pregunta por qué habría de darse la razón al uno y no al otro; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Everyone in the world risks his life for something. If he risks it for benevolence and righteousness, then custom names him a gentleman; if he risks it for goods and wealth, then custom names him a petty man. The risking is the same, and yet we have a gentleman here, a petty man there. In destroying their lives and blighting their inborn nature, Robber Zhi and Bo Yi were two of a kind. How then can we pick out the gentleman from the petty man in such a case?» — el texto señala que la costumbre llama caballero a quien arriesga la vida por la rectitud y hombre menudo a quien la arriesga por la riqueza, siendo igual el riesgo.

«When I speak of good hearing, I do not mean listening to others; I mean simply listening to yourself. When I speak of good eyesight, I do not mean looking at others; I mean simply looking at yourself.» — el texto redefine el buen oír y el buen ver como oírse y verse a sí mismo, no a los demás.

«He who does not look at himself but looks at others, who does not get hold of himself but gets hold of others, is getting what other men have got and failing to get what he himself has got.» — el texto describe al que se ase de otros: obtiene lo que otros tienen y falla en obtener lo suyo.

«He finds joy in what brings joy to other men but finds no joy in what would bring joy to himself. And if he finds joy in what brings joy to other men but finds no joy in what brings joy to himself, then whether he is a Robber Zhi or a Bo Yi, he is equally deluded and perverse.» — el texto iguala a Robber Zhi y a Bo Yi en el mismo extravío, el de gozar del gozo ajeno y no del propio.

«I have a sense of shame before the Way and its Virtue, and for that reason I do not venture to raise myself up in deeds of benevolence and righteousness or to lower myself in deluded and perverse practices.» — el capítulo octavo cierra declarando vergüenza ante el Camino y su Virtud, y por eso ni alzarse en obras de benevolencia ni rebajarse en prácticas perversas.

«may go as far with it as Zeng and Shi, but I would not call him an expert. He who applies his nature to the five flavors may go as far with it as Yu Er,16 but I would not call him an expert. He who applies his nature to the five notes may go as far with it as Music Master Kuang, but I would not call this good hearing. He who applies his nature to the five colors may go as far with it as Li Zhu, but I would not call this good eyesight.» — el texto retira el título de experto a cuatro virtuosos, en la rectitud, en los sabores, en las notas y en los colores; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«My definition of expertness has nothing to do with benevolence and righteousness; it means being expert in regard to your Virtue, that is all.» — el texto da su propia definición de la pericia: no la benevolencia ni la rectitud sino ser experto respecto de la propia Virtud; el propio párrafo repite la fórmula dos renglones más abajo, cosa que una nota de Watson consigna como sospecha de corrupción, y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«Horses’ hoofs are made for treading frost and snow, their coats for keeping out wind and cold. To munch grass, drink from the stream, lift up their feet and gallop—this is the true nature of horses. Though they might possess great terraces and fine halls, they would have no use for them.» — abre *Horses’ Hoofs* con la naturaleza verdadera del caballo, que pace, bebe y galopa y no tiene uso para terrazas ni salones.

«Then along comes Bo Luo.1 “I’m good at handling horses!” he announces and proceeds to singe them, shave them, pare them, brand them, bind them with martingale and crupper, tie them up in stable and stall. By this time, two or three out of ten horses have died. He goes on to starve them, make them go thirsty, race them, prance them, pull them into line, and force them to run side by side, in front of them the worry of bit and rein, behind them the terror of whip and crop. By this time, more than half the horses have died.» — el texto cuenta la pericia de Bo Luo por sus muertos: dos o tres de cada diez caballos con el chamuscado y el atado, y más de la mitad con el hambre, la sed y el látigo.

«The potter says, “I’m good at handling clay! To round it, I apply the compass; to square it, I apply the T square.” The carpenter says, “I’m good at handling wood! To arc it, I apply the curve; to make it straight, I apply the plumb line.” But as far as inborn nature is concerned, the clay and the wood surely have no wish to be subjected to compass and square, curve and plumb line.» — el texto suma al alfarero y al carpintero, y niega que el barro y la madera quieran someterse al compás y a la plomada.

«Yet generation after generation sings out in praise, saying, “Bo Luo is good at handling horses! The potter and the carpenter are good at handling clay and wood!” And the same fault is committed by the men who handle the affairs of the world!» — el texto consigna que las generaciones alaban a esos tres, y adjudica la misma falta a quienes manejan los asuntos del mundo.

«The people have their constant inborn nature. To weave for their clothing, to till for their food—this is the Virtue they share. They are one in it and not partisan, and it is called the Emancipation of Heaven.» — el texto nombra Emancipación del Cielo a la Virtud que la gente comparte: tejer para vestirse y labrar para comer.

«In this age of Perfect Virtue, men live the same as birds and beasts, group themselves side by side with the ten thousand things. Who then knows anything about “gentleman” or “petty man”? Dull and unwitting,2 men have no wisdom; thus their Virtue does not depart from them. Dull and unwitting, they have no desire; this is called uncarved simplicity. In uncarved simplicity, the people attain their true nature.» — el texto niega que en esa edad quepan las categorías de caballero y hombre menudo, y llama simplicidad sin tallar al estado sin saber y sin deseo; el tramo arranca en la plana 95.

«Then along comes the sage, huffing and puffing after benevolence, reaching on tiptoe for righteousness, and the world for the first time has doubts; mooning and mouthing over his music, snipping and stitching away at his rites, and the world for the first time is divided.» — el texto fecha la primera duda y la primera división del mundo en la llegada del sabio que jadea tras la benevolencia y recorta sus ritos.

«Thus, if the plain unwrought substance had not been blighted, how would there be any sacrificial goblets? If the white jade had not been shattered, how would there be any scepters and batons? If the Way and its Virtue had not been cast aside, how would there be any call for benevolence and righteousness? If the true form of the inborn nature had not been abandoned, how would there be any use for rights and music? If the five colors had not confused men, who would fashion patterns and hues? If the five notes had not confused them, who would try to tune things by the six tones?» — el texto encadena seis preguntas que ponen cada artificio como consecuencia de un destrozo previo: el cáliz sacrificial de la sustancia sin labrar malograda, el cetro del jade blanco quebrado.

«That the unwrought substance was blighted in order to fashion implements —this was the crime of the artisan. That the Way and its Virtue were destroyed in order to create benevolence and righteousness —this was the fault of the sage.» — el texto reparte las dos culpas: la del artesano por malograr la sustancia sin labrar y la del sabio por destruir el Camino y su Virtud para crear la benevolencia.

«Therefore, in a time of Perfect Virtue, the gait of men is slow and ambling; their gaze is steady and mild. In such an age, mountains» — el texto abre la descripción de la edad de la Virtud Perfecta: andar lento y mirada mansa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 95 con los montes sin sendas.

«have no paths or trails, lakes no boats or bridges. The ten thousand things live species by species, one group settled close to another. Birds and beasts form their flocks and herds; grass and trees grow to fullest height.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: montes sin sendas, lagos sin barcas ni puentes, y cada especie asentada junto a la otra; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When horses live on the plain, they eat grass and drink from the streams. Pleased, they twine their necks together and rub; angry, they turn back to back and kick. This all horses know how to do. But if you pile poles and yokes on them and line them up in crossbars and shafts, then they will learn to snap the crossbars, break the yoke, rip the carriage top, champ the bit, and chew the reins.4 Thus horses learn how to commit the worst kinds of mischief.5 This is the crime of Bo Luo.» — el texto vuelve a los caballos: sueltos se acarician y se cocean, uncidos aprenden a romper el yugo y a masticar las riendas, y de esa maldad culpa a Bo Luo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Then the sage came along with the crouchings and bendings of rites and music, which were intended to reform the bodies of the world; with the reaching-fora-dangled-prize of benevolence and righteousness, which was intended to comfort the hearts of the world. Then for the first time, people learned to stand on tiptoe and covet knowledge, to fight to the death over profit, and there was no stopping them. This, in the end, was the fault of the sage.» — el capítulo noveno cierra con la llegada del sabio y sus ritos, tras la cual la gente aprendió a codiciar el saber y a pelear a muerte por el provecho; el tramo arranca en la plana 96; el troceo parte *reaching-for-a-dangled-prize* a fin de renglón y la herramienta devuelve la forma unida, que se conserva tal cual.

«Their mouths crammed with food, they were merry; drumming on their bellies, they passed the time. This was as much as they were able to do.» — la continuación: con la boca llena estaban alegres y tamborileando en la panza pasaban el tiempo, y a eso llegaba lo que sabían hacer.

«In the days of He Xu,6 people stayed home but didn’t know» — el texto describe la gente de los días de He Xu, que estaba en casa sin saber lo que hacía; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 96 con el andar sin saber adónde.

«If one is to guard and take precautions against thieves who rifle trunks, ransack bags, and break open boxes, then he must bind with cords and ropes and make fast with locks and hasps. This the ordinary world calls wisdom. But if a great thief comes along, he will shoulder the boxes, hoist up the trunks, sling the bags over his back, and dash off, only worrying that the cords and ropes, the locks and hasps, are not fastened tightly enough. In that case, the man who earlier was called wise was in fact only piling up goods for the benefit of a great thief.» — abre *Rifling Trunks* con la paradoja del candado: atar con cuerdas y cerrar con candados es lo que el mundo llama sabiduría, y no hace sino apilar la mercancía para el ladrón grande, que se lleva el cofre entero.

«What the ordinary world calls a wise man is in fact someone who piles things up for the benefit of a great thief, is he not?» — el texto formula la tesis del capítulo: el sabio del mundo apila para el ladrón grande y el santo le monta la guardia.

«Yet one morning Viscount Tian Cheng murdered the ruler of Qi and stole his state. And was it only the state he stole? Along with it, he also stole the laws that the wisdom of the sages had devised.» — el texto pone el caso de Tian Cheng, que al robar el Estado de Qi robó con él las leyes que la sabiduría de los sabios había hecho.

«Thus, although Viscount Tian Cheng gained the name of thief and bandit, he was able to rest as peacefully as a Yao or a Shun. The smaller states did not dare condemn him; the larger states did not dare attack; and for twelve generations, his family held possession of the state of Qi.» — el texto consigna que el ladrón pudo descansar tan en paz como un Yao o un Shun, sin que Estado alguno se atreviera a condenarlo ni a atacarlo.

«In times past, Guan Longfeng was cut down; Bi Gan was disemboweled; Chang Hong was torn apart; and Wu Zixu was left to rot. All four were worthy men, and yet they could not escape destruction.» — el texto nombra cuatro hombres dignos a quienes su dignidad no libró de ser cortados, destripados, despedazados o dejados pudrir; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«One of Robber Zhi’s followers once asked Zhi, “Does the thief, too, have a Way?” Zhi replied, “How could he get anywhere if he didn’t have a Way? Making shrewd guesses as to how much booty is stashed away in the room is sageliness; being the first one in is bravery; being the last one out is righteousness; knowing whether or not the job can be pulled off is wisdom; dividing up the loot fairly is benevolence. No one in the world ever succeeded in becoming a great thief if he didn’t have all five!”» — Robber Zhi declara que el ladrón tiene su Camino y lo desglosa en las cinco virtudes del oficio, santidad, valor, rectitud, sabiduría y benevolencia.

«From this, we can see that the good man must acquire the Way of the sage before he can distinguish himself, and Robber Zhi must acquire the Way of the sage before he can practice his profession. But good men in the world are few, and bad men many, so in fact the sage brings little benefit to the world but much harm.» — el texto saca la consecuencia: el bueno y el ladrón necesitan por igual el Camino del sabio, y como los buenos son pocos y los malos muchos, el sabio trae al mundo poco provecho y mucho daño.

«Thus it is said, “When the lips are gone, the teeth are cold; when the wine of Lu is thin, Handan is besieged.”4 And when the sage is born, the great thief appears.» — el texto cita dos dichos de consecuencia encadenada y remata con el suyo: nacido el sabio, aparece el ladrón grande.

«Cudgel and cane the sages, and let the thieves and bandits go their way; then the world will at last be well ordered! If the stream dries up, the valley will be empty; if the hills wash away, the deep pools will be filled up. And if the sage is dead and gone, then no more great thieves will arise. The world will then be peaceful and free of fuss.» — el texto propone apalear a los sabios y soltar a los ladrones, con las imágenes del arroyo seco que vacía el valle y del cerro deslavado que colma el pozo.

«Fashion pecks and bushels for people to measure by, and they will steal by peck and bushel.5 Fashion scales and balances for people to weigh by, and they will steal by scale and balance.» — el texto encadena la serie de los instrumentos de confianza, cada uno robado con lo que él mismo mide; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«He who steals a belt buckle pays with his life; he who steals a state gets to be a feudal lord—and we all know that benevolence and righteousness are to be found at the gates of the feudal lords.» — el texto pone la desproporción de la pena: quien roba una hebilla paga con la vida y quien roba un Estado llega a señor feudal, y en las puertas de los señores feudales se hallan la benevolencia y la rectitud.

«Though you try to lure them aside with rewards of official carriages and caps of state, you cannot move them; though you threaten them with the executioner’s ax, you cannot deter them. This piling up of profits for Robber Zhi to the point where nothing can deter him—this is all the fault of the sage!» — el texto declara que a esos hombres ni los premios los apartan ni el hacha los disuade, y adjudica la culpa entera al sabio.

«The saying goes, “The fish should not be taken from the deep pool; the sharp weapons of the state should not be shown to men.”6 The sage is the sharp weapon of the world, and therefore he should not be where the world can see him.» — el texto cita el dicho del pez y las armas afiladas del Estado, y llama arma afilada del mundo al sabio, que por eso no debe estar a la vista.

«Cut off sageliness, cast away wisdom, and then the great thieves will cease. Break the jades, crush the pearls, and petty thieves will no longer rise up. Burn the tallies, shatter the seals, and the people will be simple and guileless. Hack up the bushels, snap the balances in two, and the people will no longer wrangle. Destroy and wipe out the laws that the sage has made for the world, and at last you will find that you can reason with the people.» — el texto encadena cinco mandatos de destrucción, de la santidad y la sabiduría a las leyes del sabio, y pone al final la posibilidad de razonar con la gente.

«Discard and confuse the six tones; smash and unstring the pipes and lutes; stop up the ears of the blind musician Kuang; and for the first time; the people of the world will be able to hold on to their hearing. Wipe out patterns and designs; scatter the five colors; glue up the eyes of Li Zhu; and for the first time, the people of the world will be able to hold on to their eyesight.» — el texto manda tapar los oídos del músico Kuang y pegar los ojos de Li Zhu para que la gente conserve por primera vez su oído y su vista.

«Destroy and cut to pieces the curve and plumb line; throw away the compass and square; shackle the fingers of Artisan Chui;8 and for the first time; the people of the world will possess real skill. Thus it is said, “Great skill is like clumsiness.”» — el texto manda trabar los dedos del artesano Chui para que la gente tenga por primera vez destreza real, y cita el dicho de que la gran destreza parece torpeza.

«When men hold on to their eyesight, the world will no longer be dazzled. When men hold on to their hearing, the world will no longer be wearied. When men hold on to their wisdom, the world will no longer be confused. When men hold on to their Virtue, the world will no longer go awry. Men like Zeng, Shi, Yang, Mo, Musician Kuang, Artisan Chui, or Li Zhu all displayed their Virtue on the outside and thereby blinded and misled the world. As methods go, this one is worthless!» — el texto contrapone la conservación de la vista, el oído, la sabiduría y la Virtud al despliegue externo de la Virtud, que en aquellos siete hombres cegó y extravió al mundo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«will steal with tallies and seals. Fashion benevolence and righteousness to reform people, and they will steal with benevolence and righteousness.» — el remate de la serie de los instrumentos de confianza, ya en la plana siguiente: fabricada la benevolencia para reformar a la gente, con benevolencia se roba; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Have you alone never heard of that age of Perfect Virtue? Long ago, in the time of Yong Cheng, Da Ting, Bo Huang, Zhong Yang, Li Lu, Li Xu, Xian Yuan, He Xu, Zun Lu, Zhu Rong, Fu Xi, and Shen Nong, the people knotted cords and used them.11 They relished their food, admired their clothing, enjoyed their customs, and were content with their houses. Though neighboring states were within sight of one another and could hear the cries of one another’s dogs and chickens, the people grew old and died without ever traveling beyond their own borders. At a time such as this, there was nothing but the most perfect order.» — el texto nombra doce gobernantes de la edad de la Virtud Perfecta, cuando la gente anudaba cuerdas y envejecía sin salir de sus fronteras; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«But now something has happened to make people crane their necks and stand on tiptoe. “There’s a worthy man in such and such a place!” they cry, and bundling up their provisions, they dash off. At home, they abandon their parents; abroad, they shirk the service of their ruler. Their footprints form an unending trail to the borders of the other feudal lords; their carriage tracks weave back and forth a thousand li and more. This is the fault of men in high places who covet knowledge.» — el texto describe la carrera del presente tras el hombre digno, que abandona padres y señor y deja huellas sin fin hasta las fronteras ajenas, y la adjudica a los de arriba que codician el saber.

«As long as men in high places covet knowledge and are without the Way, the world will be in great confusion. How do I know this is so? Knowledge enables men to fashion bows, crossbows, nets, stringed arrows, and like contraptions; but when this happens, the birds flee in confusion to the sky. Knowledge enables men to fashion fishhooks, lures, seines, dragnets, trawls, and weirs; but when this happens, the fish flee in confusion to the depths of the water. Knowledge enables men to fashion pitfalls, snares, cages, traps, and gins; but when this happens, the beasts flee in confusion to the swamps.» — el texto encadena tres inventos del saber, el arco, el anzuelo y la trampa, y la fuga de las aves, los peces y las bestias tras cada uno.

«In the world, everyone knows enough to pursue what he does not know, but no one knows enough to pursue what he already knows. Everyone knows enough to condemn what he takes to be no good, but no one knows enough to condemn what he has already taken to be good.» — el texto formula la asimetría del saber: todos saben perseguir lo que no saben y nadie sabe perseguir lo que ya sabe, y todos saben condenar lo que tienen por malo y nadie lo que ya dio por bueno; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«From the Three Dynasties on down, it has been this and nothing else—shoving aside the pure and artless people and delighting in busy, bustling flatterers; abandoning the limpidity and calm of inaction and delighting in jumbled and jangling ideas. And this jumble and jangle has for long confused the world.» — el capítulo décimo cierra con el trueque que denuncia: apartar a la gente pura y llana para deleitarse con aduladores, y dejar la calma de la inacción por las ideas revueltas.

«And the flood of rhetoric that enables men to invent wily schemes and poisonous slanders, the glib gabble of “hard” and “white,” the foul fustian of “same” and» — el texto suma la retórica a los inventos del saber, con el parloteo de lo duro y lo blanco; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 101 con el aturdimiento del entendimiento común.

«“different,” bewilder the understanding of common men.13 So the world is dulled and darkened by great confusion. The blame lies in this coveting of knowledge.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el mundo queda embotado por la gran confusión, cuya culpa es la codicia del saber; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«I have heard of letting the world be, of leaving it alone; I have never heard of governing the world. You let it be for fear of corrupting the inborn nature of the world; you leave it alone for fear of distracting the Virtue of the world. If the nature of the world is not corrupted, if the Virtue of the world is not distracted, why should there be any governing of the world?» — abre *Let It Be, Leave It Alone* distinguiendo el dejar estar del gobernar, y da los dos motivos del dejar estar: no corromper la naturaleza innata del mundo y no distraer su Virtud.

«Long ago, when the sage Yao governed the world, he made the world bright and gleeful; men delighted in their nature, and there was no calmness anywhere. When the tyrant Jie governed the world, he made the world weary and vexed; men found bitterness in their nature, and there was no contentment anywhere. To lack calmness, to lack contentment, is to go against Virtue, and there has never been anyone in the world who could go against Virtue and survive for long.» — el texto empareja al sabio Yao y al tirano Jie por el mismo defecto: uno dejó al mundo sin calma y el otro sin contento, y ambos fueron contra la Virtud.

«Are men exceedingly joyful?—they will do damage to the yang element. Are men exceedingly angry?—they will do damage to the yin. And when both yang and yin are damaged, the four seasons will not come as they should; heat and cold will fail to achieve their proper harmony; and this in turn will do harm to the bodies of men. It will make men lose a proper sense of joy and anger, to be constantly shifting from place to place, to think up schemes that gain nothing, to set out on roads that reach no glorious conclusion.» — el texto ata el exceso de gozo al daño del yang y el de ira al del yin, y de ahí el desorden de las cuatro estaciones y el daño a los cuerpos.

«Then, although the whole world joins in rewarding good men, there will never be enough reward; though the whole world joins in punishing evil men, there will never be enough punishment. Huge as the world is, it cannot supply sufficient reward or punishment.» — el texto declara insuficientes el premio y el castigo por grande que sea el mundo.

«Do men delight in what they see?—they are corrupted by colors. Do they delight in what they hear?—they are corrupted by sounds. Do they delight in benevolence?—they bring confusion to Virtue. Do they delight in righteousness?—they turn their backs on reason. Do they delight in rites?—they are aiding artificiality. Do they delight in music?—they are aiding dissolution. Do they delight in sageness?—they are assisting artifice. Do they delight in knowledge?—they are assisting the fault finders.» — el texto enumera los ocho deleites y el daño de cada uno, de los colores al saber que asiste a los buscafaltas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«As long as the world rests in the true form of its in-born nature and fate, it makes no difference whether or not these eight delights exist. But if the world does not rest in the true form of its nature and fate, then these eight delights will begin to grow warped and crooked, jumbled and deranged, and will bring confusion to the world.» — el texto acota la condena de los ocho deleites: mientras el mundo repose en la forma verdadera de su naturaleza da igual que existan o no; el troceo imprime *in-born* con guion dentro del renglón.

«If the gentleman finds he has no other choice than to direct and look after the world, then the best course for him is inaction. As long as there is inaction, he may rest in the true form of his nature and fate.» — el texto da la única salida al caballero obligado a gobernar: la inacción, con la que puede reposar en la forma verdadera de su naturaleza y su destino.

«If he values his own body more than the management of the world, then he can be entrusted with the world. If he is more careful of his own body than of the management of the world, then the world can be handed over to him.» — el texto da la prueba del gobernante: solo a quien estima su propio cuerpo por encima del gobierno del mundo se le puede confiar el mundo.

«If the gentleman can in truth keep from rending apart his five vital organs, from tearing out his eyesight and hearing, then he will command corpse-like stillness and dragon vision, the silence of deep pools, and the voice of thunder. His spirit will move in the train of Heaven, gentle and easy in inaction, and the ten thousand things will be dust on the wind. “What leisure have I now for governing the world?” he will say.» — el texto describe al que se abstiene: quietud de cadáver y visión de dragón, silencio de pozo hondo y voz de trueno, y las diez mil cosas por polvo al viento.

«Cui Zhu was questioning Lao Dan. “If you do not govern the world, then how can you improve men’s minds?” Lao Dan said, “Be careful—don’t meddle with men’s minds!» — Cui Zhu pregunta a Lao Dan cómo mejorar las mentes sin gobernar, y Lao Dan responde con una advertencia: no meterse con las mentes de los hombres.

«Men’s minds can be forced down or boosted up, but this downing and upping imprisons and brings death to the mind. Gentle and shy, the mind can bend the hard and strong; it can chisel and cut away, carve and polish. Its heat is that of burning fire, its coldness that of solid ice, its swiftness such that, in the time it takes to lift and lower the head, it has twice swept over the four seas and beyond. At rest, it is deep fathomed and still; in movement, it is far-flung as the heavens, racing and galloping out of reach of all bonds. This indeed is the mind of man!”» — Lao Dan describe la mente: hundirla o alzarla la encarcela y la mata, y ella misma dobla lo duro, quema como fuego y hiela como hielo, y en lo que se alza y baja la cabeza ha barrido dos veces los cuatro mares; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«In ancient times the Yellow Emperor first used benevolence and righteousness to meddle with the minds of men.3 Yao and Shun followed him and worked till there was no more down on their thighs, no more hair on their shins, trying to nourish the bodies of the men of the world. They grieved their five vital organs in the practice of benevolence and righteousness, taxed their blood and breath in the establishment of laws and standards. But still some men would not submit to their rule, and so they had to exile Huan Dou to Mount Chung, drive away the Sanmiao tribes to the region of Sanwei, and banish Gong to the Dark City.4 This shows that they could not make the world submit.» — el texto fecha en el Emperador Amarillo el primer meterse con las mentes, y describe a Yao y a Shun gastándose los muslos y las espinillas hasta tener que desterrar a tres pueblos, prueba de que no lograron la sumisión del mundo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«By the time the kings of the Three Dynasties appeared, the world was in great consternation indeed. On the lowest level, there were men like the tyrant Jie and Robber Zhi, on the highest, men like Zeng and Shi, and the Confucianists and Mohists rose up all around. Then joy and anger eyed each other with suspicion; stupidity and wisdom duped each other; good and bad called one another names; falsehood and truth slandered each other; and the world sank into a decline.» — el texto describe el mundo de las Tres Dinastías como pleito general, con el gozo y la ira mirándose con recelo y la verdad y la falsedad calumniándose.

«There was no more unity to the Great Virtue, and the inborn nature and fate shattered and fell apart. The world coveted knowledge, and the hundred clans were thrown into turmoil.5 Then there were axes and saws to shape things; ink and plumb lines to trim them; mallets and gouges to poke holes in them; and the world, muddled and deranged, was in great confusion. The crime lay in this meddling with men’s minds.» — el texto adjudica el crimen: hachas y sierras para dar forma, tintas y plomadas para recortar, todo ello por meterse con las mentes de los hombres; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Ah, that they should go this far, that they should be so brazen, so lacking in any sense of shame! Who can convince me that sagely wisdom is not in fact the wedge that fastens the cangue, that benevolence and righteousness are not in fact the loop and lock of these fetters and manacles? How do I know that Zeng and Shi are not the whistling arrows that signal the approach of Jie and Zhi?» — el texto pregunta quién puede convencerlo de que la sabiduría santa no sea la cuña que aprieta la canga y la benevolencia el candado de los grilletes; el tramo arranca en la plana 106.

«In the world today, the victims of the death penalty lie heaped» — el texto abre el cuadro del presente con los ajusticiados amontonados; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 106 con las cangas.

«together; the bearers of cangues tread on one another’s heels; the sufferers of punishment are never out of one another’s sight. And now come the Confucianists and Mohists, waving their arms, striding into the very midst of the fettered and manacled men.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: los portadores de cangas se pisan los talones y ahí entran confucianos y mohístas agitando los brazos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Therefore I say, cut off sageness, cast away wisdom, and the world will be in perfect order.» — el texto repite la fórmula que el capítulo décimo ya trajo, cortar la santidad y desechar la sabiduría, y se ancla en esta aparición.

«The Yellow Emperor had ruled as Son of Heaven for nineteen years, and his commands were heeded throughout the world, when he heard that Master Guang Cheng was living on top of the Mountain of Emptiness and Identity. He therefore went to visit him. “I have heard that you, sir, have mastered the Perfect Way. May I venture to ask about the essence of the Perfect Way?” he said. “I would like to get hold of the essence of Heaven and earth and use it to aid the five grains and to nourish the common people. I would also like to control the yin and yang in order to ensure the growth of all living things. How may this be done?”» — el Emperador Amarillo va al monte de Guang Cheng y le pide la esencia del Camino Perfecto para ayudar a los cinco granos y controlar el yin y el yang.

«Master Guang Cheng said, “What you say you want to learn about pertains to the true substance of things, but what you say you want to control pertains to things in their divided state.6 Ever since you began to govern the world, rain falls before the cloud vapors have even gathered; the plants and trees shed their leaves before they have even turned yellow; and the light of the sun and moon grows more and more sickly. Shallow and vapid, with the mind of a prattling knave—what good would it do to tell you about the Perfect Way!”» — Guang Cheng le niega la enseñanza distinguiendo lo que pide de lo que quiere gobernar, y le reprocha que desde su gobierno la lluvia caiga antes de juntarse las nubes y la luz del sol enferme; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The Yellow Emperor withdrew, gave up his throne, built a solitary hut, spread a mat of white rushes, and lived for three months in retirement. Then he went once more to request an interview.» — el Emperador Amarillo deja el trono, se hace una choza y pasa tres meses retirado antes de volver a pedir audiencia.

«Master Guang Cheng sat up with a start. “Excellent, this question of yours! Come, I will tell you about the Perfect Way. The essence of the Perfect Way is deep and darkly shrouded; the extreme of the Perfect Way is mysterious and hushed in silence. Let there be no seeing, no hearing; enfold the spirit in quietude, and the body will right itself. Be still, be pure, do not labor your body, do not churn up your essence, and then you can live a long life. When the eye does not see, the ear does not hear, and the mind does not know, then your spirit will protect the body, and the body will enjoy long life.» — Guang Cheng enseña el Camino Perfecto: no ver, no oír, plegar el espíritu en quietud, no fatigar el cuerpo ni revolver la esencia, y así el espíritu protege al cuerpo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Be wary of what is within you; block off what is outside you, for much knowledge will do you harm. Then I will lead you up above the Great Brilliance to the source of the Perfect Yang; I will guide you through the Dark and Mysterious Gate to the source of the Perfect Yin.» — Guang Cheng promete llevarlo por encima del Gran Resplandor a la fuente del Yang Perfecto y por la Puerta Oscura y Misteriosa a la del Yin Perfecto.

«Heaven and earth have their controllers, the yin and yang their storehouses. You have only to take care and guard your own body; these other things will of themselves grow sturdy. As for myself, I guard this unity, abide in this harmony, and therefore I have kept myself alive for twelve hundred years, and never has my body suffered any decay.”» — Guang Cheng declara que guarda la unidad y mora en la armonía, y por eso lleva mil doscientos años vivo sin que su cuerpo se deteriore.

«Master Guang Cheng said, “Come, I will explain to you. This Thing I have been talking about is inexhaustible, and yet men all suppose that it has an end. This Thing I have been talking about is unfathomable, and yet men all suppose that it has a limit. He who attains my Way will be a Bright One on high,8 and a king in the world below. But he who fails to attain my Way, though he may see the light above him, will remain below as dust.» — Guang Cheng declara inagotable e insondable aquello de que habla, aunque los hombres lo supongan con fin y con límite, y reparte a quien lo alcanza y a quien no; el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«So I will take leave of you, to enter the gate of the inexhaustible and wander in the limitless fields, to form a triad with the light of the sun and moon, to partake in the constancy of Heaven and earth. What stands before me I mingle with, what is far from me I leave in darkness.9 All other men may die; I alone will survive!”» — Guang Cheng se despide para entrar por la puerta de lo inagotable, formar tríada con la luz del sol y la luna y sobrevivir cuando todos mueran; el tramo arranca en la plana 107; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“The breath of heaven is out of harmony; the breath of earth tangles and snarls,” said Cloud Chief. “The six breaths do not blend properly;11 the four seasons do not stay in order. Now I would like to harmonize the essences of the six breaths in order to bring nourishment to all living creatures. How should I go about it?”» — Cloud Chief expone su plan: armonizar las esencias de los seis alientos para nutrir a los vivientes, porque las estaciones no guardan su orden; el tramo arranca en la plana 108.

«Big Concealment said, “Aimless wandering does not know what it seeks; demented drifting does not know where it goes. A wanderer, idle, unbound, I view the sights of Undeception. What more do I know?”» — Big Concealment declara su vagar sin meta, ocioso y desatado, con el que mira los paisajes del Desengaño.

«Big Concealment said, “If you confuse the constant strands of Heaven and violate the true form of things, then Dark Heaven will reach no fulfillment. Instead, the beasts will scatter from their herds; the birds will cry all night; disaster will come to the grass and trees; misfortune will reach even to the insects. Ah, this is the fault of men who ‘govern’!”» — Big Concealment enumera lo que sigue a confundir las hebras constantes del Cielo: rebaños dispersos, aves gritando de noche, desgracia hasta en los insectos, y lo llama culpa de los que gobiernan.

«“Well, then—mind-nourishment!” said Big Concealment.12 “You have only to rest in inaction, and things will transform themselves.» — Big Concealment nombra la nutrición de la mente y la explica por la inacción, con la que las cosas se transforman solas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root—return to the root and not know why.» — Big Concealment manda deshacer la forma, escupir el oído y la vista, olvidar que se es cosa entre cosas y deshacer la mente, y entonces las diez mil cosas vuelven a la raíz sin saber por qué.

«Dark and undifferentiated chaos—to the end of life, none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is; do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally and of themselves.”» — Big Concealment cierra con la paradoja del conocer: querer conocer el caos oscuro e indiferenciado es ya haber salido de él.

«Cloud Chief was traveling east and had passed the branches of the Fuyao when he suddenly came upon Big Concealment.10 Big Concealment at the moment was amusing himself by slapping his» — Cloud Chief topa con Big Concealment mientras viaja al este; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la escena de las palmadas en los muslos sigue en la 108; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«thighs and hopping around like a sparrow. When Cloud Chief saw this, he stopped in bewilderment, stood dead still in his tracks, and said, “Old gentleman, who are you? What is this you’re doing?”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: Big Concealment brinca como un gorrión y Cloud Chief se queda parado en seco preguntándole quién es; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The common run of men all welcome those who are like themselves and scorn those who differ from themselves. The reason they favor those who are like themselves and do not favor those who are different is that their minds are set on distinguishing themselves from the crowd. But if their minds are set on distinguishing themselves from the crowd, how is this ever going to distinguish them from the crowd? It is better to follow the crowd and be content, for no matter how much you may know, it can never match the many talents of the crowd combined.» — el texto describe el afán de distinguirse de la multitud y lo declara contraproducente, y aconseja seguir a la multitud y contentarse.

«Here is a man who wants to take over the management of another man’s state.13 He thinks thereby to seize all the profits enjoyed by the kings of the Three Dynasties but fails to take note of their worries. This is to gamble with another man’s state, and how long can you expect to gamble with his state and not lose it? Fewer than one man in ten thousand will succeed in holding on to the state; the odds in favor of losing it are more than ten thousand to one. It is sad indeed that the possessors of states do not realize this!» — el texto mide en diez mil a uno las probabilidades de conservar un Estado ajeno, y llama triste que sus poseedores no lo adviertan; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«What is lowly and yet must be used—things.17 What is humble and yet must be relied on—the people. What is irksome18 and yet must be attended to—affairs. What is sketchy and yet must be proclaimed—laws. What seems to apply only to distant relationships and yet must be observed—righteousness. What seems to apply only to intimate relationships and yet must be broadened—benevolence. What is confining and yet must be repeatedly practiced—ritual. What is already apt and yet must be heightened—Virtue. What is One and yet must be adapted—the Way. What is spiritual and yet must be put into action—Heaven.» — el texto enumera diez pares de lo que es bajo o confinado y aun así ha de usarse, de las cosas y el pueblo hasta la Vía y el Cielo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Therefore the sage contemplates Heaven but does not assist it. He finds completion in Virtue but piles on nothing more. He goes forth in the Way but does not scheme. He accords with benevolence but does not set great store by it. He draws close to righteousness but does not labor over it. He responds to the demands of ritual and does not shun them. He disposes of affairs and makes no excuses.» — el texto describe la medida del sabio ante cada cosa: contempla el Cielo sin asistirlo, se acerca a la rectitud sin afanarse en ella y responde al rito sin rehuirlo.

«He who does not clearly understand Heaven will not be pure in Virtue. He who has not mastered the Way will find himself without any acceptable path of approach. He who does not clearly understand the Way is pitiable indeed!» — el texto encadena tres carencias y las remata llamando lastimoso a quien no entiende con claridad el Camino; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«What is this thing called the Way? There is the Way of Heaven and the way of man. To rest in inaction, and command respect— this is the Way of Heaven. To engage in action and become entangled in it—this is the way of man. The ruler is the Way of Heaven; his subjects are the way of man. The Way of Heaven and the way of man are far apart. This is something to consider carefully!» — el capítulo undécimo cierra distinguiendo el Camino del Cielo, que reposa en la inacción y manda respeto, del camino del hombre, que obra y se enreda, y reparte los dos entre el señor y sus súbditos.

«Now the possessor of a state possesses a great thing. Because he possesses a great thing, he cannot be regarded as a mere thing himself.14 He is a thing, and yet he is not a mere thing;» — el texto razona que quien posee un Estado posee algo grande y por eso no puede tenerse por mera cosa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y sigue en la 110; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«therefore he can treat other things as mere things. He who clearly understands that in treating other things as mere things, he himself is no longer a mere thing—how could he be content only to govern the hundred clans of the world and do nothing more? He will move in and out of the Six Realms, wander over the Nine Continents, going alone, coming alone. He may be called a Sole Possessor, and a man who is a Sole Possessor may be said to have reached the peak of eminence.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el texto nombra Poseedor Único a quien va y viene solo por los Seis Reinos y las Nueve Comarcas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Great Man in his teaching is like the shadow that follows a form, the echo that follows a sound. Only when questioned does he answer, and then he pours out all his thoughts, making himself the companion of the world. He dwells in the echoless, moves in the directionless, takes by the hand you who are rushing and bustling back and forth15 and proceeds to wander in the beginningless.» — el texto describe al Gran Hombre como sombra que sigue a la forma y eco que sigue al sonido, que solo responde al ser preguntado y mora en lo sin eco.

«He passes in and out of the boundless and is ageless as the sun. His face and form16 blend with the Great Unity, the Great Unity that is selfless. Being selfless, how then can he look on possession as possession? He who fixed his eyes on possession—he was the “gentleman” of ancient times. He who fixes his eyes on nothingness—he is the true friend of Heaven and earth.» — el texto opone al que fija los ojos en la posesión, caballero de la antigüedad, el que los fija en la nada, amigo verdadero del cielo y la tierra.

«Heaven and earth are huge, but they are alike in their transformations. The ten thousand things are numerous, but they are one in their good order. Human beings are many, but they all are subjects of the sovereign. The sovereign finds his source in Virtue, his completion in Heaven. Therefore it is said that the sovereign of dark antiquity ruled the world through inaction, through Heavenly Virtue and nothing more.» — abre *Heaven and Earth* con la unidad bajo lo múltiple, y adjudica al soberano de la oscura antigüedad un gobierno por inacción y Virtud Celeste.

«Look at words in the light of the Way—then the sovereign of the world will be upright.1 Look at distinctions in the light of the Way—then the duty2 of sovereign and subject will be clear. Look at abilities in the light of the Way—then the officials of the world will be well ordered. Look everywhere in the light of the Way— then the response of the ten thousand things will be complete.» — el texto repite cuatro veces la fórmula de mirar a la luz del Camino, y da lo que de cada mirada resulta; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Pervading Heaven and earth: that is the Way.3 Moving among the ten thousand things: that is Virtue. Superiors governing the men below them: that is called administration. Ability finding trained expression: that is called skill. Skill is subsumed in administration, administration in duty, duty in Virtue, Virtue in the Way, and the Way in Heaven.» — el texto encadena la escala de subsunción: la destreza en la administración, esta en el deber, el deber en la Virtud, la Virtud en el Camino y el Camino en el Cielo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Therefore it is said, those who shepherded the world in ancient times were without desire, and the world was satisfied, without action, and the ten thousand things were transformed. They were deep and silent, and the hundred clans were at rest. The Record says: “Stick to the One, and the ten thousand tasks will be accomplished; achieve mindlessness, and the gods and spirits will bow down.”» — el texto cita el Registro con la máxima de atenerse al Uno y alcanzar el no tener mente.

«The Master said:5 The Way covers and bears up the ten thousand things—vast, vast is its greatness! The gentleman must pluck out his mind!» — el Maestro declara la vastedad del Camino y saca de ahí un mandato: el caballero ha de arrancarse la mente; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Such a man will leave the gold hidden in the mountains, the pearls hidden in the depths. He will see no profit in money and goods, no enticement in eminence and wealth, no joy in long life, no grief in early death, no honor in affluence, no shame in poverty. He will not snatch the profits of a whole generation and make them his private hoard; he will not lord it over the world and think that he dwells in glory. His glory is enlightenment, [for he knows that] the ten thousand things belong to one storehouse, that life and death share the same body.» — el texto describe a quien comprende esas diez cosas: deja el oro en la montaña y las perlas en la hondura, y su gloria es el entendimiento de que las diez mil cosas son un solo almacén; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«The Master said: The Way—how deep its dwelling, how pure its clearness! Without it, the bells and chiming stones will not sound. The bells and stones have voices, but unless they are struck, they will not sound. The ten thousand things—who can make them be still?» — el Maestro compara el Camino con las campanas y las piedras sonoras, que tienen voz y no suenan si no las golpean.

«He sees in the darkest dark, hears where there is no sound. In the midst of darkness, he alone sees the dawn; in the midst of the soundless, he alone hears harmony. Therefore, in depth piled upon depth, he can spy out the thing; in spirituality piled upon spirituality, he can discover the essence.» — el texto lleva la figura al extremo: en lo más oscuro ve el alba y en lo más callado oye la armonía, y en hondura sobre hondura espía la cosa.

«To act through inaction is called Heaven. To speak through inaction is called Virtue. To love men and bring profit to things is called benevolence. To make the unlike alike is called magnitude. To move beyond barrier and distinction is» — el texto empieza a nombrar las diez cosas, de obrar por inacción, que es Cielo, a pasar más allá de barrera y distinción; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la lista termina en la 114.

«called liberality. To possess the ten thousand unlikes is called wealth. To hold fast to Virtue is called enrootment. To mature in Virtue is called establishment. To follow the Way is called completion. To see that external things do not blunt the will is called perfection. When the gentleman clearly comprehends these ten things, then how huge will be the greatness of his mind setting forth, how endless his ramblings with the ten thousand things!» — la continuación de la lista, ya en la plana siguiente, hasta la décima, que las cosas externas no embotan la voluntad, y el remate sobre la vastedad de esa mente; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Yao’s teacher was Xu You; Xu You’s teacher was Nie Que; Nie Que’s teacher was Wang Ni; and Wang Ni’s teacher was Piyi. Yao asked Xu You, “Would Nie Que do as the counterpart of Heaven? I could get Wang Ni to ask him to take over the throne from me.”» — el texto da la cadena de maestros de Yao hacia atrás, hasta Piyi, y Yao propone ceder el trono a Nie Que; el tramo arranca en la plana 115.

«However, there are clans, and there are clan heads. He might do as the father of one branch, though he would never do as the father of the father of the branch. His kind are the forerunners of disorder, a disaster to the ministers facing north, a peril to the sovereign facing south!”» — Xu You acota hasta dónde llegaría Nie Que, padre de una rama y no padre del padre, y lo declara precursor del desorden.

«Yao was seeing the sights at Hua when the border guard of Hua said, “Aha—a sage! I beg to offer up prayers for the sage. They will bring the sage long life!”» — el guardia de frontera de Hua ofrece a Yao oraciones por su larga vida; el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«The man of kingly Virtue moves in simplicity and is ashamed to be a master of facts. He takes his stand in the original source, and his understanding extends to the spirits. Therefore his Virtue is far-reaching. His mind moves forth only when some external thing has roused it. Without the Way, the body can have no life, and without Virtue, life can have no clarity. To preserve the body and live out life, to establish Virtue and make clear the Way—is this not kingly Virtue? Broad and boundless, suddenly he emerges, abruptly he moves, and the ten thousand things follow him—this is what is called the man of kingly Virtue!» — el texto describe al hombre de Virtud regia: se avergüenza de ser maestro de datos, se planta en la fuente original y su mente solo se mueve cuando algo externo la despierta.

«The Yellow Emperor went wandering north of the Red Water, ascended the slopes of Kunlun, and gazed south. When he got home, he discovered he had lost his Dark Pearl. He sent Knowledge to look for it, but Knowledge couldn’t find it. He sent the keen-eyed Li Zhu to look for it, but Li Zhu couldn’t find it. He sent Wrangling Debate to look for it, but Wrangling Debate couldn’t find it. At last he tried employing Shapeless, and Shapeless found it. The Yellow Emperor said, “How odd!—in the end it was Shapeless who was able to find it!”» — el Emperador Amarillo pierde su Perla Oscura y la buscan sin dar con ella el Conocimiento, el Ojo Agudo Li Zhu y la Disputa, hasta que la halla el Informe.

«Xu You said, “Watch out! You’ll put the world in danger! Nie Que is a man of keen intelligence and superb understanding, nimble-witted and sharp. His inborn nature surpasses that of other men, and he knows how to exploit what Heaven has given him through human devices. He would do his best to prevent error, but he doesn’t understand the source from which error arises.» — Xu You objeta a Nie Que por su misma agudeza: sabría prevenir el error sin entender de dónde nace.

«Make him the counterpart of Heaven? Watch—he will start leaning on men and forget about Heaven. He will put himself first and relegate others to a class apart. He will worship knowledge and chase after it with the speed of fire. He will become the servant of causes, the victim of things, looking in all four directions to see how things are faring, trying to attend to all wants, changing along with things, and possessing no trace of any constancy of his own.» — Xu You describe en qué pararía Nie Que como contrapartida del Cielo: se apoyaría en los hombres y olvidaría el Cielo, y acabaría siervo de las causas y víctima de las cosas.

«Yao said, “Many sons mean many fears. Riches mean many troubles. Long life means many shames. These three are of no use in nourishing Virtue—therefore I decline them.”» — Yao rechaza las tres bendiciones dando de cada una su reverso: muchos hijos, muchos miedos; riquezas, muchos problemas; larga vida, muchas vergüenzas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The border guard said, “At first I took you for a sage. Now I see you are a mere gentleman. When Heaven gives birth to the ten thousand people, it is certain to have jobs to assign to them. If you have many sons and their jobs are assigned to them, what is there to fear? If you share your riches with other men, what troubles will you have?» — el guardia de frontera rebaja a Yao de sabio a mero caballero y le responde que el Cielo asigna oficio a cada uno de los que nacen.

«The true sage is a quail at rest, a little fledgling at its meal, a bird in flight that leaves no trail behind. When the world has the Way, he joins in the chorus with all other things. When the world is without the Way, he nurses his Virtue and retires in leisure. And after a thousand years, should he tire of the world, he will leave it and ascend to the immortals, riding on those white clouds all the way up to the village of God.» — el guardia describe al sabio verdadero como codorniz en reposo y ave que vuela sin dejar rastro, y lo hace ascender a los inmortales sobre nubes blancas hasta la aldea de Dios.

«When Yao ruled the world, Bocheng Zigao was enfeoffed as one of his noblemen. But when Yao passed the throne to Shun, and Shun passed it to Yu, Bocheng Zigao relinquished his title and took up farming. Yu went to see him and found him working in the fields. Yu scurried forward in the humblest manner, came to a halt, and said, “In former times when Yao ruled the world, sir, you served as one of his noblemen. But when Yao passed the throne to Shun, and Shun passed it to me, you relinquished your title and took up farming. May I be so bold as to ask why?”» — Yu pregunta a Bocheng Zigao por qué dejó su título de noble y se puso a labrar cuando el trono llegó a él.

«Zigao said, “In former times when Yao ruled the world, he handed out no rewards, and yet the people worked hard; he handed out no punishments, and yet the people were cautious.» — Zigao responde con la comparación: bajo Yao no había premios y la gente trabajaba, no había castigos y la gente era cauta; el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«Now you reward and punish, and still the people fail to do good. From now on, Virtue will decay; from now on, penalties will prevail. The disorder of future ages will have its beginning here! You had better be on your way now—don’t interrupt my work!” Busily, busily he proceeded with his farm work, never turning to look back.» — Zigao fecha en el reinado de Yu el comienzo del decaer de la Virtud y del prevalecer de las penas, y vuelve a su labor sin mirar atrás; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«In the Great Beginning, there was nonbeing; there was no being, no name. Out of it arose One; there was One, but it had no form. Things got hold of it and it came to life, and it was called Virtue. Before things had forms, they had their allotments; these were of many kinds but not cut off from one another, and they were called fates. Out of the flow and flux, things were born, and as they grew, they developed distinctive shapes; these were called forms. The forms and bodies held within them spirits, each with its own characteristics and limitations, and this was called the inborn nature.» — el texto da la génesis por grados: del no ser al Uno sin forma, de ahí la Virtud, luego las suertes, las formas y la naturaleza innata.

«If the nature is trained, you may return to Virtue, and Virtue at its highest peak is identical with the Beginning. Being identical, you will be empty; being empty, you will be great. You may join in the cheeping and chirping, and when you have joined in the cheeping and chirping, you may join with Heaven and earth. Your joining is wild and confused, as though you were stupid, as though you were demented. This is called Dark Virtue. Rude and unwitting, you take part in the Great Submission.» — el texto da el camino de vuelta: entrenada la naturaleza se vuelve a la Virtud, que en su cima es idéntica al Comienzo, y de ahí al vacío, a lo grande y a la Virtud Oscura.

«Confucius said to Lao Dan, “Here’s a man who works to master the Way as though he were trying to talk down an opponent,8 making the unacceptable acceptable, the not so, so. As the rhetoricians say, he can separate ‘hard’ from ‘white’ as clearly as though they were dangling from the eaves there. Can a man like this be called a sage?”» — Confucius plantea a Lao Dan el caso del que domina el Camino como quien vence en una disputa y separa lo duro de lo blanco, y pregunta si eso hace un sabio.

«Lao Dan said, “A man like this is a drudging slave, a craftsman bound to his calling, wearing out his body, grieving his mind. Because the dog can catch rats, he ends up on a leash.9 Because of his nimbleness, the monkey is dragged down from the mountain forest. Qiu,10 I’m going to tell you something— something you could never hear for yourself and something you would never know how to speak of.» — Lao Dan repite de ese hombre la fórmula del esclavo afanado y del artesano atado que el capítulo séptimo ya trajo, con el perro cazarratas y el mono como ejemplos; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«stops and starts, his life and death, his rises and falls—none of these can he do anything about. Yet he thinks that the mastery of them lies with man! Forget things, forget Heaven, and be called a forgetter of self. The man who has forgotten self may be said to have entered Heaven.”» — Lao Dan cierra el pasaje con el olvidador de sí: olvidar las cosas y olvidar el Cielo es haber entrado en el Cielo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana, en la palabra con que sigue la frase de la 117.

«Ji Che heehawed with laughter. “As far as the Virtue of emperors and kings is concerned,” he said, “your advice is like the praying mantis that waved its arms angrily in front of an approaching carriage—it just isn’t up to the job. If the ruler of Lu went about it in that way, he would simply get himself all stirred up,11 place himself on a tower or a terrace. Then things would flock around him, and the crowd would turn its steps in his direction!”» — Ji Che se ríe del consejo de Jianglü Mian al señor de Lu y lo compara con la mantis que agita los brazos ante el carro.

«Ji Che said, “When a great sage rules the world, he makes the minds of his people free and far wandering. On this basis, he fashions teachings and simplifies customs, wiping out all treason from their minds and allowing each to pursue his own will. All is done in accordance with the inborn nature, and yet the people do not know why it is like this. Proceeding in this way, what need has he either to revere the way in which Yao and Shun taught their people or to look down on it in lofty contempt? His only desire is for unity with Virtue and the repose of the mind.”» — Ji Che describe el gobierno del gran sabio: deja las mentes libres y vagabundas, y la gente obra conforme a su naturaleza innata sin saber por qué.

«“There is a machine for this sort of thing,” said Zigong. “In one day it can water a hundred fields, demanding very little effort and producing excellent results. Wouldn’t you like one?”» — Zigong le ofrece la máquina que riega cien campos al día con poco esfuerzo; el tramo arranca en la plana 119.

«The gardener flushed with anger and then said with a laugh, “I’ve heard my teacher say, where there are machines, there are bound to be machine worries; where there are machine worries, there are bound to be machine hearts. With a machine heart in your breast, you’ve spoiled what was pure and simple, and without the pure and simple, the life of the spirit knows no rest. Where the life of the spirit knows no rest, the Way will cease to buoy you up. It’s not that I don’t know about your machine—I would be ashamed to use it!”» — el hortelano encadena máquina, preocupaciones de máquina y corazón de máquina, y declara que con corazón de máquina se estropea lo puro y simple y la vida del espíritu no halla reposo; y dice conocer la máquina y avergonzarse de usarla.

«“Oh—then you must be one of those who broaden their learning in order to ape the sages, heaping absurd nonsense on the crowd, plucking the strings and singing sad songs all by yourself in hopes of buying fame in the world! You would do best to forget your spirit and breath, break up your body and limbs— then you might be able to get somewhere. You don’t even know how to look after your own body—how do you have any time to think about looking after the world! On your way now! Don’t interfere with my work!”» — el hortelano identifica a Zigong como discípulo de Kong Qiu y le reprocha remedar a los sabios para comprar fama, y le manda olvidar espíritu y aliento antes que cuidar del mundo.

«“I used to think there was only one real man in the world,” said Zigong. “I didn’t know that there was this other one. I have heard Confucius say that in affairs you aim for what is right, and in undertakings you aim for success. To spend little effort and achieve big results—that is the Way of the sage.» — Zigong declara haber creído que había un solo hombre real y describe la cadena del completo en Virtud, cuerpo y espíritu; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«He is content to live among the people, to walk by their side, and never know where he is going. Witless, his purity is complete. Achievement, profit, machines, skill—they have no place in this man’s mind!» — Zigong describe a ese hombre viviendo entre la gente sin saber adónde va, y niega sitio en su mente al logro, al provecho, a las máquinas y a la destreza.

«The praise and blame of the world are no loss or gain to him. He may be called a man of Complete Virtue. I—I am a man of the wind-blown waves.”» — Zigong llama a ese hombre de Virtud Completa y se llama a sí mismo hombre de las olas batidas por el viento.

«Zigong traveled south to Chu, and on his way back through Jin, as he passed along the south bank of the Han, he saw an old man preparing his fields for planting. He had hollowed out an» — Zigong ve al viejo que prepara sus campos junto al Han; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la escena del pozo sigue en la 119.

«opening by which he entered the well and from which he emerged, lugging a pitcher, which he carried out to water the fields. Grunting and puffing, he used up a great deal of energy and produced very little result.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el hortelano entra y sale del pozo cargando un cántaro, con mucho esfuerzo y poco resultado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When Zigong got back to Lu, he reported the incident to Confucius. Confucius said, “He is one of those bogus practitioners of the arts of Mr. Chaos.13 He knows the first thing but doesn’t understand the second. He looks after what is on the inside but doesn’t look after what is on the outside. A man of true brightness and purity who can enter into simplicity, who can return to the primitive through inaction, give body to his inborn nature, and embrace his spirit, and in this way wander through the everyday world—if you had met one like that, you would have had real cause for astonishment.14 As for the arts of Mr. Chaos, you and I need not bother to find out about them.”» — Confucius llama al hortelano practicante espurio de las artes del señor Caos, que sabe lo primero y no lo segundo y atiende a lo de dentro y no a lo de fuera; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Zhun Mang was on his way east to the Great Valley of the sea when he happened to meet Yuan Feng by the shore of the eastern ocean.15 Yuan Feng said, “Where are you going?” “I’m going to the Great Valley.” “What will you do there?” “The Great Valley is the sort of thing you can pour into and it never gets full, dip from and it never runs dry. I’m going to wander» — Zhun Mang describe el Gran Valle del mar como aquello en que se vierte sin llenarlo y de que se saca sin agotarlo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“The man of Virtue rests without thought, moves without plan. He has no use for right and wrong, beautiful and ugly. To share profit with all things within the four seas is his happiness, to look after their needs is his peace. Sad faced, he’s like a little child who has lost his mother. Bewildered, he’s like a traveler who has lost his way. He has more than enough wealth and goods, but he doesn’t know where they come from. He gets all he needs to eat and drink, but he doesn’t know how he gets it. This is called the manner of the man of Virtue.”» — Zhun Mang describe al hombre de Virtud: reposa sin pensamiento, no usa el acierto ni el error, y está como el niño que perdió a su madre y como el viajero que perdió el camino.

«“He lets his spirit ascend and mount on the light; with his bodily form, he dissolves and is gone. This is called the Illumination of Vastness. He lives out his fate, follows to the end his true form, and rests in the joy of Heaven and earth while the ten thousand cares melt away. So all things return to their true form. This is called Muddled Darkness.”» — Zhun Mang describe al hombre de espíritu, cuya forma corporal se disuelve, y nombra las dos cosas: Iluminación de la Vastedad y Oscuridad Revuelta.

«Men Wugui and Chizhang Manqui were watching the troops of King Wu.16 Chizhang Manqui said, “He is no match for the man of the Yu clan. That’s why he runs into all this trouble!” Men Wugui said, “Was the world already in good order when the man of the Yu clan came along to order it? Or was it in disorder, and later he brought it in order?”» — Men Wugui pregunta si el mundo estaba ya ordenado cuando llegó el hombre del clan Yu a ordenarlo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Chizhang Manqui said, “Everybody wants to see the world well ordered. If it had been so already, what point would there have been in calling on the man of the Yu clan? The man of the Yu clan was medicine to a sore.» — Chizhang Manqui llama medicina para una llaga al hombre del clan Yu.

«“The government of the sage?” said Zhun Mang. “Assign offices so that no abilities are overlooked; promote men so that no talents are neglected. Always know the true facts, and let men do what they are best at. When actions and words proceed properly and the world is transformed, then at a wave of the hand or a tilt of the chin, all the people of the four directions will come flocking to you. This is called the government of the sage.”» — Zhun Mang describe el gobierno del sabio por el reparto de oficios sin desperdiciar talentos, y por el acudir de las cuatro direcciones a una seña de la mano.

«But to wait until you go bald and then buy a wig, to wait until you get sick and then call for a doctor,» — Chizhang Manqui pone la calvicie y la enfermedad como figuras de la cura tardía; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 122 con la vergüenza del sabio.

«to prepare the medicine like a true filial son and present it to your loving father, wearing a grim and haggard look—this the true sage would be ashamed to do.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: preparar la medicina con cara demacrada de hijo piadoso es lo que el sabio verdadero tendría por vergüenza; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«In an age of Perfect Virtue, the worthy are not honored; the talented are not employed. Rulers are like the high branches of a tree; the people, like the deer of the fields. They do what is right, but they do not know that this is righteousness. They love one another, but they do not know that this is benevolence. They are truehearted but do not know that this is loyalty. They are trustworthy but do not know that this is good faith. They wriggle around like insects, performing services for one another, but do not know that they are being kind. Therefore they move without leaving any trail behind, act without leaving any memory of their deeds.”» — Chizhang Manqui describe la edad de la Virtud Perfecta, donde se obra lo recto sin saber que es rectitud y se ama sin saber que es benevolencia, y nadie deja rastro ni memoria de sus obras.

«When a filial son does not fawn on his parents, when a loyal minister does not flatter his lord, they are the finest of sons and ministers.» — el texto declara que el hijo piadoso que no adula y el ministro leal que no lisonjea son los mejores de su clase.

«If a man agrees with everything that popular opinion says and regards as good everything that popular opinion regards as good, he is not, as you might expect, called a sycophant and a flatterer. Are we to assume, then, that popular opinion commands more authority than one’s parents or is more to be honored than one’s lord?» — el texto pregunta si la opinión común manda más que los padres y el señor, porque al que la aprueba entera nadie lo llama adulador.

«If three men are traveling along and one is confused, they will still get where they are going—because confusion is in the minority. But if two of them are confused, then they can walk until they are exhausted and never get anywhere— because confusion is in the majority. And with all the confusion in the world these days, no matter how often I point the way, it does no good. Sad, is it not?» — el texto mide la confusión por mayorías: con uno confundido de tres se llega, con dos no se llega nunca, y así está el mundo; el tramo arranca en la plana 123.

«Great music is lost on the ears of the villagers, but play them “The Breaking of the Willow” or “Bright Flowers,” and they grin from ear to ear. In the same way, lofty words make no impression on the minds of the mob. Superior words gain no hearing because vulgar words are in the majority. It is like the case of the two travelers tramping along in confusion and never getting where they are going.19 With all the confusion in the world these days, no matter how often I point the way, what good does it do?» — el texto compara las palabras altas con la música grande, perdida en los aldeanos que prefieren las tonadas comunes, y explica el desoír por mayoría; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«And if I know it does no good and still make myself do it, this too is a kind of confusion. So it is best to leave things alone and not force them. If I don’t force things, at least I won’t cause anyone any worry.» — el texto vuelve la sospecha sobre sí mismo: saber que no sirve y aun así hacerlo es también una forma de confusión, y de ahí saca que es mejor dejar las cosas sin forzarlas.

«When the leper woman gives birth to a child in the dead of the night, she rushes to fetch a torch and examine it, trembling with terror lest it look like herself.» — el texto trae aquí la imagen de la mujer leprosa que corre con una antorcha a mirar al recién nacido; Watson la había citado ya en su introducción y su nota a este pasaje declara no saber si va con lo anterior o con lo que sigue.

«The hundred-year-old tree is hacked up to make bowls for the sacrificial wine, blue and yellow with patterns on them, and the chips are thrown into the ditch. Compare the sacrificial bowls with the chips in the ditch, and you will find them far apart in beauty and ugliness; yet they are alike in having lost their inborn nature.» — el texto empareja el cuenco sacrificial y las astillas de la zanja, muy distintos en hermosura y ambos igualmente despojados de su naturaleza innata, y empareja del mismo modo a Robber Zhi con Zeng y Shi.

«There are five conditions under which the inborn nature is lost. One: when the five colors confuse the eye and cause the eyesight to be unclear. Two: when the five notes confuse the ear and cause the hearing to be unclear. Three: when the five odors stimulate the nose and produce weariness and congestion in the forehead. Four: when the five flavors dull the mouth, causing the sense of taste to be impaired and lifeless.» — el texto enumera cuatro de las cinco condiciones en que se pierde la naturaleza innata, por los colores, las notas, los olores y los sabores; el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«Five: when likes and dislikes unsettle the mind and cause the inborn nature to become volatile and flighty. These five all are a danger to life.» — la quinta condición, ya en la plana siguiente: los gustos y disgustos que vuelven volátil la naturaleza innata; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Call a man a sycophant, and he flushes with anger; call him a flatterer, and he turns crimson with rage. Yet all his life, he will continue to be a sycophant; all his life, he will continue to be a flatterer. See him set forth his analogies and polish his fine phrases to draw a crowd, until the beginning and end, the root and branches of his argument no longer match!» — el texto describe al adulador que se enfurece con el nombre y sigue siéndolo toda la vida, puliendo frases para atraer al gentío hasta que su argumento no se sostiene; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«See him spread out his robes, display his bright colors, put on a solemn face in hopes of currying favor with the age—and yet he does not recognize himself as a sycophant or a flatterer. See him with his followers laying down the law on right and wrong, and yet he does not recognize himself as one of the mob. This is the height of foolishness!» — el texto sigue con el adulador que despliega sus colores y pone cara solemne sin reconocerse por tal, y llama a eso el colmo de la necedad.

«He who knows he is a fool is not the biggest fool; he who» — el texto gradúa la necedad por el saberse en ella; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la gradación sigue en la 123 con la confusión.

«knows he is confused is not in the worst confusion. The man in the worst confusion will end his life without ever getting straightened out; the biggest fool will end his life without ever seeing the light.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: quien no se sabe confundido acaba la vida sin enderezarse y el mayor necio sin ver la luz; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«If what you have gotten has gotten you into trouble, then can you really be said to have gotten something? If so, then the pigeons and doves in their cage have also gotten hold of something.» — el texto vuelve la pregunta contra quien cree haber obtenido algo, con las palomas enjauladas por ejemplo.

«With likes and dislikes, sounds and colors, you cripple what is on the inside; with leather caps and snipe-feathered bonnets, batons stuck in belts and sashes trailing, you cramp what is on the outside. The inside hemmed in by pickets and pegs, the outside heaped with wraps and swathes, and still you stand in this tangle of wraps and swathes and declare that you have gotten hold of something? If so, then the condemned men with their chained wrists and manacled fingers, the tiger and the leopard in their pens and prisons, have also gotten hold of something!» — el capítulo duodécimo cierra con el doble estorbo, el de dentro por los gustos y los sonidos y el de fuera por gorros y fajas, y con los condenados encadenados y los tigres enjaulados como los que también habrían obtenido algo.

«It is the Way of heaven to keep moving and to allow no piling up —hence the ten thousand things come to completion. It is the Way of the emperor to keep moving and to allow no piling up— hence the whole world repairs to his court. It is the Way of the sage to keep moving and to allow no piling up—hence all within the seas bow to him.» — abre *The Way of Heaven* repitiendo tres veces la misma fórmula del no amontonarse, para el cielo, para el emperador y para el sabio.

«The sage is still not because he takes stillness to be good and therefore is still. The ten thousand things are insufficient to distract his mind—that is the reason he is still.» — el texto acota el motivo de la quietud del sabio: no quietud buscada por buena sino porque las diez mil cosas no bastan a distraerlo.

«Water that is still gives back a clear image of beard and eyebrows; reposing in the water level, it offers a measure to the great carpenter. And if water in stillness possesses such clarity, how much more must pure spirit. The sage’s mind in stillness is the mirror of Heaven and earth, the glass of the ten thousand things.» — el texto compara la mente del sabio con el agua quieta que devuelve la imagen y sirve de nivel al carpintero, y la llama espejo del cielo y la tierra.

«Emptiness, stillness, limpidity, silence, inaction—these are the level of Heaven and earth, the substance of the Way and its Virtue.» — el texto nombra los cinco términos y los declara nivel del cielo y la tierra y sustancia del Camino y su Virtud.

«Resting, they may be empty; empty, they may be full; and fullness is completion.1 Empty, they may be still; still, they may move; moving, they may acquire. Still, they may rest in inaction; resting in inaction, they may demand success from those who are charged with activities. Resting in inaction, they may be merry; being merry, they may shun the place of care and anxiety, and the years of their life will be long.» — el texto encadena la serie de estados que se siguen del reposo, hasta la alegría y la vida larga; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«To understand them and face south is to become a ruler such as Yao was; to understand them and face north is to become a minister such as Shun was.» — el texto reparte el mismo entendimiento entre el que mira al sur y se hace señor y el que mira al norte y se hace ministro.

«He who has a clear understanding of the Virtue of Heaven and earth may be called the Great Source, the Great Ancestor. He harmonizes with Heaven; and by doing so he brings equitable accord to the world and harmonizes with men as well.» — el texto nombra Gran Fuente y Gran Ancestro a quien entiende con claridad la Virtud del cielo y la tierra.

«To harmonize with men is called human joy; to harmonize with Heaven is called Heavenly joy.» — el texto distingue la alegría humana de la celeste por con qué se armoniza cada una.

«So it is said, for him who understands Heavenly joy, life is the working of Heaven; death is the transformation of things. In stillness, he and the yin share a single Virtue; in motion, he and the yang share a single flow. Thus he who understands Heavenly joy incurs no wrath from Heaven, no opposition from man, no entanglement from things, no blame from the spirits.» — el texto describe al que entiende la alegría celeste: en quietud comparte una Virtud con el yin y en movimiento un flujo con el yang.

«high station is the Virtue of emperors and kings, of the Son of Heaven; to hold them in lowly station is the way of the dark sage, the uncrowned king. Retire with them to a life of idle wandering, and you will command first place among the recluses of the rivers and seas, the hills and forests. Come forward with them to succor the age, and your success will be great, your name renowned, and the world will be united. In stillness you will be a sage, in action a king. Resting in inaction, you will be honored; of unwrought simplicity, your beauty will be such that no one in the world may vie with you.» — el texto reparte los cinco términos entre la estación alta y la baja, el retiro y la salida al mundo, y remata en el sabio en quietud y rey en acción; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana, con las palabras que completan la frase de la 126.

«Zhuangzi has said, “This Teacher of mine, this Teacher of mine—he passes judgment on the ten thousand things, but he doesn’t think himself severe; his bounty extends to ten thousand generations, but he doesn’t think himself benevolent. He is older than the highest antiquity, but he doesn’t think himself long-lived; he covers heaven, bears up the earth, carves and fashions countless forms, but he doesn’t think himself skilled.”3 This is what is called Heavenly joy.» — el capítulo decimotercero cita a Zhuangzi con las mismas palabras sobre el Maestro que el capítulo sexto ponía en boca de Xu You, y las llama alegría celeste; la repetición es del propio libro y se consigna sin armonizarla.

«If superiors adopt inaction and inferiors adopt inaction as well, then inferior and superior will share the same virtue; and if inferior and superior share the same virtue, there will be none to act as minister. If inferiors adopt action and superiors adopt action as well, then superior and inferior will share the same way; and if superior and inferior share the same way, there will be none to act as lord. Superiors must adopt inaction and make the world work for them; inferiors must adopt action and work for the world. This is an unvarying truth.» — el texto reparte inacción arriba y acción abajo, y muestra que compartir una misma vía deja sin señor o sin ministro; el tramo arranca en la plana 128.

«Therefore the kings of the world in ancient times, though their knowledge encompassed all Heaven and earth, did not of themselves lay plans; though their power of discrimination embraced4 the ten thousand things, they did not of themselves expound any theories; though their abilities outshone all within the four seas, they did not of themselves act.» — el texto describe a los reyes antiguos por lo que se abstenían de hacer pese a poder hacerlo: ni planes, ni teorías, ni actos propios.

«Heaven does not give birth, yet the ten thousand things are transformed; earth does not sustain, yet the ten thousand things are nourished. The emperor and the king do not act, yet the world is benefited.» — el texto pone el paralelo del cielo que no engendra y la tierra que no sostiene, y aun así transforman y nutren.

«The source rests with the superior, the trivia with the inferior; the essential resides in the ruler, the details in his ministers.» — el texto reparte la fuente y lo esencial arriba y las menudencias y los detalles abajo.

«The blandishments of the three armies and the five weapons—these are the trivia of Virtue. The doling out of rewards and punishments, benefit and loss, the five penalties—these are the trivia of public instruction.5 Rites and laws, weights, measures, the careful comparison of forms and names6—these are the trivia of good government. The tones of bell and drum, the posturings of feather and tassel—these are the trivia of music.7 Lamentation and coarse garments, the mourning periods of varying lengths— these are the trivia of grief.» — el texto enumera las cinco menudencias, de las armas a las ropas de luto, y las adjudica cada una a su dominio; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«These five trivia must wait for the movement of pure spirit, for the vitality of the mind’s art before they can command respect. The study of such trivia was known to antiquity, but the men of old gave them no precedence.» — el texto acota las cinco menudencias: han de esperar al movimiento del espíritu puro para merecer respeto, y los antiguos las conocían sin darles precedencia.

«The Virtue of emperors and kings takes Heaven and earth as its ancestor, the Way and its Virtue as its master, inaction as its constant rule. With inaction, you may make the world work for you» — el texto declara la inacción regla constante de la Virtud de emperadores y reyes; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la medida de la diferencia sigue en la 128.

«and have leisure to spare; with action, you will find yourself working for the world and never will it be enough. Therefore the men of old prized inaction.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: con inacción sobra ocio y con acción uno trabaja para el mundo sin que nunca baste; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The ruler precedes, the minister follows; the father precedes, the son follows; the older brother precedes, the younger brother follows; the senior precedes, the junior follows; the man precedes, the woman follows; the husband precedes, the wife follows. Honor and lowliness, precedence and following, are part of the workings of Heaven and earth, and from them the sage draws his model.» — el texto lista seis pares de preceder y seguir y los adjudica a las obras del cielo y la tierra, de donde el sabio saca su modelo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Heaven is honorable, earth lowly—such are their ranks in spiritual enlightenment. Spring and summer precede, autumn and winter follow—such is the sequence of the four seasons. The ten thousand things change and grow, their roots and buds, each with its distinctive form, flourishing and decaying by degree, a constant flow of change and transformation. If Heaven and earth, the loftiest in spirituality, have yet their sequence of honorable and lowly, of preceder and follower, how much more must the way of man!» — el texto extiende la jerarquía a las estaciones y a las diez mil cosas y arguye a fortiori hacia el camino del hombre.

«In the ancestral temple, honor is determined by degree of kinship; in the court, by degree of nobility; in the village, by degree of seniority; in the administration of affairs, by degree of worth. This is the sequence of the Great Way.» — el texto da cuatro criterios de honor según el sitio, parentesco, nobleza, edad y valía, y los llama la secuencia del Gran Camino.

«If you speak of the Way and not of its sequence, then it is not a way; and if you speak of a way that is not a way, then how can anyone make his way by it?» — el texto niega que sea camino el que se dice sin su secuencia.

«Hence the book says, “There are forms and there are names.”8 Forms and names were known to antiquity, but the men of old gave them no precedence.» — el texto cita el libro sobre las formas y los nombres y repite que los antiguos los conocían sin darles precedencia; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Those who spoke of the Great Way in ancient times could count to five in the sequence [described earlier] and pick out “forms and names” or count to nine and discuss “rewards and punishments.” But to jump right in and talk about “forms and names” is to lack an understanding of the source; to jump right in and talk about “rewards and punishments” is to lack an understanding of the beginning.» — el texto mide a los que hablan del Gran Camino por cuántos peldaños cuentan antes de llegar a las formas y los nombres o a los premios y los castigos; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«Those who stand the Way on its head before describing it, who turn it backward before expounding it, may be brought to order by others, but how could they be capable of bringing others to order?» — el texto niega que quien pone el Camino de cabeza pueda poner en orden a otros.

«They are rhetoricians, scholars cramped in one corner of learning. Rites and laws, weights and measures, the careful comparison of forms and names—the men of old had all these. They are the means by which those below serve those above, not the means by which those above shepherd those below.» — el texto llama retóricos y eruditos encogidos en un rincón del saber a los que empiezan por las formas y los nombres, y declara que esos instrumentos sirven para servir desde abajo y no para apacentar desde arriba.

«Long ago Shun asked Yao, “As Heaven-appointed king, how do you use your mind?” Yao replied, “I never abuse those who have nowhere to sue nor reject the poor people. Grieving for the dead, comforting the orphan, pitying the widow—I use my mind in these things alone.” Shun said, “Admirable as far as admirableness goes. But not yet great.”» — Shun pregunta a Yao cómo usa su mente y juzga admirable pero no grande la respuesta de compadecer al huérfano y a la viuda.

«Therefore the men of ancient times who clearly understood the Great Way first made clear Heaven and then went on to the Way and its Virtue. Having made clear the Way and its Virtue, they went on to benevolence and righteousness. Having made clear benevolence and righteousness, they went on to the observance of duties. Having made clear the observance of duties, they went on to forms and names.» — el texto encadena los primeros peldaños por los que los antiguos bajaban del Cielo a las formas y los nombres; el troceo imprime este tramo con una palabra por renglón y la herramienta las devuelve seguidas.

«Having made clear forms and names, they went on to the assignment of suitable offices. Having made clear the assignment of suitable offices, they went on to the scrutiny of performance. Having made clear the scrutiny of performance, they went on to the judgment of right and wrong. Having made clear the judgment of right and wrong, they went on to rewards and punishments.» — la segunda mitad de la escala, de la asignación de oficios a los premios y los castigos.

«Confucius went west to deposit his works with the royal house of Zhou. Zilu advised him, saying, “I have heard that the Keeper of the Royal Archives is one Lao Dan, now retired and living at home. If you wish to deposit your works, you might try going to see him about it.” “Excellent!” said Confucius and went to see Lao Dan, but Lao Dan would not give permission. Thereupon Confucius unwrapped his Twelve Classics and began expounding them.10 Halfway through the exposition, Lao Dan said, “This will take forever! Just let me hear the gist of the thing!”» — Confucius lleva sus obras al archivo real y Lao Dan le corta la exposición de los Doce Clásicos pidiéndole el meollo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Lao Dan said, “Hmm—close—except for the last part. ‘Universal love’—that’s a rather nebulous ideal, isn’t it? And to be without partisanship is already a kind of partisanship. Do you want to keep the world from losing its simplicity?12 Heaven and earth hold fast to their constant ways, the sun and moon to their brightness, the stars and planets to their ranks, the birds and beasts to their flocks, the trees and shrubs to their stands. You have only to go along with Virtue in your actions, to follow the Way in your journey, and already you will be there.» — Lao Dan objeta a Confucius que el amor universal es ideal nebuloso y que no tener partido es ya una forma de partido, y le opone las cosas que se atienen a sus modos constantes.

«Shi Chengqi went to see Laozi. “I had heard that you were a sage,” he said, “and so, without minding how long the road was, I came to beg an interview—a hundred nights along the way, feet covered with calluses, and yet I did not dare to stop and rest. Now that I see you, though, I find you are no sage at all.» — Shi Chengqi declara haber caminado cien noches hasta Laozi y no hallar en él sabio alguno; el tramo arranca en la plana 132.

«Laozi said, “Artful wisdom, the spirit-like sage—I hope I have shuffled off categories of that sort! If you’d called me an ox, I’d have said I was an ox; if you’d called me a horse, I’d have said I was a horse. If the reality is there and you refuse to accept the name that men give it, you’ll only lay yourself open to double harassment. My submission is a constant submission; I do not submit because I think it’s time to submit.”» — Laozi declara haberse quitado de encima las categorías de sabio: si lo llaman buey dirá que es buey, y su sumisión es constante y no de ocasión.

«Laozi said, “Your face is grim, your eyes are fierce, your forehead is broad, your mouth is gaping, your manner is overbearing, like a horse held back by a tether, watching for a chance to bolt, bounding off as though shot from a crossbow. Scrutinizing ever so carefully, crafty in wisdom, parading your arrogance—all this invites mistrust. Up in the borderlands, a man like you would be taken for a thief!”» — Laozi describe a Shi Chengqi por su porte de caballo sujeto a punto de desbocarse y le dice que en la frontera lo tomarían por ladrón.

«The Master said: The Way does not falter before the huge, is not forgetful of the tiny; therefore the ten thousand things are complete in it. Vast and ample, there is nothing it does not receive. Deep and profound, how can it be fathomed?» — el Maestro declara que el Camino no vacila ante lo enorme ni olvida lo diminuto, y por eso las diez mil cosas están completas en él.

«When the Perfect Man rules the world, he has hold of a huge thing, does he not?—yet it is not enough to snare him in entanglement. He works the handles that control the world but is not a party to the workings. He sees clearly into what has no falsehood and is unswayed by thoughts of gain. He ferrets out the truth of things and knows how to cling to the source. Therefore he can put Heaven and earth outside himself, forget the ten thousand things, and his spirit has no cause to be wearied. He dismisses benevolence and righteousness, rejects16 rites and music, for the mind of the Perfect Man knows where to find repose.» — el texto describe al Hombre Perfecto gobernando: maneja las manijas del mundo sin ser parte del mecanismo, y desecha la benevolencia y los ritos porque sabe dónde hallar reposo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Shun said, “Heaven raised on high, earth in peace,9 sun and moon shining, the four seasons marching—if you could be like the constant succession of day and night, the clouds that move,» — Shun describe lo que sería grande: el sol y la luna brillando, las estaciones marchando, y uno como la sucesión constante del día y la noche; el tramo se corta en el límite de chunk, dentro de la plana 130, y remata con las lluvias que caen.

«the rains that fall!” “And to think I have been going to all this bustle and bother!”» — el remate al otro lado del corte de chunk: las lluvias que caen, y Yao reconociendo todo su bullicio; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«said Yao. “You are one who joins with Heaven; I am one who joins with man.”» — Yao reparte los dos: Shun se junta con el Cielo y él con el hombre; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Why these flags of benevolence and righteousness so bravely up-raised, as» — Lao Dan pregunta por los estandartes de la benevolencia tan bravamente alzados; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la comparación remata en la 132.

«though you were beating a drum and searching for a lost child? Ah, you will bring confusion to the nature of man!”» — la comparación, ya en la plana siguiente: como quien tamborilea buscando a un niño perdido, y el aviso de que eso trae confusión a la naturaleza del hombre; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Men of the world who value the Way all turn to books. But books are nothing more than words. Words have value; what is of value in words is meaning. Meaning has something it is pursuing, but the thing that it is pursuing cannot be put into words and handed down. The world values words and hands down books, but although the world values them, I do not think them worth valuing. What the world takes to be value is not real value.» — el texto niega valor a los libros por el camino de los medios: los libros son palabras, las palabras valen por su sentido, y lo que el sentido persigue no se deja poner en palabras ni transmitir.

«What you can look at and see are forms and colors; what you can listen to and hear are names and sounds. What a pity!—that the men of the world should suppose that form and color, name and sound, are sufficient to convey the truth of a thing. It is because in the end, they are not sufficient to convey truth that “those who know do not speak, those who speak do not know.”» — el texto declara insuficientes la forma, el color, el nombre y el sonido para transmitir la verdad de una cosa, y cita el dicho de que quien sabe no habla.

«Duke Huan was in his hall reading a book. The wheel-wright Pian, who was in the yard below chiseling a wheel, laid down his mallet and chisel, stepped up into the hall, and said to Duke Huan, “This book Your Grace is reading—may I venture to ask whose words are in it?” “The words of the sages,” said the duke. “Are the sages still alive?” “Dead long ago,” said the duke. “In that case, what you are reading there is nothing but the chaff and dregs of the men of old!”» — el carretero Pian interrumpe la lectura del duque Huan para llamar granzas y posos de los antiguos lo que está leyendo.

«Wheelwright Pian said, “I look at it from the point of view of my own work. When I chisel a wheel, if the blows of the mallet are too gentle, the chisel will slide and won’t take hold. But if they’re too hard, it will bite and won’t budge. Not too gentle, not too hard —you can get it in your hand and feel it in your mind. You can’t put it into words, and yet there’s a knack to it somehow.» — el carretero Pian razona desde su oficio: el golpe ni suave ni duro se siente en la mano y en la mente y no se deja poner en palabras; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«I can’t teach it to my son, and he can’t learn it from me. So I’ve gone along for seventy years, and at my age I’m still chiseling wheels. When the men of old died, they took with them the things that couldn’t be handed down. So what you are reading there must be nothing but the chaff and dregs of the men of old.”» — el carretero Pian cierra el capítulo decimotercero: lo que no se transmite se lo llevaron los antiguos al morir, y por eso lo que queda escrito son granzas y posos.

«Does heaven turn? Does the earth sit still? Do sun and moon compete for a place to shine? Who masterminds all this? Who pulls the strings? Who, resting inactive himself, gives the push that makes it go this way?» — abre *The Turning of Heaven* con una ristra de preguntas sin respuesta sobre quién mueve el cielo, la tierra y los astros.

«I wonder, is there some mechanism that works it and won’t let it stop? I wonder if it just rolls and turns and can’t bring itself to a halt? Do the clouds make the rain, or does the rain make the clouds? Who puffs them up, who showers them down like this?» — el texto pregunta si hay un mecanismo que lo mueve todo y no lo deja parar, y si las nubes hacen la lluvia o la lluvia las nubes.

«The shaman Xian beckoned2 and said, “Come—I will tell you. Heaven has the six directions and the five constants.3 When emperors and kings go along with these, there is good order; when they move contrary to these, there is disaster. With the instructions of the Nine Luo,4 order can be made to reign and virtue completed. The ruler will shine mirror-like over the earth below, and the world will bear him up. He may be called an August One on high.”» — el chamán Xian responde con las seis direcciones y las cinco constantes: ir con ellas da buen orden y contra ellas desastre; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Zhuangzi said, “Tigers and wolves—they’re benevolent.” “How can you say that?” Zhuangzi said, “Sire and cubs warm and affectionate with one another—why do you say they’re not benevolent?”» — Zhuangzi responde al primer ministro de Shang que los tigres y los lobos son benevolentes, por el cariño de padres y cachorros.

«“No, no,” said Zhuangzi. “Perfect benevolence is a lofty thing— words like filial piety would never do to describe it. And what you are talking about is not something that surpasses filial piety but something that doesn’t even come up to it. If a traveler to the south turns to look north again when he reaches the city of Ying, he will no longer see the dark northern mountains. Why? Because they are too far away.» — Zhuangzi acota su propia afirmación con la imagen del viajero que desde Ying ya no ve los montes del norte por lejanía; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Thus it is said, to be filial out of respect is easy; to be filial out of love is hard. To be filial out of love is easy; to forget parents is hard. To forget parents is easy; to make parents forget you is hard. To make parents forget you is easy; to forget the whole world is hard. To forget the whole world is easy; to make the whole world forget you is hard.» — Zhuangzi encadena la escala de lo fácil y lo difícil, del ser filial por respeto al hacer que el mundo entero te olvide.

«Virtue discards Yao and Shun and rests in inaction. Its bounty enriches ten thousand ages, and yet no one in the world knows this.» — Zhuangzi declara que la Virtud descarta a Yao y a Shun y reposa en la inacción, y que su largueza enriquece diez mil edades sin que nadie lo sepa.

«Filial piety, brotherliness, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, trust, honor, integrity—for all of these, you must drive yourself and make a slave of Virtue. They are not worth prizing. So it is said, Highest eminence scorns the titles of the kingdom; greatest wealth rejects the riches of the kingdom; loftiest desire ignores fame and reputation. It is the Way alone that never varies.”» — Zhuangzi lista ocho virtudes y declara que por todas ellas hay que hacerse esclavo de la Virtud, y remata con que solo el Camino no varía.

«“What I am asking to hear about is perfect benevolence.” “Perfect benevolence knows no affection,” said Zhuangzi.» — ante la pregunta por la benevolencia perfecta, Zhuangzi declara que esa no conoce afecto.

«Cheng of North Gate said to the Yellow Emperor, “When Your Majesty performed the Xianchi music in the wilds around Lake Dongting, I listened, and at first I was afraid. I listened some more and felt weary, and then I listened to the end and felt confused. Overwhelmed, speechless, I couldn’t get hold of myself.”» — Cheng de la Puerta Norte describe los tres tiempos de su escucha de la música Xianchi: miedo, fatiga y confusión.

«“It’s not surprising you felt that way,” said the emperor. “I performed it through man, tuned it to Heaven, went forward with ritual principle, and established it in Great Purity. Perfect music must first respond to the needs of man, accord with the reason of Heaven, proceed by the Five Virtues, and blend with spontaneity; only then can it bring order to the four seasons and bestow a final harmony on the ten thousand things.» — el Emperador Amarillo explica cómo compuso la música: por el hombre, afinada al Cielo, con principio ritual y establecida en la Gran Pureza.

«At the end, no tail; at the beginning, no head; now dead, now alive, now flat on the ground, now up on its feet, its constancy is unending, yet there is nothing that can be counted on. That’s why you felt afraid.» — el Emperador Amarillo explica el primer tiempo: una constancia sin fin en la que nada hay con que contar; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Then I played it with the harmony of yin and yang, lit it with the shining of sun and moon; its notes I was able to make long or short, yielding or strong, modulating about a single unity but bowing before no rule or constancy. In the valley they filled the valley; in the void they filled the void; plugging up the crevices, holding back the spirit, accepting things on their own terms.» — el Emperador Amarillo describe el segundo tiempo: notas que modulan en torno a una sola unidad sin doblegarse a regla ni constancia, llenando el valle y el vacío.

«It was nothing I could do anything about. Your body melted into the empty void, and this brought you to an idle freedom. It was this idle freedom that made you feel weary.» — el Emperador Amarillo explica la fatiga por la disolución del cuerpo del oyente en el vacío y la libertad ociosa que eso trajo.

«“Then I played it with unwearying notes and tuned it to the command of spontaneity. Therefore there seemed to be a chaos where things grow in thickets together, a maturity where nothing takes form, a universal plucking where nothing gets pulled, a clouded obscurity where there is no sound. It moved in no direction at all, rested in mysterious shadow.» — el Emperador Amarillo describe el tercer tiempo: un caos donde las cosas crecen en matorral y una madurez donde nada toma forma.

«When the Heavenly mechanism is not put into action, and yet the five vital organs are all complete—this may be called the music of Heaven. Wordless, it delights the mind.» — el texto nombra música del Cielo a la que suena sin que el mecanismo celeste se ponga en marcha, y la declara deleite sin palabras.

«Therefore the lord of Yan sang its praises thus: ‘Listen—you do not hear its sound; look—you do not see its form. It fills all Heaven and earth, enwraps all the six directions.’» — el señor de Yan alaba esa música por lo que no se oye ni se ve y llena el cielo y la tierra.

«“Music begins with fear, and because of this fear, there is dread, as of a curse. Then I add the weariness, and because of the weariness, there is compliance. I end it all with confusion, and because of the confusion, there is stupidity. And because of the stupidity, there is the Way, the Way that can be lifted up and carried around wherever you go.”» — el Emperador Amarillo cierra el pasaje encadenando miedo, fatiga, confusión y estupidez, y poniendo al final el Camino que se puede llevar a cuestas adonde uno vaya; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Music Master Jin said, “Before the straw dogs are presented at the sacrifice, they are stored in bamboo boxes and covered over with patterned embroidery, while the impersonator of the dead and the priest fast and practice austerities in preparation for fetching them. But after they have once been presented, then all that remains for them is to be trampled on, head and back, by passersby; to be swept up by the grass cutters and burned.» — el Maestro de Música Jin describe los perros de paja antes y después del sacrificio: primero en cajas bordadas y después pisoteados y quemados.

«And if anyone should come along and put them back in their bamboo boxes, cover them over with patterned embroidery, and linger or lie down to sleep beneath them, he would dream no proper dreams; on the contrary, he would most certainly be visited again and again by nightmares.» — el Maestro Jin advierte lo que le pasa a quien vuelve a guardar los perros de paja usados y duerme bajo ellos: pesadillas.

«“Now your master has picked up some old straw dogs that had been presented by the former kings and has called together his disciples to linger and lie down in sleep beneath them. Therefore the people chopped down the tree on him in Song, wiped away his footprints in Wei, and made trouble for him in Shang and Zhou —such were the dreams he had.» — el Maestro Jin adjudica a esos perros de paja viejos las desgracias de Confucius, el árbol talado en Song y las huellas borradas en Wei.

«“Nothing is as good as a boat for crossing water, nothing as good as a cart for crossing land. But although a boat will get you over water, if you try to push it across land, you may push till your dying day and hardly move it any distance at all. And are the past and present not like the water and the land, and the states of Zhou and Lu not like a boat and a cart?» — el Maestro Jin compara el pasado y el presente con el agua y la tierra, y los Estados de Zhou y Lu con la barca y el carro.

«The man who tries to do so has failed to understand the turning that has no direction, that responds to things and is never at a loss.» — el Maestro Jin nombra lo que le falta a quien empuja la barca por tierra: el giro sin dirección que responde a las cosas y nunca se pierde; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Have you never seen a well sweep? Pull it, and down it goes; let go, and up it swings. It allows itself to be pulled around by men; it doesn’t try to pull them. So it can go up and down and never be blamed by anybody.» — el Maestro Jin pone la cigüeña del pozo, que se deja tirar por los hombres y no tira de ellos, y por eso nadie la culpa.

«The rituals and regulations of the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors may be compared to the haw, the pear, the orange, and the citron. Their flavors are quite different, yet all are pleasing to the mouth.» — el Maestro Jin compara los ritos de los antiguos con cuatro frutas de sabor distinto y todas gratas al paladar.

«If you take a monkey and dress him in the robes of the Duke of Zhou, he will bite and tear at them, not satisfied until he has divested himself of every stitch. And a glance will show that past and present are no more alike than are a monkey and the Duke of Zhou!» — el Maestro Jin pone el mono vestido con las ropas del duque de Zhou como medida de la distancia entre el pasado y el presente.

«“The beautiful Xishi, troubled with heartburn, frowned at her neighbors. An ugly woman of the neighborhood, seeing that Xishi was beautiful, went home and likewise pounded her breast and frowned at her neighbors. But at the sight of her, the rich men of the neighborhood shut tight their gates and would not venture out, while the poor men grabbed their wives and children by the hand and scampered off. The woman understood that someone frowning could be beautiful, but she did not understand where the beauty of the frown came from. A pity, indeed! Your master is going to end up in trouble!”» — el Maestro Jin cierra con la fea que remedó el fruncimiento de Xishi y espantó al vecindario: entendió que fruncir podía ser bello y no de dónde venía la belleza del fruncir.

«“It stands to reason!” said Lao Dan. “If the Way could be presented, there is no man who would not present it to his ruler. If the Way could be offered, there is no man who would not offer it to his parents. If the Way could be reported, there is no man who would not report it to his brothers. If the Way could be bequeathed, there is no man who would not bequeath it to his heirs.» — Lao Dan razona por qué el Camino no se entrega: si pudiera presentarse, ofrecerse, reportarse o legarse, todos lo harían al señor, a los padres, a los hermanos y a los herederos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«But it cannot—and for none other than the following reason: If there is no host on the inside to receive it, it will not stay; if there is no mark on the outside to guide it, it will not go. If what is brought forth from the inside is not received on the outside, then the sage will not bring it forth. If what is taken in from the outside is not received by a host on the inside, the sage will not entrust it.» — Lao Dan da la razón doble: sin anfitrión dentro que lo reciba el Camino no se queda, y sin marca fuera que lo guíe no va.

«“Fame is a public weapon—don’t reach for it too often. Benevolence and righteousness are the grass huts of the former kings; you may stop in them for one night, but you mustn’t tarry there for long. A lengthy stay would invite many reproaches.» — Lao Dan llama arma pública a la fama y chozas de paja de los reyes antiguos a la benevolencia y la rectitud: se pernocta en ellas y no se tarda.

«The Perfect Man of ancient times used benevolence as a path to be borrowed, righteousness as a lodge to take shelter in. He wandered in the free and easy wastes, ate in the plain and simple fields, and strolled in the garden of no bestowal. Free and easy, he rested in inaction; plain and simple, it was not hard for him to live; bestowing nothing, he did not have to hand things out. The men of old called this the wandering of the Truth-Picker.» — Lao Dan describe el uso que el Hombre Perfecto daba a la benevolencia y a la rectitud, senda prestada y albergue de paso, y nombra ese vagar el del Recolector de la Verdad.

«“He who considers wealth a good thing can never bear to give up his income; he who considers eminence a good thing can never bear to give up his fame. He who has a taste for power can never bear to hand over authority to others. Holding tight to these things, such men shiver with fear; should they let them go, they would pine in sorrow. They never stop for a moment of reflection, never cease to gaze with greedy eyes—they are men punished by Heaven.» — Lao Dan describe a los que no sueltan la riqueza, la eminencia ni el poder, y los llama castigados por el Cielo.

«Resentment and kindness, taking away and giving, reproof and instruction, life and death—these eight things are the weapons of the corrector.17 Only he who complies with the Great Change and allows no blockage will be able to use them. Therefore it is said, The corrector must be correct. If the mind cannot accept this fact, then the doors of Heaven will never» — Lao Dan nombra las ocho armas del corrector y declara que solo puede usarlas quien acompaña al Gran Cambio; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Confucius called on Lao Dan and spoke to him about benevolence and righteousness. Lao Dan said, “Chaff from the winnowing fan can so blind the eye that heaven, earth, and the four directions all seem to shift place. A mosquito or a horsefly stinging your skin can keep you awake a whole night. And when benevolence and righteousness in all their fearfulness come to muddle the mind,18 the confusion is unimaginable.» — Lao Dan compara la benevolencia y la rectitud con la granza que ciega el ojo y con el mosquito que desvela una noche entera; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The snow goose needs no daily bath to stay white; the crow needs no daily inking to stay black. Black and white in their simplicity offer no ground for argument; fame and reputation in their clamorousness19 offer no ground for envy.» — Lao Dan pone el ganso y el cuervo, que no necesitan baño ni tinta para su color, como figura de la simplicidad que no da pie a discusión.

«Confucius said, “At last I may say that I have seen a dragon— a dragon that coils to show his body at its best, that sprawls out to display his patterns at their best, riding on the breath of the clouds, feeding on the yin and yang. My mouth fell open and I couldn’t close it; my tongue flew up and I couldn’t even stammer. How could I possibly make any estimation of Lao Dan!”» — Confucius declara haber visto un dragón que se enrosca y se despliega, cabalga el aliento de las nubes y se alimenta del yin y el yang, y no poder hacer estimación alguna de Lao Dan.

«Lao Dan said, “Young man, come a little closer, and I will tell you how the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors ruled the world. In ancient times the Yellow Emperor ruled the world by making the hearts of the people one. Therefore, if there were those among the people who did not wail at the death of their parents, the people saw nothing wrong in this.» — Lao Dan empieza el repaso de los gobiernos antiguos: el Emperador Amarillo hizo uno el corazón del pueblo, y por eso no se veía mal que alguno no llorara a sus padres; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Shun ruled the world by making the hearts of the people rivalrous. Therefore the wives of the people became pregnant and gave birth in the tenth month as in the past, but their children were not five months old before they were able to talk, and their baby laughter had hardly rung out before they had begun to distinguish one person from another. It was then that premature death first appeared.» — Lao Dan adjudica a Shun el corazón rival del pueblo, con niños que hablaban a los cinco meses y distinguían a las personas, y ahí fecha la aparición de la muerte prematura.

«Yu ruled the world by causing the hearts of the people to change. It was assumed that each man had a heart of his own, that recourse to arms was quite all right. Killing a thief is not a case of murder, they said; every man in the world should look out for his own kind. As a result, there was great consternation in the world, and the Confucians and Mohists all came forward, creating for the first time the rules of ethical behavior.» — Lao Dan adjudica a Yu el corazón mudable, con las armas tenidas por lícitas, y ahí sitúa la aparición de confucianos y mohístas con sus reglas de conducta.

«“I will tell you how the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors ruled the world! They called it ‘ruling,’ but in fact they were plunging it into the worst confusion. The ‘wisdom’ of the Three August Ones was such as blotted out the brightness of sun and moon above, sapped the vigor of hills and streams below, and overturned the round of the four seasons in between.» — Lao Dan llama confusión a lo que aquellos llamaron gobierno, y adjudica a su sabiduría el borrar el brillo del sol y la luna y trastornar las estaciones.

«wisdom was more fearsome than the tail of the scorpion; down to the smallest beast, not a living thing was allowed to rest in the true form of its nature and fate. And yet they considered themselves sages! Was it not shameful—their lack of shame!”» — Lao Dan remata: esa sabiduría fue más temible que la cola del escorpión y no dejó a ser vivo alguno reposar en la forma verdadera de su naturaleza; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Confucius said to Lao Dan, “I have been studying the Six Classics—the Odes, the Documents, the Ritual, the Music, the Changes, and the Spring and Autumn, for what I would call a long time, and I know their contents through and through. But I have been around to seventy-two different rulers with them, expounding the ways of the former kings and making clear the path trod by the dukes of Zhou and Shao, and yet not a single ruler has found anything to excite his interest. How difficult it is to persuade others, how difficult to make clear the Way!”» — Confucius declara haber recorrido setenta y dos gobernantes con los Seis Clásicos sin excitar el interés de ninguno.

«Laozi said, “It’s lucky you didn’t meet with a ruler who would try to govern the world as you say. The Six Classics are the old worn-out paths of the former kings—they are not the thing that walked the path. What you are expounding are simply these paths. Paths are made by shoes that walk them; they are by no means the shoes themselves!» — Laozi llama a los Seis Clásicos las sendas gastadas de los reyes antiguos y no lo que anduvo la senda, con la figura de los zapatos que hacen el camino.

«“The white fish hawk has only to stare unblinking at its mate for fertilization to occur. With insects, the male cries on the wind above, the female cries on the wind below, and there is fertilization. The creature called the lei is both male and female, and so it can fertilize itself.» — Laozi pone tres modos de fecundación, la mirada sin parpadeo, el canto en el viento y la criatura *lei* que es macho y hembra a la vez.

«Inborn nature cannot be changed, fate cannot be altered, time cannot be stopped, the Way cannot be obstructed. Get hold of the Way and there’s nothing that can’t be done; lose it and there’s nothing that can be done.”» — Laozi declara inmutables la naturaleza innata, el destino, el tiempo y el Camino, y hace depender de tenerlo o perderlo el poder y el no poder.

«Confucius stayed home for three months and then went to see Lao Dan once again. “I’ve got it,” he said. “The magpie hatches its young; the fish spit out their milt; the slim-waisted wasp has its stages of transformation; and when baby brother is born, big brother howls.21 For a long time now, I have not been taking my place as a man along with the process of change. And if I do not take my own place as a man along with the process of change, how can I hope to change other men?”» — Confucius vuelve a los tres meses con cuatro modos de nacer por ejemplo y declara que llevaba mucho sin tomar su sitio de hombre en el proceso del cambio; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«To be constrained in will, lofty in action, aloof from the world, apart from its customs, elevated in discourse, sullen and critical, indignation his whole concern—such is the life favored by the scholar in his mountain valley, the man who condemns the world, the worn and haggard one who means to end it all with a plunge into the deep.» — abre *Constrained in Will* con el primero de los cinco tipos de letrado, el del valle de montaña que condena al mundo y acaba arrojándose al abismo.

«To discourse on benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and good faith, to be courteous, temperate, modest, and deferential, moral training his whole concern—such is the life favored by the scholar who seeks to bring the world to order, the man who teaches and instructs, who at home and abroad lives for learning.» — el segundo tipo de letrado, el que quiere ordenar el mundo y vive para la instrucción moral.

«To talk of great accomplishments, win a great name, define the etiquette of ruler and subject, regulate the position of superior and inferior, the ordering of the state his only concern— such is the life favored by the scholar of court and council, the man who would honor his sovereign and strengthen his country, the bringer of accomplishment, the annexer of territory.» — el tercer tipo, el letrado de corte y consejo que honra al soberano y anexa territorio.

«To repair to the thickets and ponds, living idly in the wilderness, angling for fish in solitary places, inaction his only concern—such is the life favored by the scholar of the rivers and seas, the man who withdraws from the world, the unhurried idler.» — el cuarto tipo, el letrado de ríos y mares que pesca en soledad y se retira del mundo.

«To pant, to puff, to hail, to sip, to spit out the old breath and draw in the new, practicing bear-hangings and bird-stretchings, longevity his only concern—such is the life favored by the scholar who practices Induction, the man who nourishes his body, who hopes to live to be as old as Pengcu.» — el quinto tipo, el que practica la Inducción con colgamientos de oso y estiramientos de ave y expulsa el aliento viejo para atraer el nuevo, buscando longevidad; el troceo imprime *Pengcu*.

«So it is said, The sage rests; with rest comes peaceful ease, with peaceful ease comes limpidity, and where there is ease and limpidity, care and worry cannot get at him, noxious airs cannot assault him. Therefore his Virtue is complete and his spirit unimpaired.» — el texto describe el reposo del sabio, donde ni el cuidado ni los aires nocivos lo alcanzan; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«So it is said, With the sage, his life is the working of Heaven, his death the transformation of things. In stillness, he and the yin share a single Virtue; in motion, he and the yang share a single flow. He is not the bearer of good fortune or the initiator of bad fortune. Roused by something outside himself, only then does he respond; pressed, only then does he move; finding he has no choice, only then does he rise up.» — el texto repite la fórmula que el capítulo decimotercero ya trajo sobre la vida y la muerte del sabio, y añade que solo responde al ser movido desde fuera.

«His life is a floating, his death a rest. He does not ponder or scheme, does not plot for the future. A man of light, he does not shine; of good faith, he keeps no promises. He sleeps without dreaming, wakes without worry. His spirit is pure and clean, his soul never wearied. In emptiness, nonbeing, and limpidity, he joins with the Virtue of Heaven.» — el texto describe al sabio por negaciones: hombre de luz que no brilla, de buena fe que no promete, que duerme sin soñar y despierta sin inquietud.

«So it is said, Grief and happiness are perversions of Virtue; joy and anger are transgressions of the Way; love and hate are offenses against Virtue. When the mind is without care or joy, this is the height of Virtue. When it is unified and unchanging, this is the height of stillness. When it grates against nothing, this is the height of emptiness. When it has no commerce with things, this is the height of limpidity. When it rebels against nothing, this is the height of purity.» — el texto declara perversiones de la Virtud el duelo y la dicha, transgresiones del Camino el gozo y la ira, y da cinco cimas: de la Virtud, de la quietud, del vacío, de la limpidez y de la pureza.

«But to attain loftiness without constraining the will; to achieve moral training without benevolence and righteousness, good order without accomplishments and fame, leisure without rivers and seas, long life without Induction; to lose everything and yet possess everything, at ease in the illimitable, where all good things come to attend—this is the Way of Heaven and earth, the» — el texto niega los cinco tipos por la vía de pedir cada bien sin su medio: altura sin constreñir la voluntad, larga vida sin Inducción; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 148 con la Virtud del sabio.

«Virtue of the sage. So it is said, Limpidity, silence, emptiness, inaction—these are the level of Heaven and earth, the substance of the Way and its Virtue.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el texto repite los cinco términos de la limpidez y la inacción como nivel del cielo y la tierra; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«So it is said, If the body is made to labor and take no rest, it will wear out; if the spiritual essence is taxed without cessation, it will grow weary, and weariness will bring exhaustion. It is the nature of water that if it is not mixed with other things, it will be clear, and if nothing stirs it, it will be level. But if it is dammed and hemmed in and not allowed to flow, then it, too, will cease to be clear. As such, it is a symbol of Heavenly Virtue.» — el texto pone el agua que se enturbia si se le cierra el paso como símbolo de la Virtud Celeste.

«The man who owns a sword from Gan or Yue lays it in a box and stores it away, not daring to use it, for to him it is the greatest of treasures.» — el texto pone la espada guardada sin usar como figura de lo que se tiene por mayor tesoro; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Pure spirit reaches in the four directions, flows now this way, now that—there is no place it does not extend to. Above, it brushes Heaven; below, it coils on the earth. It transforms and nurses the ten thousand things, but no one can make out its form. Its name is called One-with-Heaven.» — el texto describe el espíritu puro que se extiende a todas partes y nutre las diez mil cosas sin que nadie distinga su forma, y lo nombra Uno-con-el-Cielo.

«The way to purity and whiteness is to guard the spirit, this alone; guard it and never lose it, and you will become one with spirit, one with its pure essence, which communicates and mingles with the Heavenly Order.» — el texto da la vía de la pureza y la blancura: guardar el espíritu y no perderlo hasta hacerse uno con él.

«The common saying has it, “The ordinary man prizes gain, the man of integrity prizes name, the worthy man honors ambition, the sage values spiritual essence.” Whiteness means there is nothing mixed in; purity means the spirit is never impaired. He who can embody purity and whiteness may be called the True Man.» — el capítulo decimoquinto cierra citando el dicho de los cuatro aprecios, del común al sabio, y llamando Hombre Verdadero a quien encarna la pureza y la blancura.

«Those who set about mending the inborn nature through vulgar learning, hoping thereby to return once more to the Beginning; those who set about muddling their desires through vulgar ways of thought, hoping thereby to attain clarity—they may be called the blind and benighted people.» — abre *Mending the Inborn Nature* llamando ciegos y entenebrecidos a quienes quieren remendar la naturaleza innata con aprendizaje vulgar.

«The men of ancient times who practiced the Way employed tranquillity to cultivate knowledge. Knowledge lived in them, yet they did nothing for its sake. So they may be said to have employed knowledge to cultivate tranquillity. Knowledge and tranquillity took turns cultivating each other, and harmony and order emerged from the inborn nature.» — el texto describe el trato antiguo entre conocimiento y tranquilidad, que se cultivaban por turnos y de ahí salían la armonía y el orden.

«Virtue is harmony, the Way is order. When Virtue embraces all things, we have benevolence. When the Way is in all respects well ordered, we have righteousness. When righteousness is clearly understood and all things cling to it, we have loyalty. When within there is purity, fullness, and a return to true form, we have music. When good faith is expressed in face and body and there is a compliance with elegance, we have rites.» — el texto deriva de la Virtud y el Camino la benevolencia, la rectitud, la lealtad, la música y los ritos.

«But if all emphasis is placed on the conduct of rites and music, then the world will fall into disorder. The ruler, in his efforts to rectify, will draw a cloud over his own virtue, and his virtue will no longer extend to all things. And should he try to force it to extend, then things would invariably lose their in-born nature.» — el texto acota la derivación: cargar el acento en los ritos y la música desordena el mundo, y forzar la virtud del gobernante hace perder a las cosas su naturaleza innata; el troceo imprime *in-born* con guion dentro del renglón.

«The men of old dwelled in the midst of crudity and chaos; side by side with the rest of the world, they attained simplicity and silence there. At that time the yin and yang were harmonious and still; ghosts and spirits worked no mischief; the four seasons kept to their proper order; the ten thousand things knew no injury; and living creatures were free from premature death. Although men had knowledge, they did not use it. This was called the Perfect Unity.» — el texto describe la Unidad Perfecta: yin y yang en armonía, fantasmas sin travesuras, y hombres que teniendo conocimiento no lo usaban.

«The time came, however, when Virtue began to dwindle and decline, and then Suiren and Fu Xi stepped forward to take charge of the world. As a result there was compliance, but no longer any unity. Virtue continued to dwindle and decline, and then Shennong and the Yellow Emperor stepped forward to take charge of the world. As a result, there was security but no longer any compliance.» — el texto escalona el decaer de la Virtud por parejas de gobernantes: con Suiren y Fu Xi hubo docilidad sin unidad, con Shennong y el Emperador Amarillo seguridad sin docilidad; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«They set about in various fashions to order and transform the world and, in doing so, defiled purity and shattered simplicity. The Way was pulled apart for the sake of goodness; Virtue was imperiled for the sake of conduct.» — el texto adjudica a Yao y a Shun el haber mancillado la pureza y roto la simplicidad, con el Camino desgarrado por la bondad.

«After this, “culture” was added, and “breadth” was piled on top. “Culture” destroyed the substantial; “breadth” drowned the mind; and after this, the people began to be confused and disordered. They had no way to revert to the true form of their inborn nature or to return once more to the Beginning.» — el texto culpa a la cultura de destruir lo sustancial y a la amplitud de ahogar la mente, sin dejar vuelta a la forma verdadera.

«From this we may see that the world has lost the Way and the Way has lost the world; the world and the Way have lost each other. What means does a man of the Way have to go forward in the world? What means does the world have to go forward in the Way? The Way cannot go forward in the world, and the world cannot go forward in the Way. So although the sage does not retire to dwell in the midst of the mountain forest, his Virtue is already hidden. It is already hidden, and therefore he does not need to hide it himself.» — el texto declara que el mundo y el Camino se han perdido el uno al otro, y por eso la Virtud del sabio ya está oculta sin que él tenga que ocultarla.

«Those in ancient times who wished to keep themselves alive did not use eloquence to ornament their knowledge. They did not use their knowledge to make trouble for the world; they did not use their knowledge to make trouble for Virtue. Loftily they kept to their places and returned to their inborn nature. Having done that, what more was there for them to do? The Way has no use for petty conduct; Virtue has no use for petty understanding. Petty understanding injures Virtue; petty conduct injures the Way.» — el texto describe a los que querían conservarse vivos: ni adornaban su saber con elocuencia ni lo usaban para dar guerra, y declara que el saber menudo daña la Virtud; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When the men of ancient times spoke of the fulfillment of ambition, they did not mean fine carriages and caps. They meant simply that joy was so complete that it could not be made greater.» — el texto distingue lo que los antiguos entendían por realizar la ambición, la alegría que no puede crecer más, de lo que hoy se entiende.

«But carriages and caps affect the body alone, not the inborn nature and fate. Such things from time to time may happen to come your way. When they come, you cannot keep them from arriving, but when they depart, you cannot stop them from going. Therefore carriages and caps are no excuse for becoming puffed up with pride, and hardship and poverty are no excuse for fawning on the vulgar.» — el texto declara que carruajes y gorros tocan solo al cuerpo, van y vienen sin que nadie los pare, y no son excusa ni de orgullo ni de adulación.

«Therefore it is said, Those who destroy themselves in things and lose their inborn nature in the vulgar may be called the upside-down people.» — el capítulo decimosexto cierra llamando gente de cabeza a los que se destruyen en las cosas y pierden su naturaleza innata en lo vulgar.

«The so-called scholars in hiding of ancient times did not conceal their bodies and refuse to let them be seen; they did not shut in their words and refuse to let them out; they did not stow away their knowledge and refuse to share it.» — el texto enmienda el retrato de los letrados escondidos: niega que ocultaran cuerpo, palabras ni saber.

«But the fate of the times was too much awry. If the fate of the times had been with them and they could have done great deeds in the world, then they would have returned to Unity and left no trace behind. But the fate of the times was against them and brought them only great hardship in the world, and therefore they deepened their roots, rested in perfection, and waited.» — el texto da la razón del retiro: la suerte de los tiempos les era contraria, y por eso ahondaron raíces, reposaron en la perfección y esperaron.

«The time of the autumn floods came, and the hundred streams poured into the Yellow River. Its racing current swelled to such proportions that, looking from bank to bank or island to island, it was impossible to distinguish a horse from a cow. Then the Lord of the River1 was beside himself with joy, believing that all the beauty in the world belonged to him alone. Following the current, he journeyed east until at last he reached the North Sea. Looking east, he could see no end to the water.» — abre *Autumn Floods* con el Señor del Río crecido de orgullo por su corriente, que baja hasta el Mar del Norte y no le ve fin al agua.

«The Lord of the River began to wag his head and roll his eyes. Peering far off in the direction of Ruo,2 he sighed and said, “The common saying has it, ‘He has heard the Way a mere hundred times, but he thinks he’s better than anyone else.’ It applies to me. In the past, I heard men belittling the learning of Confucius and making light of the righteousness of Bo Yi,3 though I never believed them. Now, however, I have seen your unfathomable vastness. If I hadn’t come to your gate,4 I should have been in danger. I should forever have been laughed at by the masters of the Great Method!”» — el Señor del Río se aplica a sí mismo el dicho del que oyó el Camino cien veces y se cree el mejor, y reconoce el peligro de no haber llegado a esa puerta; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Ruo of the North Sea said, “You can’t discuss the ocean with a well frog—he’s limited by the space he lives in. You can’t discuss ice with a summer insect—he’s bound to a single season. You can’t discuss the Way with a cramped scholar—he’s shackled by his doctrines. Now you have come out beyond your banks and borders and have seen the great sea—so you realize your own pettiness. From now on, it will be possible to talk to you about the Great Principle.» — Ruo del Mar del Norte da las tres imposibilidades, la rana del pozo con el océano, el insecto de verano con el hielo y el letrado encogido con el Camino.

«“Of all the waters of the world, none is as great as the sea. Ten thousand streams flow into it—I have never heard of a time when they stopped—and yet it is never full. The water leaks away at Weilü5—I have never heard of a time when it didn’t—and yet the sea is never empty. Spring or autumn, it never changes. Flood or» — Ruo describe el mar que nunca se llena ni se vacía y no cambia con las estaciones; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«drought, it takes no notice. It is so much greater than the streams of the Yangzi or the Yellow River that it is impossible to measure the difference. But I have never, for this reason, prided myself on it. I take my place with heaven and earth and receive breath from the yin and yang. I sit here between heaven and earth as a little stone or a little tree sits on a huge mountain. Since I can see my own smallness, what reason would I have to pride myself?» — Ruo declara no enorgullecerse de su tamaño: entre el cielo y la tierra está como una piedrecita en una montaña enorme; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Compare the area within the four seas with all that is between heaven and earth—is it not like one little anthill in a vast marsh? Compare the Middle Kingdom with the area within the four seas— is it not like one tiny grain in a great storehouse? When we refer to the things of creation, we speak of them as numbering ten thousand—and man is only one of them. We talk of the Nine Provinces where men are most numerous, and yet of the whole area where grain and foods are grown and where boats and carts pass back and forth, man occupies only one fraction.» — Ruo encadena las comparaciones que empequeñecen al hombre: los cuatro mares como hormiguero en un pantano y el Reino del Medio como un grano en un granero.

«Compared to the ten thousand things, is he not like one little hair on the body of a horse? What the Five Emperors passed along, what the Three Kings fought over, what the benevolent man grieves about, what the responsible man labors over—all is no more than this!» — Ruo reduce a un pelo en el cuerpo de un caballo aquello por lo que pelearon los Tres Reyes y se afanan los benevolentes.

«Bo Yi gained a reputation by giving it up; Confucius passed himself off as learned because he talked about it. But in priding themselves in this way, were they not like you a moment ago priding yourself on your floodwaters?”» — Ruo empareja a Bo Yi, famoso por renunciar, y a Confucius, tenido por sabio por hablar de ello, con el propio Señor del Río ufano de su crecida.

«“No indeed!” said Ruo of the North Sea. “There is no end to the weighing of things, no stop to time, no constancy to the division of lots, no fixed rule to beginning and end. Therefore great wisdom observes both far and near, and for that reason, it recognizes small without considering it paltry, recognizes large without considering it unwieldy, for it knows that there is no end to the weighing of things.» — Ruo niega que baste reconocer lo enorme y lo diminuto: no hay fin en el pesar las cosas ni regla fija en el principio y el fin.

«It has a clear understanding of past and present, and for that reason, it spends a long time without finding it tedious, a short time without fretting at its shortness, for it knows that time has no end.» — Ruo describe la gran sabiduría ante el tiempo: pasa largo tiempo sin tedio y corto sin impaciencia.

«It perceives the nature of fullness and emptiness, and for that reason, it does not delight if it acquires something or worry if it loses it, for it knows that there is no constancy to the division of lots.» — Ruo describe la gran sabiduría ante la plenitud y el vacío: ni se alegra de adquirir ni se apena de perder.

«Road, and for that reason, it does not rejoice in life or look on death as a calamity, for it knows that no fixed rule can be assigned to beginning and end.» — Ruo cierra la serie: quien comprende el Camino Llano no se regocija en la vida ni tiene la muerte por calamidad; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Calculate what man knows, and it cannot compare with what he does not know. Calculate the time he is alive, and it cannot compare with the time before he was born. Yet man takes something so small and tries to exhaust the dimensions of something so large! Hence he is muddled and confused and can never get anywhere.» — Ruo compara lo que el hombre sabe con lo que ignora y el tiempo que vive con el anterior a su nacimiento, y de esa desproporción saca su confusión.

«Ruo of the North Sea said, “If from the standpoint of the minute, we look at what is large, we cannot see to the end. If from the standpoint of what is large, we look at what is minute, we cannot distinguish it clearly. The minute is the smallest of the small, the gigantic is the largest of the large, and it is therefore convenient to distinguish between them. But this is merely a matter of circumstance.» — Ruo declara que lo minúsculo y lo gigantesco se distinguen por conveniencia y solo por circunstancia.

«Before we can speak of coarse or fine, however, there must be some form. If a thing has no form, then numbers cannot express its dimensions, and if it cannot be encompassed, then numbers cannot express its size. We can use words to talk about the coarseness of things, and we can use our minds to visualize the fineness of things. But what words cannot describe and the mind cannot succeed in visualizing—this has nothing to do with coarseness or fineness.» — Ruo pone el límite del número y de la palabra: lo que no tiene forma no admite dimensiones, y lo que ni la palabra describe ni la mente visualiza nada tiene que ver con lo tosco ni con lo fino.

«“Therefore the Great Man in his actions will not harm others, but he makes no show of benevolence or charity. He will not move for the sake of profit, but he does not despise the porter at the gate. He will not wrangle for goods or wealth, but he makes no show of refusing or relinquishing them. He will not enlist the help of others in his work, but he makes no show of being selfsupporting, and he does not despise the greedy and base. His actions differ from those of the mob, but he makes no show of uniqueness or eccentricity. He is content to stay behind with the crowd, but he does not despise those who run forward to flatter and fawn.» — Ruo describe al Gran Hombre por lo que no hace y por lo que tampoco exhibe: no daña y no alardea de benevolencia, no litiga y no alardea de renunciar; el troceo parte *self-supporting* a fin de renglón y la herramienta devuelve la forma unida, que se conserva tal cual.

«“From the point of view of differences, if we regard a thing as big because there is a certain bigness to it, then among all the ten thousand things there are none that are not big. If we regard a thing as small because there is a certain smallness to it, then among the ten thousand things there are none that are not small. If we know that heaven and earth are tiny grains and the tip of a hair is a range of mountains, then we have perceived the law of difference.» — Ruo formula la ley de la diferencia: todo es grande por algo y pequeño por algo, y así el cielo y la tierra son granos y la punta de un pelo una cordillera.

«“From the point of view of function, if we regard a thing as useful because there is a certain usefulness to it, then among all the ten thousand things there are none that are not useful. If we regard a thing as useless because there is a certain uselessness to it, then among the ten thousand things there are none that are not useless. If we know that east and west are mutually opposed but that one cannot do without the other, then we can estimate the degree of function.» — Ruo formula la ley de la función: todo es útil por algo e inútil por algo, y el este y el oeste se oponen sin poder prescindir uno del otro.

«“From the point of view of preference, if we regard a thing as right because there is a certain right to it, then among the ten thousand things there are none that are not right. If we regard a thing as wrong because there is a certain wrong to it, then among the ten thousand things there are none that are not wrong. If we know that Yao and Jie each thought himself right and condemned the other as wrong, then we may understand how there are preferences in behavior.» — Ruo formula la ley de la preferencia: todo es recto por algo y errado por algo, y Yao y Jie se tuvieron cada uno por recto.

«“A beam or pillar can be used to batter down a city wall, but it is no good for stopping up a little hole—this refers to a difference in function. Thoroughbreds like Qiji and Hualiu could gallop a thousand li in one day, but when it came to catching rats, they were no match for the wildcat or the weasel—this refers to a difference in skill. The horned owl catches fleas at night and can spot the tip of a hair, but when daylight comes, no matter how wide it opens its eyes, it cannot see a mound or a hill—this refers to a difference in nature.» — Ruo pone tres diferencias, de función con la viga, de destreza con los caballos que no cazan ratones y de naturaleza con el búho que ve la punta de un pelo de noche y no ve un cerro de día; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Now do you say that you are going to make Right your master and do away with Wrong, or make Order your master and do away with Disorder? If you do, then you have not understood the principle of heaven and earth or the nature of the ten thousand things. This is like saying that you are going to make Heaven your master and do away with Earth, or make Yin your master and do away with Yang. Obviously it is impossible.» — Ruo compara querer quedarse con lo Recto y suprimir lo Errado con querer quedarse con el Cielo y suprimir la Tierra, o con el Yin y suprimir el Yang.

«All the titles and stipends of the age are not enough to» — Ruo declara que ni los títulos ni los estipendios de la época bastan para mover al Gran Hombre; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 157 con las penas y las censuras.

«stir him to exertion; all its penalties and censures are not enough to make him feel shame. He knows that no line can be drawn between right and wrong, no border can be fixed between great and small. I have heard it said, ‘The Man of the Way wins no fame, the highest virtue8 wins no gain, the Great Man has no self.’ To the most perfect degree, he goes along with what has been allotted to him.”» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: ni las penas le dan vergüenza, porque sabe que no hay línea entre lo recto y lo errado, y cita el dicho de los tres que no ganan nada; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Ruo of the North Sea said, “From the point of view of the Way, things have no nobility or meanness. From the point of view of things themselves, each regards itself as noble and other things as mean. From the point of view of common opinion, nobility and meanness are not determined by the individual himself.» — Ruo reparte tres puntos de vista sobre lo noble y lo vil: desde el Camino no hay ninguno, desde las cosas cada una se tiene por noble, desde la opinión común no lo decide el individuo; el capítulo repite el arranque de la frase más abajo y se ancla aquí, en la primera aparición.

«ruled as emperor; Kuai abdicated in favor of Zhi, and Zhi was destroyed.9 Tang and Wu fought and became kings; Duke Bo fought and was wiped out.10 Looking at it this way, we see that struggling or giving way, behaving like a Yao or like a Jie, may at one time be noble and at another time be mean. It is impossible to establish any constant rule.» — la serie, ya en la plana siguiente: dos abdicaciones y dos guerras con desenlaces contrarios, de donde Ruo niega que se pueda fijar regla constante; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“Emperors and kings have different ways of ceding their thrones; the Three Dynasties had different rules of succession. Those who went against the times and flouted custom were called usurpers; those who went with the times and followed custom were called companions of righteousness.» — Ruo consigna que el mismo acto se llamó usurpación o compañía de la rectitud según fuera contra los tiempos o con ellos.

«Ruo of the North Sea said, “From the point of view of the Way, what is noble or what is mean? These are merely what are called endless changes. Do not hobble your will, or you will be departing far from the Way! What is few, or what is many? These are merely what are called boundless turnings.11 Do not strive to unify your actions, or you will be at sixes and sevens with the Way!» — Ruo llama cambios sin fin y giros sin límite a lo noble y lo vil y a lo poco y lo mucho, y manda no trabar la voluntad ni forzar la unidad de la conducta; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Embrace the ten thousand things universally—how could there be one you should give special support to? This is called being without bent. When the ten thousand things are unified and equal, then which is short and which is long?» — Ruo manda abrazar universalmente las diez mil cosas sin apoyar a ninguna, y llama a eso ser sin inclinación; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“The Way is without beginning or end, but things have their life and death—you cannot rely on their fulfillment. One moment empty, the next moment full—you cannot depend on their form. The years cannot be held off; time cannot be stopped. Decay, growth, fullness, and emptiness end and then begin again. It is thus that we must describe the plan of the Great Meaning and discuss the principles of the ten thousand things. The life of things is a gallop, a headlong dash—with every movement they alter, with every moment they shift.» — Ruo declara al Camino sin principio ni fin frente a las cosas que nacen y mueren, y describe su vida como galope en el que todo se altera a cada movimiento.

«Ruo of the North Sea said, “He who understands the Way is certain to have command of basic principles. He who has command of basic principles is certain to know how to deal with circumstances. And he who knows how to deal with circumstances will not allow things to do him harm. When a man has perfect virtue, fire cannot burn him, water cannot drown him, cold and heat cannot afflict him, birds and beasts cannot injure him. I do not say that he makes light of these things. I mean that he distinguishes between safety and danger, contents himself with fortune or misfortune, and is cautious in his comings and goings. Therefore nothing can harm him.» — Ruo encadena entender el Camino, tener los principios y saber tratar las circunstancias, y acota enseguida que el de virtud perfecta no menosprecia el fuego ni el agua sino que distingue seguridad de peligro.

«“Hence it is said: the Heavenly is on the inside, the human is on the outside. Virtue resides in the Heavenly. Understand the actions of Heaven and man, base yourself on Heaven, take your stand in virtue,12 and then, although you hasten or hold back, bend or stretch, you may return to the essential and speak of the ultimate.”» — Ruo reparte lo Celeste dentro y lo humano fuera, y sitúa la virtud en lo Celeste.

«Ruo of the North Sea said, “Horses and oxen have four feet— this is what I mean by the Heavenly. Putting a halter on the horse’s head, piercing the ox’s nose—this is what I mean by the human. So I say: do not let what is human wipe out what is Heavenly; do not let what is purposeful wipe out what is fated; do not let [the desire for] gain lead you after fame. Be cautious, guard it, and do not lose it—this is what I mean by returning to the True.”» — Ruo define lo Celeste y lo humano con las cuatro patas del caballo frente al cabestro y la nariz horadada del buey, y manda no dejar que lo humano borre lo Celeste; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor y el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Kui13 envies the millipede, the millipede envies the snake, the snake envies the wind, the wind envies the eye, and the eye envies the mind.» — el texto encadena la cadena de envidias, del Kui de una pata al ciempiés, la serpiente, el viento, el ojo y la mente.

«The millipede said, “You don’t understand. Haven’t you ever watched a man spit? He just gives a hawk and out it comes, some drops as big as pearls, some as fine as mist, raining down in a jumble of countless particles. Now all I do is put in motion the heavenly mechanism in me—I’m not aware of how the thing works.”» — el ciempiés explica su andar por el mecanismo celeste que pone en marcha sin saber cómo obra, con el ejemplo del escupitajo que cae en partículas incontables.

«The snake said, “It’s just the heavenly mechanism moving me along—how can I change the way I am? What would I do with legs if I had them?”» — la serpiente adjudica su avance al mismo mecanismo celeste y pregunta qué haría con patas.

«The wind said, “It’s true that I whirl up from the North Sea and whirl off to the South Sea. But if you hold up a finger against me you’ve defeated me, and if you trample on me you’ve likewise defeated me. On the other hand, I can break down big trees and blow over great houses—this is a talent that I alone have. So I take all the mass of little defeats and make them into a Great Victory. To make a Great Victory—only the sage is capable of that!”» — el viento reconoce que un dedo alzado lo vence y que aun así derriba árboles y casas, y llama Gran Victoria a juntar todas las derrotas pequeñas.

«When Confucius was passing through Kuang, the men of Song surrounded him with several encirclements of troops, but he went right on playing his lute and singing without a stop.14 Zi Lu went in to see him and said, “Master, how can you be so carefree?”» — Confucius sigue tocando el laúd y cantando mientras las tropas lo cercan, y Zi Lu le pregunta cómo puede estar tan despreocupado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Confucius said, “Come, I will explain to you. For a long time I have tried to stay out of the way of hardship. That I have not managed to escape it is due to fate. For a long time I have tried to achieve success. That I have not been able to do so is due to the times. If it happens to be the age of a Yao or a Shun, then there are no men in the world who face hardship—but this is not because their wisdom saves them. If it happens to be the age of a Jie or a Zhou, then there are no men in the world who achieve success—but this is not because their wisdom fails them. It is time and circumstance that make it so.» — Confucius adjudica al destino su no escapar de la penuria y a los tiempos su no alcanzar el éxito, y niega que la sabiduría de nadie sea lo que decide.

«“To travel across the water without shrinking from the sea serpent or the dragon—this is the courage of the fisherman. To travel over land without shrinking from the rhinoceros or the tiger —this is the courage of the hunter. To see the bare blades clashing before him and to look on death as though it were life— this is the courage of the man of ardor.15 To understand that hardship is a matter of fate, that success is a matter of the times, and to face great difficulty without fear—this is the courage of the sage. Be content with it, Zi Lu. My fate has been decided for me.”» — Confucius gradúa cuatro valores, del pescador, del cazador, del hombre de ardor y del sabio, y pone en el último entender que la penuria es del destino y el éxito de los tiempos; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Shortly afterward the leader of the armed men came forward and apologized. “We thought you were Yang Huo, and that was why we surrounded you. Now that we see you aren’t, we beg to take leave and withdraw.”» — el cerco se deshace por un error de identidad: lo habían tomado por Yang Huo.

«Gongsun Long said to Prince Mou of Wei,16 “When I was young, I studied the Way of the former kings, and when I grew older, I came to understand the conduct of benevolence and righteousness. I reconciled difference and sameness, distinguished hardness and whiteness, and proved that not so was so, that the unacceptable was acceptable. I confounded the wisdom of the hundred schools and demolished the arguments of a host of speakers. I believed that I had attained the highest degree of accomplishment.» — Gongsun Long enumera sus logros de lógico, reconciliar diferencia y semejanza y probar que lo no así era así, y se tenía por llegado a la cima.

«“When the frog in the caved-in well heard this, he was dumbfounded with surprise, crestfallen, and completely at a loss. Now your knowledge cannot even define the borders of right and wrong, and still you try to see through the words of Zhuangzi— this is like trying to make a mosquito carry a mountain on its back or a pill bug race across the Yellow River. You will never be up to the task!» — el príncipe Mou compara a Gongsun Long con la rana pasmada y con el mosquito al que se le pide cargar una montaña.

«“He whose understanding cannot grasp these minute and subtle words but is fit only to win some temporary gain—is he not like the frog in the caved-in well? Zhuangzi, now—at this very moment he is treading the Yellow Springs17 or leaping up to the vast blue. To him there is no north or south—in utter freedom he dissolves himself in the four directions and drowns himself in the unfathomable. To him there is no east or west—he begins in the Dark Obscurity and returns to the Great Thoroughfare.» — el príncipe Mou sitúa a Zhuangzi pisando los Manantiales Amarillos o saltando al azul inmenso, sin norte ni sur, empezando en la Oscuridad y volviendo a la Gran Vía.

«But now I have heard the words of Zhuangzi, and I am bewildered by their strangeness. I don’t know whether my arguments are not as good as his, or whether I am no match for him in understanding. I find now that I can’t even» — Gongsun Long declara no saber si sus argumentos no valen o si no da la talla en entendimiento; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 162 con que ya no puede ni abrir el pico.

«Prince Mou leaned on his armrest and gave a great sigh, and then he looked up at the sky and laughed, saying, “Haven’t you ever heard about the frog in the caved-in well?» — el príncipe Mou suspira, mira al cielo y ríe antes de contar la rana del pozo derrumbado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«He said to the great turtle of the Eastern Sea, ‘What fun I have! I come out and hop around the railing of the well, or I go back in and take a rest in the wall where a tile has fallen out. When I dive into the water, I let it hold me up under the armpits and support my chin, and when I slip about in the mud, I bury my feet in it and let it come up over my ankles. I look around at the mosquito larvae and the crabs and tadpoles, and I see that none of them can match me.» — la rana del pozo describe sus placeres, el barandal, el hueco de la teja caída y el lodo hasta los tobillos, y se declara sin rival entre las larvas y los renacuajos.

«“But before the great turtle of the Eastern Sea had even gotten his left foot in the well, his right knee was already wedged fast. He backed out and withdrew a little, and then began to describe the sea.» — la tortuga del Mar Oriental no logra meter siquiera el pie izquierdo en el pozo y se retira a describir el mar.

«‘A distance of a thousand li cannot indicate its greatness; a depth of a thousand fathoms cannot express how deep it is. In the time of Yu, there were floods for nine years out of ten, and yet its waters never rose. In the time of Tang, there were droughts for seven years out of eight, and yet its shores never receded. Never to alter or shift, whether for an instant or an eternity; never to advance or recede, whether the quantity of water flowing in is great or small—this is the great delight of the Eastern Sea!’» — la tortuga describe el mar que no crece con nueve años de inundación ni mengua con siete de sequía, y no se altera por un instante ni por una eternidad.

«about the young boy of Shouling who went to learn the Handan Walk. He hadn’t mastered what the Handan people had to teach him when he forgot his old way of walking, so he had to crawl all the way back home. Now if you don’t get on your way, you’re likely to forget what you knew before and be out of a job!”» — el príncipe Mou cierra con el muchacho de Shouling que fue a aprender el Paso de Handan, olvidó su modo de andar y tuvo que volver a gatas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Once, when Zhuangzi was fishing in the Pu River, the king of Chu sent two officials to go and announce to him: “I would like to trouble you with the administration of my realm.” Zhuangzi held on to the fishing pole and, without turning his head, said, “I have heard that there is a sacred tortoise in Chu that has been dead for three thousand years. The king keeps it wrapped in cloth and boxed, and stores it in the ancestral temple. Now would this tortoise rather be dead and have its bones left behind and honored? Or would it rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud?”» — Zhuangzi responde a la oferta del reino con la tortuga sagrada de Chu, muerta hace tres mil años y guardada en el templo, y pregunta qué preferiría ella.

«When Huizi was prime minister of Liang, Zhuangzi set off to visit him. Someone said to Huizi, “Zhuangzi is coming because he wants to replace you as prime minister!” With this, Huizi was filled with alarm and searched all over the state for three days and three nights trying to find Zhuangzi.» — Huizi, avisado de que Zhuangzi viene a quitarle el cargo, busca tres días y tres noches por todo el Estado.

«Zhuangzi then came to see him and said, “In the south there is a bird called the Yuanchu—I wonder if you’ve ever heard of it? The Yuanchu rises up from the South Sea and flies to the North Sea, and it will rest on nothing but the Wutong tree, eat nothing but the fruit of the Lian, and drink only from springs of sweet water.» — Zhuangzi describe al ave Yuanchu, que solo posa en el Wutong, solo come el fruto del Lian y solo bebe de manantiales dulces.

«Once there was an owl who had gotten hold of a half-rotten old rat, and as the Yuanchu passed by, it raised its head, looked up at the Yuanchu, and said, ‘Shoo!’ Now that you have this Liang state of yours, are you trying» — Zhuangzi cuenta el búho que espanta al Yuanchu por su rata medio podrida; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la pregunta remata en la 164.

«Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao River when Zhuangzi said, “See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!”» — Zhuangzi declara saber lo que gozan los peces al verlos salir y darse vueltas a su gusto; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Huizi said, “You’re not a fish—how do you know what fish enjoy?”» — Huizi objeta que Zhuangzi no es pez, y Zhuangzi le devuelve que él no es Zhuangzi.

«Huizi said, “I’m not you, so I certainly don’t know what you know. On the other hand, you’re certainly not a fish—so that still proves that you don’t know what fish enjoy!”» — Huizi concede la simetría y la usa para cerrar el argumento contra Zhuangzi.

«Zhuangzi said, “Let’s go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy—so you already knew that I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao.”» — Zhuangzi cierra el capítulo decimoséptimo devolviendo la pregunta a su forma: preguntar cómo lo sabe era ya conceder que lo sabía, y lo sabe estando ahí junto al Hao.

«come niggling along and try to spy him out or fix some name to him, but this is like using a tube to scan the sky or an awl to measure the depth of the earth—the instrument is too small, is it not?» — el príncipe Mou compara el intento de Gongsun Long con escudriñar el cielo por un tubo o medir la tierra con una lezna; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana, en la palabra con que sigue la frase de la 162.

«“It would rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud,” said the two officials. Zhuangzi said, “Go away! I’ll drag my tail in the mud!”» — los dos oficiales responden por la tortuga y Zhuangzi elige lo mismo para sí, arrastrar la cola en el lodo.

«Is there such a thing as supreme happiness in the world, or isn’t there? Is there some way to keep yourself alive, or isn’t there? What to do, what to rely on, what to avoid, what to stick by, what to follow, what to leave alone, what to find happiness in, what to hate?» — abre *Supreme Happiness* con una ristra de preguntas sobre si hay felicidad suprema y qué hacer, evitar y seguir.

«This is what the world honors: wealth, eminence, long life, a good name. This is what the world finds happiness in: a life of ease, rich food, fine clothes, beautiful sights, sweet sounds. This is what it looks down on: poverty, meanness, an early death, a bad name. This is what it finds bitter: a life that knows no rest, a mouth that gets no rich food, no fine clothes for the body, no beautiful sights for the eye, no sweet sounds for the ear.» — el texto inventaria lo que el mundo honra, en qué halla su dicha, qué desprecia y qué le amarga.

«People who can’t get these things fret a great deal and are afraid—this is a stupid way to treat the body. People who are rich wear themselves out rushing around on business, piling up more wealth than they could ever use—this is a superficial way to treat the body. People who are eminent spend night and day scheming and wondering whether they are doing right—this is a shoddy way to treat the body. Man lives his life in company with worry, and if he lives a long while till he’s dull and doddering, then he has spent that much time worrying instead of dying, a bitter lot indeed! This is a callous way to treat the body.» — el texto empareja cuatro modos de maltratar el cuerpo, el del que no alcanza esas cosas, el del rico, el del eminente y el del que vive mucho preocupándose en vez de morir.

«Men of ardor1 are regarded by the world as good, but their goodness doesn’t succeed in keeping them alive. So I don’t know whether or not their goodness is really good. Perhaps I think it’s good—but not good enough to save their lives. Perhaps I think it’s no good—but still good enough to save the lives of others. So I say, if your loyal advice isn’t heeded, give way and do not wrangle. Zixu wrangled and lost his body.2 But if he hadn’t wrangled, he wouldn’t have made a name. Is there really such a thing as goodness, or isn’t there?» — el texto pone en duda la bondad del hombre de ardor, cuya bondad no le sirve para seguir vivo, y lo ilustra con Zixu, que porfió y perdió el cuerpo y por eso mismo hizo nombre; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«I take inaction to be true happiness, but ordinary people think it is a bitter thing. I say: the highest happiness has no happiness, the highest praise has no praise. The world can’t decide what is right and what is wrong. And yet inaction can decide this. The highest happiness, keeping alive—only inaction gets you close to this!» — el texto declara la inacción por verdadera dicha y enuncia la fórmula de que la dicha más alta no tiene dicha; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Let me try putting it this way. The inaction of Heaven is its purity, the inaction of earth is its peace. So the two inactions combine, and all things are transformed and brought to birth. Wonderfully, mysteriously, there is no place they come out of. Mysteriously, wonderfully, they have no sign. Each thing minds its business, and all grow up out of inaction. So I say, Heaven and earth do nothing, and there is nothing that is not done. Among men, who can get hold of this inaction?» — el texto compone la pureza del Cielo y la paz de la tierra, dos inacciones de cuya unión nacen y se transforman todas las cosas.

«Zhuangzi’s wife died. When Huizi went to convey his condolences, he found Zhuangzi sitting with his legs sprawled out, pounding on a tub and singing. “You lived with her, she brought up your children and grew old,” said Huizi. “It should be enough simply not to weep at her death. But pounding on a tub and singing—this is going too far, isn’t it?”» — Huizi halla a Zhuangzi con las piernas estiradas, tamborileando en una tina y cantando tras morir su mujer, y le reprocha el exceso.

«Zhuangzi said, “You’re wrong. When she first died, do you think I didn’t grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery, a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there’s been another change and she’s dead. It’s just like the progression of the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter.» — Zhuangzi reconstruye hacia atrás la serie de cambios de su mujer, antes del espíritu, antes del cuerpo, antes del nacimiento, y pone la muerte como un cambio más, igual que las cuatro estaciones.

«Uncle Lack-Limb and Uncle Lame-Gait were seeing the sights at Dark Lord Hill and the wastes of Kunlun, the place where the Yellow Emperor rested.3 Suddenly a willow sprouted out of Uncle Lame-Gait’s left elbow.4 He looked very startled and seemed to be annoyed. “Do you resent it?” said Uncle Lack-Limb. “No—what is there to resent?” said Uncle Lame-Gait. “To live is to borrow. And if we borrow to live, then life must be a pile of trash. Life and death are day and night. You and I came to watch the process of change, and now change has caught up with me. Why would I have anything to resent?”» — al Tío Paso Cojo le brota un sauce del codo y declara no tener nada que resentir: vivir es tomar prestado y él vino a mirar el proceso del cambio, que ahora lo alcanzó; el tramo arranca en la plana 168; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“Now she’s going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I» — Zhuangzi declara que seguirla llorando mostraría algo de sí mismo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 168.

«When Zhuangzi went to Chu, he saw an old skull, all dry and parched. He poked it with his carriage whip and then asked, “Sir, were you greedy for life and forgetful of reason and so came to this? Was your state overthrown, and did you bow beneath the ax and so came to this? Did you do some evil deed, and were you ashamed to bring disgrace on your parents and family and so came to this? Was it through the pangs of cold and hunger that you came to this? Or did your springs and autumns pile up until they brought you to this?”» — Zhuangzi interroga a una calavera reseca por cinco causas posibles de su muerte, de la codicia de vivir al mero acumularse de los años.

«In the middle of the night, the skull came to him in a dream and said, “You chatter like a rhetorician, and all your words betray the entanglements of a living man. The dead know nothing of these! Would you like to hear a lecture on the dead?”» — la calavera se le aparece en sueños y le reprocha que sus palabras delaten los enredos de un vivo.

«The skull said, “Among the dead, there are no rulers above, no subjects below, and no chores of the four seasons. With nothing to do, our springs and autumns are as endless as heaven and earth. A king facing south on his throne could have no more happiness than this!”» — la calavera describe el estado de los muertos, sin señores arriba ni súbditos abajo ni faenas de estación, y lo declara más dichoso que un rey en su trono.

«Zhuangzi couldn’t believe this and said, “If I got the Arbiter of Fate to give you a body again, make you some bones and flesh, return you to your parents and family and your old home and friends, you would want that, wouldn’t you?”» — Zhuangzi ofrece a la calavera devolverle cuerpo, familia y amigos.

«“Excellent—this question of yours,” said Confucius. “Guanzi6 had a saying that I much approve of: ‘Small bags won’t hold big things; short well ropes won’t dip up deep water.’ In the same way I believe that fate has certain forms, and the body, certain appropriate uses. You can’t add to or take away from these. I’m afraid that when Hui gets to Qi, he will start telling the marquis of Qi about the ways of Yao, Shun, and the Yellow Emperor and then will go on to speak about Suiren and Shennong.7 The marquis will then look for similar greatness within himself and fail to find it. Failing to find it, he will become distraught, and when a man becomes distraught, he kills.» — Confucius cita a Guanzi sobre las bolsas pequeñas y las cuerdas cortas, y teme que el marqués de Qi, al no hallar en sí la grandeza de los antiguos, se desespere y mate; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“Haven’t you heard this story? Once a sea bird alighted in the suburbs of the Lu capital. The marquis of Lu escorted it to the ancestral temple, where he entertained it, performing the Nine Shao music for it to listen to and presenting it with the meat of the Tailao sacrifice to feast on. But the bird only looked dazed and forlorn, refusing to eat a single slice of meat or drink a cup of wine, and in three days it was dead.» — Confucius cuenta el ave marina a la que el marqués de Lu agasajó con música y carne de sacrificio, y que murió a los tres días.

«This is to try to nourish a bird with what would nourish you instead of what would nourish a bird. If you want to nourish a bird with what nourishes a bird, then you should let it roost in the deep forest, play among the banks and islands, float on the rivers and lakes, eat mudfish and minnows, follow the rest of the flock in flight and rest, and live in any way it chooses.» — Confucius formula la regla: nutrir al ave con lo que nutre al ave, dejándola en el bosque hondo comiendo peces de lodo.

«Try performing the Xianchi and Nine Shao music in the wilds around Lake Dongting—when the birds hear it, they will fly off; when the animals hear it, they will run away; when the fish hear it, they will dive to the bottom. Only the people who hear it will gather around to listen.» — Confucius pone la misma música ante aves, bestias, peces y hombres, y solo los hombres se quedan a escucharla.

«Fish live in water and thrive, but if men tried to live in water, they would die. Creatures differ because they have different likes and dislikes. Therefore the former sages never required the same ability from all creatures or made them all do the same thing.» — Confucius saca la regla de las diferencias: las criaturas difieren por sus gustos y los sabios antiguos no pedían a todas la misma habilidad.

«don’t understand anything about fate. So I stopped.”» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: que no entiende nada del destino, y por eso paró; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The skull frowned severely, wrinkling up its brow. “Why would I» — la calavera frunce el ceño ante la oferta; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la respuesta remata en la 169.

«throw away more happiness than that of a king on a throne and take on the troubles of a human being again?” it said.» — la respuesta, ya en la plana siguiente: por qué habría de cambiar tanta dicha por los problemas de ser humano otra vez; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Names should stop when they have expressed reality, concepts of right should be founded on what is suitable. This is what it means to have command of reason and good fortune to support you.”» — Confucius cierra el pasaje pidiendo que los nombres paren donde han expresado la realidad y que lo recto se funde en lo adecuado; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Liezi was on a trip and was eating by the roadside when he saw a hundred-year-old skull. Pulling away the weeds and pointing his finger, he said, “Only you and I know that you have never died and you have never lived. Are you really unhappy?8 Am I really enjoying myself?”» — Liezi habla a una calavera de cien años y le dice que solo ellos dos saben que nunca murió ni vivió.

«The seeds of things have mysterious workings. In the water, they become Break Vine; on the edges of the water, they become Frog’s Robe. If they sprout on the slopes, they become Hill Slippers. If Hill Slippers get rich soil, they turn into Crow’s Feet. The roots of Crow’s Feet turn into maggots, and their leaves turn into butterflies.» — el capítulo decimoctavo abre su serie de transformaciones con las semillas de las cosas, del agua a la ladera y de la Pata de Cuervo a las mariposas.

«Before long, the butterflies are transformed and turn into insects that live under the stove; they look like snakes, and their name is Qutuo. After a thousand days, the Qutuo insects become birds called Dried Leftover Bones. The saliva of the Dried Leftover Bones becomes Simi bugs, and the Simi bugs become Vinegar Eaters. Yiluo bugs are born from the Vinegar Eaters, and Huangshuang bugs, from Jiuyou bugs. Jiuyou bugs are born from Mourui bugs, and Mourui bugs are born from Rot Grubs, and Rot Grubs are born from Sheep’s Groom.» — la serie sigue por una cadena de bichos de nombre propio, cada uno nacido del anterior.

«Sheep’s Groom couples with bamboo that has not sprouted for a long while and produces Green Peace plants. Green Peace plants produce leopards, and leopards produce horses, and horses produce men. Men in time return again to the mysterious workings. So all creatures come out of the mysterious workings and go back into them again.» — el capítulo cierra la cadena llevándola de las plantas a los leopardos, los caballos y los hombres, y de vuelta a las obras misteriosas de donde salieron.

«He who has mastered the true nature of life does not labor over what life cannot do. He who has mastered the true nature of fate does not labor over what knowledge cannot change.» — abre *Mastering Life* con la pareja del que domina la naturaleza de la vida y del que domina la del destino, ninguno de los cuales se afana en lo imposible.

«He who wants to nourish his body must, first of all, turn to things. And yet it is possible to have more than enough things and for the body still to go un-nourished. He who has life must, first of all, see to it that it does not leave the body. And yet it is possible for life never to leave the body and still fail to be preserved.» — el texto acota dos veces: se pueden tener cosas de sobra y el cuerpo quedar sin nutrir, y la vida puede no dejar el cuerpo y aun así no conservarse.

«The coming of life cannot be fended off; its departure cannot be stopped. How pitiful the men of the world, who think that simply nourishing the body is enough to preserve life! Then why is what the world does worth doing? It may not be worth doing, and yet it cannot be left undone» — el texto declara que ni la llegada ni la partida de la vida se pueden atajar, y llama lastimosos a los que creen que nutrir el cuerpo basta para conservarla.

«He who wants to avoid doing anything for his body had best abandon the world. By abandoning the world, he can be without entanglements. Being without entanglements, he can be upright and calm. Being upright and calm, he can be born again with others. Being born again, he can come close [to the Way].» — el texto encadena abandonar el mundo, quedar sin enredos, ser recto y calmo y renacer con los demás; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«If you abandon the affairs of the world, your body will be without toil. If you forget life, your vitality will be unimpaired. With your body complete and your vitality made whole again, you may become one with Heaven. Heaven and earth are the father and mother of the ten thousand things. They join to become a body; they part to become a beginning. When the body and vitality are without flaw, this is called being able to shift. Vitality added to vitality, you return to become the Helper of Heaven.» — el texto declara al cielo y la tierra padre y madre de las diez mil cosas, que se juntan para hacer un cuerpo y se apartan para hacer un comienzo, y nombra Ayudante del Cielo a quien vuelve.

«Master Liezi said to the Barrier Keeper Yin, “The Perfect Man can walk under water without» — Liezi pregunta al Guardián de la Barrera Yin cómo hace el Hombre Perfecto para andar bajo el agua sin ahogarse y pisar el fuego sin quemarse; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«The Barrier Keeper Yin replied, “This is because he guards the pure breath—it has nothing to do with wisdom, skill, determination, or courage. Sit down and I will tell you about it. All that have faces, forms, voices, colors—these are all mere things. How could one thing and another thing be far removed from each other? And how could any of them be worth considering as a predecessor? They are forms, colors—nothing more.» — el Guardián Yin adjudica eso a guardar el aliento puro y no a la sabiduría ni al valor, y reduce a meras cosas todo lo que tiene cara, forma, voz y color; el tramo arranca en la plana 173.

«But things have their creation in what has no form, and their conclusion in what has no change. If a man can get hold of this and exhaust it fully, then how can things stand in his way? He may rest within the bounds that know no excess, hide within the borders that know no source, wander where the ten thousand things have their end and beginning, unify his nature, nourish his breath, unite his virtue, and thereby communicate with that which creates all things. A man like this guards what belongs to Heaven and keeps it whole. His spirit has no flaw, so how can things enter in and get at him?» — el Guardián Yin sitúa la creación de las cosas en lo que no tiene forma y su conclusión en lo que no cambia, y describe a quien se atiene a eso.

«“When a drunken man falls from a carriage, though the carriage may be going very fast, he won’t be killed. He has bones and joints the same as other men, and yet he is not injured as they would be, because his spirit is whole. He didn’t know he was riding, and he doesn’t know he has fallen out. Life and death, alarm and terror, do not enter his breast, and so he can bang against things without fear of injury. If he can keep himself whole like this by means of wine, how much more can he keep himself whole by means of Heaven! The sage hides himself in Heaven— hence there is nothing that can do him harm.» — el Guardián Yin pone al borracho que cae del carro y no se mata porque su espíritu está entero, y arguye a fortiori del vino al Cielo.

«“A man seeking revenge does not go so far as to smash the sword of his enemy; a man, no matter how hot tempered, does not rail at the tile that happens to fall on him. To know that all things in the world are equal and the same—this is the only way to eliminate the chaos of attack and battle and the harshness of punishment and execution!» — el Guardián Yin pone al vengador que no rompe la espada y al iracundo que no increpa a la teja, y saca de ahí que saber iguales todas las cosas es la única vía para acabar con el desorden.

«“Do not try to develop what is natural to man; develop what is natural to Heaven. He who develops Heaven benefits life; he who develops man injures life. Do not reject what is of Heaven, do not neglect what is of man, and the people will be close to the attainment of Truth.”» — el Guardián Yin cierra mandando desarrollar lo natural del Cielo y no lo natural del hombre, sin rechazar por eso lo del hombre.

«When Confucius was on his way to Chu, he passed through a forest where he saw a hunchback catching cicadas with a sticky pole as easily as though he were grabbing them with his hand. Confucius said, “What skill you have! Is there a special way to this?”» — Confucius halla al jorobado que caza cigarras con pértiga pegajosa como si las tomara con la mano; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“I have a way,” said the hunchback. “For the first five or six months, I practice balancing two balls on top of each other on the end of the pole, and if they don’t fall off, I know I will lose very few cicadas. Then I balance three balls, and if they don’t fall off, I know I’ll lose only one cicada in ten. Then I balance five balls, and if they don’t fall off, I know it will be as easy as grabbing them with my hand.» — el jorobado describe su entrenamiento por bolas apiladas en la punta de la pértiga, dos, tres y cinco, y lo que cada grado le anuncia.

«I hold my body like a stiff tree trunk and use my arm like an old dry limb. No matter how huge heaven and earth or how numerous the ten thousand things, I’m aware of nothing but cicada wings. Not wavering, not tipping, not letting any of the other ten thousand things take the place of those cicada wings— how can I help but succeed?”» — el jorobado describe su postura de tronco y rama seca y su atención reducida a las alas de la cigarra.

«Confucius turned to his disciples and said, “He keeps his will undivided and concentrates his spirit—that would serve to describe our hunchback gentleman here, would it not?”» — Confucius resume al jorobado: mantiene indivisa la voluntad y concentra el espíritu.

«Yan Yuan said to Confucius, “I once crossed the gulf at Goblet Deeps, and the ferryman handled the boat with supernatural skill. I asked him, ‘Can a person learn how to handle a boat?’ and he replied, ‘Certainly. A good swimmer will get the knack of it in no time. And if a man can swim under water, he may never have seen a boat before, and still he’ll know how to handle it!’ I asked him what he meant by that, but he wouldn’t tell me. May I venture to ask you what it means?”» — Yan Yuan refiere al barquero de Goblet Deeps, que decía que el buen nadador aprende el oficio en nada y el que nada bajo el agua lo sabe sin haber visto barca.

«Confucius said, “A good swimmer will get the knack of it in no time—that means he’s forgotten the water. If a man can swim under water, he may never have seen a boat before, and still he’ll know how to handle it—that’s because he sees the water as so much dry land and regards the capsizing of a boat as he would the overturning of a cart. The ten thousand things2 all may be capsizing and turning over at the same time right in front of him, and it can’t get at him and affect what’s inside—so where could he go and not be at ease?» — Confucius explica al barquero: el buen nadador ha olvidado el agua y el que nada bajo ella ve el agua como tierra seca y el zozobrar como volcar un carro.

«“When you’re betting for tiles in an archery contest, you shoot with skill. When you’re betting for fancy belt buckles, you worry about your aim. And when you’re betting for real gold, you’re a nervous wreck. Your skill is the same in all three cases—but because one prize means more to you than another, you let outside considerations weigh on your mind. He who looks too hard at the outside gets clumsy on the inside.”» — el texto gradúa la apuesta del arquero, tejas, hebillas y oro, con la misma destreza y distinto temple, y remata en que mirar demasiado afuera vuelve torpe adentro; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Tian Kaizhi said, “I have heard the Master say, ‘He who is good at nourishing life is like a herder of sheep—he watches for stragglers and whips them up.’”» — Tian Kaizhi cita al Maestro: quien nutre bien la vida es como pastor de ovejas, mira por los rezagados y los azuza.

«“Confucius has said, ‘Don’t go in and hide; don’t come out and shine; stand stock-still in the middle.’ He who can follow these three rules is sure to be called the finest.» — Tian Kaizhi cita las tres reglas de Confucius: ni esconderse dentro ni brillar fuera, sino quedarse quieto en medio.

«Tian Kaizhi said, “In Lu there was Shan Bao—he lived among the cliffs, drank only water, and didn’t go after gain like other people. He went along like that for seventy years and still had the complexion of a little child. Unfortunately, he met a hungry tiger who killed him and ate him up. Then there was Zhang Yi—there wasn’t one of the great families and fancy mansions that he didn’t rush off to visit. He went along like that for forty years, and then he developed an internal fever, fell ill, and died.» — Tian Kaizhi empareja a Shan Bao, que vivió setenta años entre riscos bebiendo agua y murió comido por un tigre, y a Zhang Yi, que corrió cuarenta años de mansión en mansión y murió de fiebre interna.

«Shan Bao looked after what was on the inside and the tiger ate up his outside. Zhang Yi looked after what was on the outside and the sickness attacked him from the inside. Both these men failed to give a lash to the stragglers.» — Tian Kaizhi saca la moraleja de la pareja: cada uno cuidó un lado y por el otro le vino la muerte, y ninguno azuzó a sus rezagados.

«When people are worried about the safety of the roads, if they hear that one traveler in a party of ten has been murdered, then fathers and sons, elder and younger brothers, will warn one another to be careful and will not venture out until they have a large escort of armed men.» — Tian Kaizhi describe la prudencia de los caminos, con escolta armada tras saber de un muerto en cada diez viajeros.

«Duke Huan was hunting in a marsh, with Guan Zhong as his carriage driver, when he saw a ghost. The duke grasped Guan Zhong’s hand and said, “Father Zhong, what do you see?”4 “I don’t see anything,” replied Guan Zhong. When the duke returned home, he fell into a stupor, grew ill, and for several days did not go out.» — el duque Huan ve un fantasma que su cochero no ve, y al volver a casa cae en estupor y enferma.

«A gentleman of Qi named Huangzi Gaoao said, “Your Grace, you are doing this injury to yourself! How could a ghost have the power to injure you! If the vital breath that is stored up in a man becomes dispersed and does not return, then he suffers a deficiency. If it ascends and fails to descend again, it causes him to be chronically irritable. If it descends and does not ascend again, it causes him to be chronically forgetful.» — Huangzi Gaoao niega que un fantasma pueda dañarlo y explica el daño por el aliento vital que se dispersa, sube sin bajar o baja sin subir.

«what people really ought to be worried about—the time when they are lying in bed or sitting around eating and drinking—then they don’t have sense enough to take warning. That’s a mistake!”» — el contraste, ya en la plana siguiente: lo que de veras habría que temer es la cama y la mesa, y ahí falta el aviso; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Invocator of the Ancestors, dressed in his black, square-cut robes, peered into the pigpen and said, “Why should you object to dying? I’m going to fatten you for three months, practice austerities for ten days, fast for three days, spread the white rushes, and lay your shoulders and rump on the carved sacrificial stand—you’ll go along with that, won’t you?» — el Invocador de los Antepasados ofrece al cerdo el trato del sacrificio, tres meses de engorda, austeridades, ayuno y el altar tallado.

«True, if I were planning things from the point of view of a pig, I’d say it would be better to eat chaff and bran and stay right there in the pen. But if I were planning for myself, I’d say that if I could be honored as a high official while I lived and get to ride in a fine hearse and lie among the feathers and trappings when I died, I’d go along with that. Speaking for the pig, I’d give such a life a flat refusal, but speaking for myself, I’d certainly accept. I wonder why I look at things differently from a pig?”» — el Invocador razona el mismo trato desde el cerdo y desde sí mismo y llega a respuestas contrarias, sin resolver por qué mira distinto que un cerdo.

«Huangzi said, “The Weituo is as big as a wheel hub, as tall as a carriage shaft, has a purple robe and a vermilion hat, and, as creatures go, is very ugly. When it hears the sound of thunder or a carriage, it grabs its head and stands up. Anyone who sees it will soon become a dictator.”» — Huangzi describe al Weituo, de túnica morada y gorro bermellón, y anuncia que quien lo ve llegará a dictador; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Duke Huan’s face lit up, and he said with a laugh, “That must have been what I saw!” Then he straightened his robe and hat and sat up on the mat with Huangzi, and before the day was over, though he didn’t notice it, his illness went away.» — el duque Huan se reconoce en la descripción, se yergue a conversar y antes de acabar el día se le va la enfermedad sin que lo note.

«Ji Xingzi was training gamecocks for the king. After ten days, the king asked if they were ready. “Not yet. They’re too haughty and rely on their nerve.” Another ten days and the king asked again. “Not yet. They still respond to noises and movements.” Another ten days and the king asked again. “Not yet. They still look around fiercely and are full of spirit.” Another ten days and the king asked again. “They’re close enough. Another cock can crow, and they show no sign of change. Look at them from a distance, and you’d think they were made of wood. Their virtue is complete. Other cocks won’t dare face up to them but will turn and run.”» — Ji Xingzi mide el adiestramiento de los gallos por lo que van dejando de hacer, hasta que parecen de madera y su virtud está completa.

«“I was born on the dry land and felt safe on the dry land—that was what I was used to. I grew up with the water and felt safe in the water—that was my nature. I don’t know why I do what I do— that’s fate.”» — el nadador desglosa la fórmula en tres: lo acostumbrado, la naturaleza y el destino, que es no saber por qué hace lo que hace; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Duke Huan said, “But do ghosts really exist?” “Indeed they do. There is the Li on the hearth5 and the Ji in the stove. The heap of clutter and trash just inside the gate is where the Leiting lives. In the northeast corner the Beia and Guilong leap about, and the northwest corner is where the Yiyang lives.» — Huangzi Gaoao afirma la existencia de los fantasmas y empieza a repartirlos por lugares de la casa, del Li del hogar y el Ji del fogón a los de los rincones.

«Confucius was seeing the sights at Lüliang, where the water falls from a height of thirty fathoms and races and boils along for forty li, so swift that no fish or other water creature can swim in it. He saw a man dive into the water, and supposing that the man was in some kind of trouble and intended to end his life, he ordered his disciples to line up on the bank and pull the man out.» — Confucius ve a un hombre echarse a las aguas de Lüliang, donde ningún pez puede nadar, y manda a sus discípulos sacarlo creyéndolo suicida.

«But after the man had gone a couple of hundred paces, he came out of the water and began strolling along the base of the embankment, his hair streaming down, singing a song. Confucius ran after him and said, “At first I thought you were a ghost, but now I see you’re a man. May I ask if you have some special way of staying afloat in the water?”» — el hombre sale doscientos pasos más allá cantando y con el pelo suelto, y Confucius le pregunta por su método.

«In the water is the Gangxiang; on the hills, the Xin; in the mountains,» — la segunda mitad del reparto de los fantasmas empieza por el agua y los cerros; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la lista termina en la 177.

«the Kui;6 in the meadows, the Panghuang; and in the marshes, the Weituo.”» — el final de la lista de fantasmas, ya en la plana siguiente: el Kui de los montes, el Panghuang de los prados y el Weituo de los pantanos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“I have no way. I began with what I was used to, grew up with my nature, and let things come to completion with fate. I go under» — el nadador de Lüliang niega tener método y da su fórmula de tres, lo acostumbrado, la naturaleza y el destino; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la descripción sigue en la 178.

«with the swirls and come out with the eddies, following along the way the water goes and never thinking about myself. That’s how I can stay afloat.”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: entrar con los remolinos y salir con las corrientes sin pensar en sí mismo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Woodworker Qing7 carved a piece of wood and made a bell stand, and when it was finished, everyone who saw it marveled, for it seemed to be the work of gods or spirits. When the marquis of Lu saw it, he asked, “What art is it you have?”» — el carpintero Qing hace un soporte de campana que a todos parece obra de dioses o espíritus.

«Qing replied, “I am only a craftsman—how would I have any art? There is one thing, however. When I am going to make a bell stand, I never let it wear out my energy. I always fast in order to still my mind. When I have fasted for three days, I no longer have any thought of congratulations or rewards, of titles or stipends. When I have fasted for five days, I no longer have any thought of praise or blame, of skill or clumsiness. And when I have fasted for seven days, I am so still that I forget I have four limbs and a form and body. By that time, the ruler and his court no longer exist for me. My skill is concentrated, and all outside distractions fade away.» — el carpintero Qing describe su ayuno graduado: a los tres días se le van las recompensas, a los cinco el elogio y la culpa, y a los siete olvida sus miembros y su cuerpo.

«After that, I go into the mountain forest and examine the Heavenly nature of the trees. If I find one of superlative form and I can see a bell stand there, I put my hand to the job of carving; if not, I let it go. This way I am simply matching up ‘Heaven’ with ‘Heaven.’8 That’s probably the reason that people wonder if the results were not made by spirits.”» — el carpintero Qing declara qué hace después: buscar en el bosque el árbol de forma superlativa en que ya vea el soporte, y llama a eso emparejar el Cielo con el Cielo.

«Dongye Ji was displaying his carriage driving before Duke Zhuang. He drove back and forth as straight as a measuring line and wheeled to left and right as neat as a compass-drawn curve. Duke Zhuang concluded that even Zao Fu9 could do no better and ordered him to make a hundred circuits and then return to the palace.» — Dongye Ji conduce tan recto como una plomada y tan curvo como un compás, y el duque Zhuang le manda cien vueltas más.

«Yan He said, “The strength of the horses was all gone, and still he was asking them to go on—that’s why I said they would break down.”» — Yan He explica por qué anunció el desfondamiento de los caballos: la fuerza se les había acabado y aún se les pedía seguir; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Artisan Chui could draw as true as a compass or a T square because his fingers changed along with things and he didn’t let his mind get in the way. Therefore his Spirit Tower10 remained unified and unobstructed.» — el texto adjudica la precisión del artesano Chui a que sus dedos cambiaban con las cosas y no dejaba que su mente estorbara, y llama Torre del Espíritu a lo que así quedaba unificado.

«You forget your feet when the shoes are comfortable. You forget your waist when the belt is comfortable. Understanding forgets right and wrong when the mind is comfortable. There is no change in what is inside, no following what is outside, when the adjustment to events is comfortable. You begin with what is comfortable and never experience what is uncomfortable when you know the comfort of forgetting what is comfortable.» — el texto encadena los olvidos de la comodidad, los pies, la cintura y el acierto y el error, hasta el olvido de la comodidad misma.

«A certain Sun Xiu appeared at the gate of Master Bian Qingzi to pay him a call. “When I was living in the village,” he said, “no one ever said I lacked good conduct. When I faced difficulty, no one ever said I lacked courage. Yet when I worked the fields, it never seemed to be a good year for crops, and when I served the ruler, it never seemed to be a good time for advancement. So I am an outcast from the villages, an exile from the towns. What crime have I committed against Heaven? Why should I meet this fate?”» — Sun Xiu enumera su buena conducta y su valor sin premio y pregunta qué crimen cometió contra el Cielo.

«Master Bian said, “Have you never heard how the Perfect Man conducts himself? He forgets his liver and gall and thinks no more about his eyes and ears. Vague and aimless, he wanders beyond the dirt and dust; free and easy, tending to nothing is his job. This is what is called ‘doing but not looking for any thanks, bringing up but not bossing.’» — el maestro Bian describe al Hombre Perfecto que olvida hígado y hiel y vaga más allá del polvo, y cita el dicho de hacer sin buscar gracias.

«Now you show off your wisdom in order to astound the ignorant, work at your good conduct in order to distinguish yourself from the disreputable, going around bright and shining as though you were carrying the sun and moon in your hand! You’ve managed to keep your body in one piece; you have all the ordinary nine openings; you haven’t been struck down midway by blindness or deafness, lameness or deformity— compared with a lot of people, you’re a lucky man. How do you have any time to go around complaining against Heaven?» — el maestro Bian reprocha a Sun Xiu su lucimiento y le recuerda que conserva el cuerpo entero y las nueve aberturas.

«After Master Sun had left, Master Bian went back into the house, sat down for a while, and then looked up to heaven and sighed. One of his disciples asked, “Why does my teacher sigh?” Master Bian said, “Just now Sun Xiu came to see me, and I described to him the virtue of the Perfect Man. I’m afraid he was very startled and may end up in a complete muddle.”» — el maestro Bian suspira tras irse Sun Xiu y teme haberlo dejado en confusión al describirle la virtud del Hombre Perfecto; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Surely not,” said the disciple. “Was what Master Sun said right and what my teacher said wrong? If so, then wrong can certainly never make a muddle out of right. Or was what Master Sun said wrong and what my teacher said right? If so, then he must already have been in a muddle when he came here, so what’s the harm?”» — el discípulo plantea la disyuntiva y niega el temor por los dos lados, porque lo errado no enturbia lo recto y quien ya venía turbio nada pierde.

«“You don’t understand,” said Master Bian. “Once long ago a bird alighted in the suburbs of the Lu capital. The ruler of Lu was delighted with it, had a Tailao sacrifice prepared for it to feast on, and the Nine Shao music performed for its enjoyment. But the bird immediately began to look unhappy and dazed and did not dare to eat or drink. This is what is called trying to nourish a bird with what would nourish you. If you want to nourish a bird with what will nourish a bird, you had best let it roost in the deep forest, float on the rivers and lakes, and live on snakes—then it can feel at ease.» — el maestro Bian repite la anécdota del ave marina que el capítulo decimoctavo ya trajo, y con ella la regla de nutrir al ave con lo que nutre al ave.

«“Now Sun Xiu is a man of ignorance and little learning. For me to describe to him the virtue of the Perfect Man is like taking a mouse for a ride in a carriage or trying to delight a quail with the music of bells and drums. How could he help but be startled?”» — el capítulo decimonoveno cierra con el maestro Bian comparando su propia explicación con pasear a un ratón en carruaje o deleitar a una codorniz con campanas y tambores.

«Zhuangzi was walking in the mountains when he saw a huge tree, its branches and leaves thick and lush. A wood-cutter paused by its side but made no move to cut it down. When Zhuangzi asked the reason, he replied, “There’s nothing it could be used for!” Zhuangzi said, “Because of its worthlessness, this tree is able to live out the years Heaven gave it.”» — abre *The Mountain Tree* con el árbol que el leñador no tala por inservible, del que Zhuangzi dice que por eso cumple los años que el Cielo le dio.

«Down from the mountain, the Master stopped for a night at the house of an old friend. The friend, delighted, ordered his son to kill a goose and prepare it. “One of the geese can cackle and the other can’t,” said the son. “May I ask, please, which I should kill?” “Kill the one that can’t cackle,” said the host.» — el anfitrión manda matar el ganso que no puede graznar, el inservible de los dos.

«The next day Zhuangzi’s disciples questioned him. “Yesterday there was a tree on the mountain that gets to live out the years Heaven gave it because of its worthlessness. Now there’s our host’s goose that gets killed because of its worthlessness. What position would you take in such a case, Master?”» — los discípulos oponen al maestro los dos casos, el árbol que vive por inservible y el ganso que muere por inservible, y le piden posición.

«Zhuangzi laughed and said, “I’d probably take a position halfway between worth and worthlessness. But halfway between worth and worthlessness, though it might seem to be a good place, really isn’t—you’ll never get away from trouble there.» — Zhuangzi propone en broma el punto medio entre el valor y la falta de valor y enseguida lo niega: de ahí tampoco se escapa el problema.

«It would be very different, though, if you were to climb up on the Way and its Virtue and go drifting and wandering, neither praised nor damned, now a dragon, now a snake, shifting with the times, never willing to hold to one course only. Now up, now down, taking harmony for your measure, drifting and wandering with the ancestor of the ten thousand things, treating things as things but not letting them treat you as a thing—then how could you get into any trouble? This is the rule, the method of Shennong and the Yellow Emperor.» — Zhuangzi describe la otra salida: montarse en el Camino y su Virtud, ahora dragón y ahora serpiente, tratando las cosas como cosas sin dejar que ellas lo traten a uno como cosa.

«Things join only to part, reach completion only to crumble. If sharp edged, they are blunted; if high stationed, they are overthrown;1 if ambitious, they are foiled. Wise, they are schemed against; stupid, they are swindled. What is there, then, that can be counted on? Only one thing, alas!— remember this, my students—only the realm of the Way and its Virtue!”» — Zhuangzi lista los reveses que aguardan a lo afilado, lo encumbrado, lo ambicioso, lo sabio y lo estúpido, y deja solo el Camino por cosa con que contar; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Master from south of the Market said, “Your technique for avoiding disaster is a very superficial one. The sleek-furred fox and the elegantly spotted leopard dwell in the mountain forest and crouch in the cliffside caves—such is their quietude. They go abroad by night but lurk at home by day—such is their caution. Though hunger, thirst, and hardship press them, they steal forth only one by one to seek food by the rivers and lakes—such is their forethought.3 And yet they can’t seem to escape the disaster of nets and traps. Where is the blame? Their fur is their undoing.» — el Maestro del sur del Mercado pone el zorro y el leopardo, cuya quietud, cautela y previsión no los libran de las redes porque su piel es su ruina; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«And this state of Lu—is it not your coat of fur? So I would ask you to strip away your form, rid yourself of this fur, wash clean your mind, be done with desire, and wander in the peopleless fields.» — el Maestro aplica la figura al marqués: el Estado de Lu es su abrigo de piel, y le pide despojarse de él y vagar por los campos sin gente.

«“In Nanyue there is a city, and its name is The Land of Virtue Established. Its people are foolish and naive, few in thoughts of self, scant in desires. They know how to make but not how to lay away; they give but look for nothing in return. They do not know what accords with right; they do not know what conforms to ritual. Uncouth, uncaring, they move recklessly—and in this way they tread the path of the Great Method. Their birth brings rejoicing, their death a fine funeral.» — el Maestro describe la Tierra de la Virtud Establecida, cuya gente da sin esperar nada y no sabe qué es lo recto ni qué conforma al rito.

«The Master from south of the Market said, “Be without imperiousness, be without conventionality—let this be your carriage.» — el Maestro responde a la falta de barca y carruaje con un carruaje hecho de no tener imperio ni convención; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Master from south of the Market said, “Make few your needs, lessen your desires, and then you may get along even without rations. You will ford the rivers and drift out on the sea. Gaze all you may—you cannot see its farther shore; journey on and on—you will never find where it ends.» — el Maestro responde a la falta de provisiones reduciendo las necesidades, y describe la travesía sin orilla ni fin.

«“He who possesses men will know hardship; he who is possessed by men will know care. Therefore Yao neither possessed men nor allowed himself to be possessed by them. So I ask you to rid yourself of hardship, to cast off your cares, and to wander alone with the Way to the Land of Great Silence.» — el Maestro reparte penuria al que posee hombres y cuidado al que es poseído, y pone a Yao fuera de las dos.

«“If a man, having lashed two hulls together, is crossing a river, and an empty boat happens along and bumps into him, no matter how hot tempered the man may be, he will not get angry. But if there should be someone in the other boat, then he will shout out to haul this way or veer that. If his first shout is not heeded, he will shout again, and if that is not heard, he will shout a third time, this time with a torrent of curses following. In the first instance, he wasn’t angry; now in the second, he is. Earlier he faced emptiness, now he faces occupancy. If a man could succeed in making himself empty and, in that way, wander through the world, then who could do him harm?”» — el Maestro cierra con la barca vacía que no enfurece a nadie y la barca ocupada que desata la maldición, y saca de ahí que quien se vacía a sí mismo no recibe daño.

«I follow the rude and violent, trail after the meek and bending, letting each come to its own end. So I can collect taxes from morning to night and meet not the slightest rebuff. How much more would this be true, then, of a man who had hold of the Great Road?”» — Beigong She explica su recaudar sin tropiezos: sigue al rudo y al manso dejando que cada cual llegue a su fin; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Ren said, “Then let me try telling you about a way to keep from dying. In the eastern sea, there is a bird and its name is Listless. It flutters and flounces but seems to be quite helpless. It must be boosted and pulled before it can get into the air, pushed and shoved before it can get back to its nest. It never dares to be the first to advance, never dares to be the last to retreat. At feeding time, it never ventures to take the first bite but picks only at the leftovers. So when it flies in file, it never gets pushed aside, nor do other creatures such as men ever do it any harm. In this way, it escapes disaster.» — Taigong Ren pone el ave Listless del mar oriental, que nunca se adelanta ni se rezaga y come de las sobras, y por eso escapa al desastre.

«“The straight-trunked tree is the first to be felled; the well of sweet water is the first to run dry. And you, now—you show off your wisdom in order to astound the ignorant, work at your good conduct in order to distinguish yourself from the disreputable, going around bright and shining as though you were carrying the sun and moon in your hand! That’s why you can’t escape!» — Taigong Ren aplica a Confucius el dicho del árbol recto y del pozo dulce y le reprocha ir luciendo su sabiduría como quien lleva el sol y la luna en la mano.

«“I have heard the Man of Great Completion say: ‘Boasts are a sign of no success; success once won faces overthrow; fame once won faces ruin.’» — Taigong Ren cita al Hombre de la Gran Compleción sobre el alarde, el éxito y la fama, cada uno con su reverso.

«Who can rid himself of success and fame, return and join the common run of men? His Way flows abroad, but he does not rest in brightness; his Virtue7 moves, but he does not dwell in fame. Vacant, addled, he seems close to madness. Wiping out his footprints, sloughing off his power, he does not work for success or fame. So he has no cause to blame other men, nor other men to blame him.» — Taigong Ren describe al que se libra del éxito y la fama: su Camino corre sin reposar en el brillo, y vago y aturdido parece casi loco.

«“Excellent!” exclaimed Confucius. Then he said goodbye to his friends and associates, dismissed his disciples, and retired to the great swamp, wearing furs and coarse cloth and living on acorns and chestnuts. He could walk among the animals without alarming their herds, walk among the birds without alarming their flocks. If even the birds and beasts did not resent him, how much less would men!» — Confucius se retira al gran pantano con pieles y bellotas y camina entre animales y aves sin alarmar a sus manadas ni a sus bandadas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Confucius said to Master Sanghu, “Twice I have been driven out of Lu. The people chopped down a tree on me in Song, wiped away my footprints in Wei, made trouble for me in Shang and Zhou, and besieged me between Chen and Cai—so many calamities have I encountered. My kinfolk and associates drift further and further away; my friends and followers one after the other take leave. Why is this?”» — Confucius enumera sus calamidades y la deserción de sus allegados y pregunta por qué.

«“Lin Hui replied, ‘The jade disk and I were joined by profit, but the child and I were brought together by Heaven. When pressed by misfortune and danger, things joined by profit will cast one another aside; but when pressed by misfortune and danger, things brought together by Heaven will cling to one another. To cling to one another and to cast one another aside are far apart indeed!’» — Lin Hui explica por qué tiró el disco de jade y cargó al niño: lo unido por el provecho se desecha en el peligro y lo unido por el Cielo se aferra.

«“The friendship of a gentleman, they say, is insipid as water; that of a petty man, sweet as rich wine. But the insipidity of the gentleman leads to affection, while the sweetness of the petty man leads to revulsion. Those with no particular reason for joining together will, for no particular reason, part.”» — el capítulo vigésimo cierra con la amistad insípida como el agua que lleva al afecto y la dulce como el vino que lleva al asco.

«Beigong She replied, “In the midst of Unity, how should I venture to ‘wield’ anything? I have heard it said, When carving and polishing are done, then return to plainness.» — Beigong She niega blandir arte alguno en medio de la Unidad y cita el dicho de volver a la llaneza acabados el tallado y el pulido.

«Another day Master Sanghu likewise said, “When Shun was about to die, he carefully8 instructed Yu in these words: ‘Mark what I say! In the case of the body, it is best to let it go along with things. In the case of the emotions, it is best to let them follow where they will. By going along with things, you avoid becoming separated from them. By letting the emotions follow as they will, you avoid fatigue. And when there is no separation or fatigue, then you need not seek any outward adornment or depend on the body. And when you no longer seek outward adornment or depend on the body, you have in fact ceased to depend on any material thing.’”» — Master Sanghu transmite lo que Shun instruyó a Yu al morir: dejar que el cuerpo vaya con las cosas y las emociones sigan a donde quieran, y así ni separación ni fatiga; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Zhuangzi put on his robe of coarse cloth with the patches on it, tied his shoes with hemp to keep them from falling apart, and went to call on the king of Wei. “My goodness, sir, you certainly are in distress!” said the king of Wei. Zhuangzi said, “I am poor, but I am not in distress! When a man possesses the Way and its Virtue but cannot put them into practice, then he is in distress. When his clothes are shabby and his shoes worn through, then he is poor, but he is not in distress.» — Zhuangzi distingue pobreza de aflicción ante el rey de Wei: aflicción es tener el Camino y no poder practicarlo, y pobreza es la ropa raída.

«And now if I should live under a benighted ruler and among traitorous ministers and still hope to escape distress, what hope would there be of doing so? Bi Gan had his heart cut out—there is the proof of the matter!”» — Zhuangzi aplica la figura a su propio tiempo y cierra con el corazón arrancado de Bi Gan por prueba.

«Has Your Majesty never observed the bounding monkeys? If they can reach the tall cedars, the catalpas, or the camphor trees, they will swing and sway from their limbs, frolic and lord it in their midst, and even the famous archers Yi or Peng Meng could not take accurate aim at them.» — Zhuangzi pone los monos que señorean entre cedros altos, donde ni los arqueros célebres los alcanzan.

«But when they find themselves among prickly mulberries, brambles, hawthorns, or spiny citrons, they must move with caution, glancing from side to side, quivering and quaking with fear. It is not that their bones and sinews have suddenly become stiff and lost their suppleness. It is simply that the monkeys find themselves in a difficult and disadvantageous position in which they cannot exercise their abilities to the full.» — Zhuangzi describe a los mismos monos entre zarzas, temblando sin que sus huesos hayan cambiado, y saca de ahí la desventaja de posición.

«Confucius, fearful that Yan Hui’s respect for him was too great, that his love for him was too tender, said to him, “Hui! It is easy to be indifferent to the afflictions of Heaven but hard to be indifferent to the benefits of man. No beginning but has its end, and man and Heaven are one. Who is it, then, who sings this song now?”» — Confucius, sitiado y cantando sobre un tronco seco, enuncia la pareja de lo fácil y lo difícil, ser indiferente a las aflicciones del Cielo y a los beneficios del hombre; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Confucius said, “Hunger, thirst, cold, heat, barriers and blind alleys that will not let you pass—these are the workings of Heaven and earth, the shifts of ever turning things. This is what is called traveling side by side with the others. He who serves as a minister does not dare to abandon his lord. And if he is thus faithful to the way of a true minister, how much more would he be if he were to attend on Heaven!”» — Confucius explica qué son las aflicciones del Cielo, hambre, sed, frío y callejones sin salida, y las llama obra del cielo y la tierra.

«Confucius replied, “A man sets out on a career, and soon he is advancing in all four directions at once. Titles and stipends come raining down on him without end, but these are merely material profits and have nothing to do with the man himself. As for me, my fate lies elsewhere. A gentleman will not pilfer, a worthy man will not steal. What business would I have, then, trying to acquire such things?» — Confucius explica el beneficio del hombre, los títulos y estipendios que llueven sin fin y nada tienen que ver con el hombre mismo.

«So it is said, There is no bird wiser than the swallow. If its eyes do not light on a suitable spot, it will not give a second look. If it happens to drop the food it had in its beak, it will let it go and fly on its way. It is wary of men, and yet it lives among them, finding its protection along with men in the village altars of the soil and grain.”» — Confucius pone la golondrina como la más sabia de las aves: no mira dos veces un sitio que no le conviene y suelta lo que se le cae del pico.

«Confucius said, “There is a being who transforms the ten thousand things, yet we do not know how he works these changes. How do we know what is an end? How do we know what is a beginning? The only thing for us to do is just to wait!”» — Confucius declara que hay quien transforma las diez mil cosas sin que se sepa cómo, y que no cabe saber qué es fin ni qué comienzo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Confucius said, “Man exists because of Heaven, and Heaven, too, exists because of Heaven. But man cannot cause Heaven to exist; this is because of [the limitations of] his inborn nature. The sage, calm and placid, embodies change and so comes to his end.”» — Confucius declara que el hombre existe por el Cielo y el Cielo también por el Cielo, y que el hombre no puede hacer existir al Cielo; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«Yangzi said, “Remember that, my students! If you act worthily but rid yourself of the awareness that you are acting worthily, then where can you go that you will not be loved?”» — el capítulo vigésimo cierra con la moraleja de Yangzi: obrar dignamente sin conciencia de estar obrando dignamente.

«Zhuang Zhou was wandering in the park at Diaoling when he saw a peculiar kind of magpie that came flying along from the south. It had a wingspread of seven feet, and its eyes were a good inch in diameter. It brushed against Zhuang Zhou’s forehead and then settled down in a grove of chestnut trees. “What kind of bird is that!” exclaimed Zhuang Zhou. “Its wings are enormous, but they get it nowhere; its eyes are huge, but it can’t even see where it’s going!” Then he hitched up his robe, strode forward, cocked his crossbow, and prepared to take aim.» — Zhuang Zhou ve la urraca enorme de alas inútiles y ojos que no le sirven para ver adónde va, y prepara la ballesta.

«As he did so, he spied a cicada that had found a lovely spot of shade and had forgotten all about [the possibility of danger to] its body. Behind it, a praying mantis, stretching forth its claws, prepared to snatch the cicada, and it, too, had forgotten about its own form as it eyed its prize. The peculiar magpie was close behind, ready to make off with the praying mantis, forgetting its own true self as it fixed its eyes on the prospect of gain. Zhuang Zhou, shuddering at the sight, said, “Ah!—things do nothing but make trouble for one another—one creature calling down disaster on another!”» — Zhuang Zhou ve la cadena del olvido, la cigarra a la sombra, la mantis tras ella y la urraca tras la mantis, cada una olvidada de sí por mirar su presa; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«Zhuang Zhou said, “In clinging to outward form, I have forgotten my own body. Staring at muddy water, I have been misled into taking it for a clear pool. Moreover, I have heard my» — Zhuang Zhou se aplica a sí mismo la cadena: por asirse a la forma externa olvidó su propio cuerpo; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y remata en la 190.

«Master say, ‘When you go among the vulgar, follow their rules!’ I went wandering at Diaoling and forgot my body. A peculiar magpie brushed against my forehead, wandered off to the chestnut grove, and there forgot its true self. And the keeper of the chestnut grove, to my great shame, took me for a trespasser! That is why I am unhappy.”» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: Zhuang Zhou cuenta que el guarda del bosque lo tomó por furtivo y que por eso está triste; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Yangzi, on his way to Song, stopped for the night at an inn. The innkeeper had two concubines, one beautiful, the other ugly. But the ugly one was treated as a lady of rank, while the beautiful one was treated as a menial. When Yangzi asked the reason, a young boy of the inn replied, “The beautiful one is only too aware of her beauty, so we don’t think of her as beautiful. The ugly one is only too aware of her ugliness, so we don’t think of her as ugly.”» — el muchacho de la posada explica por qué la fea es tratada como señora y la bella como criada: la bella se sabe bella y la fea se sabe fea.

«Zifang said, “He’s the kind of man who is True—the face of a human being, the emptiness of Heaven. He follows along and keeps tight hold of the True; pure, he can encompass all things. If men do not have the Way, he has only to put on a straight face, and they are enlightened; he causes men’s intentions to melt away. But how could any of this be worth praising!”» — abre *Tian Zifang* con la descripción del maestro de Zifang: rostro de ser humano y vacío del Cielo, que ilumina a los hombres con solo poner cara seria.

«Zifang retired from the room, and Marquis Wen, stupefied, sat for the rest of the day in silence. Then he called to the ministers who stood in attendance on him and said, “How far away he is— the gentleman of Complete Virtue! I used to think that the words of the wisdom of the sages and the practices of benevolence and righteousness were the highest ideal. But now that I have heard about Zifang’s teacher, my body has fallen apart, and I feel no inclination to move; my mouth is manacled, and I feel no inclination to speak. These things that I have been studying are so many clay dolls2—nothing more! This state of Wei is in truth only a burden to me!”» — el marqués Wen queda estupefacto y declara muñecos de barro sus estudios y carga su propio Estado tras oír del maestro de Zifang.

«“I told you before, didn’t I? These men of the middle states are enlightened in ritual principles but stupid in the understanding of men’s hearts. Yesterday, when this man came to see me, his advancings and retirings were as precise as though marked by compass or T square. In looks and bearing, he was now a dragon, now a tiger. He remonstrated with me as though he were my son, offered me guidance as though he were my father! That is why I sighed.”» — Wenbo Xuezi explica sus suspiros: el visitante avanzaba y se retiraba como trazado con compás y le hablaba ya como hijo, ya como padre; el tramo arranca en la plana 193.

«Confucius said, “With that kind of man, one glance tells you that the Way is there before you. What room does that leave for any possibility of speech?”» — Confucius explica por qué no dijo palabra ante Wenbo Xuezi: con ese tipo de hombre una mirada basta.

«Yan Yuan said to Confucius, “Master, when you walk, I walk; when you trot, I trot; when you gallop, I gallop. But when you break into the kind of dash that leaves even the dust behind, all I can do is stare after you in amazement!”» — Yan Yuan gradúa su seguimiento del maestro por el andar, el trote y el galope, y confiesa que se queda mirando cuando el maestro deja el polvo atrás.

«“Ah,” said Confucius, “we had best look into this! There is no grief greater than the death of the mind—beside it, the death of the body is a minor matter.» — Confucius declara que no hay pena mayor que la muerte de la mente y que junto a ella la del cuerpo es asunto menor; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The sun rises out of the east, sets at the end of the west, and each one of the ten thousand things moves side by side with it. Creatures that have eyes and feet must wait for it before their success is complete. Its rising means they may go on living; its setting means they perish. For all the ten thousand things, it is thus. They must wait for something before they can die, wait for something before they can live.» — Confucius pone el sol como aquello a lo que todo ha de esperar para vivir y para morir.

«Having once received this fixed bodily form, I will hold on to it, unchanging, in this way waiting for the end. I move after the model of other things, day and night without break, but I do not know what the end will be. Mild, genial, my bodily form takes shape. I understand my fate, but I cannot fathom what has gone before it. This is the way I proceed, day after day.» — Confucius describe su propio proceder: sostener la forma recibida esperando el fin, entender el destino sin poder sondear lo que le precede.

«“I have gone through life linked arm in arm with you, yet now you fail [to understand me]—is this not sad? You see in me, I suppose, the part that can be seen—but that part is already over and gone. For you to come looking for it, thinking it still exists, is like looking for a horse after the horse fair is over.5 I serve you best when I have utterly forgotten you, and you likewise serve me best when you have utterly forgotten me. But even so, why should you repine? Even if you forget the old me, I will still possess something that will not be forgotten!”» — Confucius declara que lo que Yan Hui ve de él ya pasó, como buscar un caballo acabada la feria, y que el mejor servicio mutuo es el olvido; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Wenbo Xuezi, journeying to Qi, stopped along the way in the state of Lu.3 A man of Lu requested an interview with him, but Wenbo Xuezi said, “No indeed! I have heard of the gentlemen of» — Wenbo Xuezi rehúsa la entrevista con un hombre de Lu; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el juicio sobre los Estados centrales sigue en la 193; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«these middle states—enlightened on the subject of ritual principles but stupid in their understanding of men’s hearts. I have no wish to see any such person.”» — el juicio, ya en la plana siguiente: lúcidos en los principios del rito y torpes en el entendimiento del corazón de los hombres; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Lao Dan said, “I was letting my mind wander in the Beginning of things.”» — Lao Dan, inmóvil con el pelo suelto, declara haber dejado vagar su mente en el Comienzo de las cosas.

«“The mind may wear itself out but can never understand it; the mouth may gape but can never describe it. Nevertheless, I will try explaining it to you in rough outline.» — Lao Dan pone el límite de la mente y de la boca ante eso y ofrece un esbozo tosco; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Perfect Yin is stern and frigid; Perfect Yang is bright and glittering. The sternness and frigidity come forth from heaven; the brightness and glitter emerge from the earth;8 the two mingle, penetrate, come together, harmonize, and all things are born therefrom.» — Lao Dan describe el Yin Perfecto y el Yang Perfecto, uno del cielo y otro de la tierra, de cuya mezcla nacen todas las cosas.

«Perhaps someone manipulates the cords that draw it all together, but no one has ever seen his form. Decay, growth, fullness, emptiness, now murky, now bright, the sun shifting, the moon changing phase—day after day these things proceed, yet no one has seen him bringing them about. Life has its sproutings, death its destination, end and beginning tail one another in unbroken round, and no one has ever heard of their coming to a stop.» — Lao Dan concede que acaso alguien maneje los cordeles, pero nadie ha visto su forma ni lo ha visto obrar los cambios.

«Lao Dan said, “It means to attain Perfect Beauty and Perfect Happiness. He who attains Perfect Beauty and wanders in Perfect Happiness may be called the Perfect Man.”» — Lao Dan define el vagar en ese lugar como alcanzar la Belleza Perfecta y la Dicha Perfecta.

«“Beasts that feed on grass do not fret over a change of pasture; creatures that live in water do not fret over a change of stream. They accept the minor shift as long as the all-important constant is not lost. [Be like them,] and joy, anger, grief, and happiness can never enter your breast.» — Lao Dan pone las bestias y los peces que no se inquietan por el cambio de pasto o de corriente mientras no se pierda lo constante; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«In this world, the ten thousand things come together in One; and if you can find that One and become identical with it, then your four limbs and hundred joints will become dust and sweepings; life and death, beginning and end, will be mere day and night, and nothing whatever can confound you—certainly not the trifles of gain or loss, good or bad fortune!» — Lao Dan describe lo que sigue a hallar ese Uno e identificarse con él: los miembros vueltos polvo y la vida y la muerte vueltas día y noche.

«“Not so!” said Lao Dan. “The murmuring of the water is its natural talent, not something that it does deliberately. The Perfect Man stands in the same relationship to virtue. Without cultivating it, he possesses it to such an extent that things cannot draw away from him. It is as natural as the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, the brightness of sun and moon. What is there to be cultivated?”» — Lao Dan niega que él cultive su virtud: el murmullo del agua es su talento natural, y así el Hombre Perfecto respecto de la virtud; el tramo arranca en la plana 196.

«When Confucius emerged from the interview, he reported what had passed to Yan Hui, saying, “As far as the Way is concerned, I was a mere gnat in the vinegar jar! If the Master hadn’t taken off the lid for me, I would never have understood the Great Integrity of Heaven and earth!”» — Confucius se llama a sí mismo mosquito en el tarro de vinagre y declara que sin que el Maestro le quitara la tapa nunca habría entendido la Gran Integridad.

«Zhuangzi went to see Duke Ai of Lu. Duke Ai said, “We have a great many Confucians here in the state of Lu, but there seem to be very few men who study your methods, sir!” “There are few Confucians in the state of Lu!” said Zhuangzi. “But the whole state of Lu is dressed in Confucian garb!” said Duke Ai. “How can you say they are few?”» — el duque Ai opone a Zhuangzi que todo el Estado de Lu viste de confuciano, y Zhuangzi sostiene que los confucianos son pocos.

«“A man will discard the servants who wait on him as though they were so much earth or mud, for he knows that his own person is of more worth than the servants who tend it. Worth lies within yourself, and no external shift will cause it to be lost.» — Lao Dan sitúa el valor dentro de uno mismo, donde ningún cambio externo lo pierde, con la figura del que descarta a sus criados como tierra o lodo.

«“I have heard,” said Zhuangzi, “that the Confucians wear round caps on their heads to show that they understand the cycles of heaven, that they walk about in square shoes to show that they understand the shape of the earth, and that they tie ornaments in the shape of a broken disk at their girdles in order to show that when the time comes for decisive action, they must ‘make the break.’» — Zhuangzi explica el atuendo confuciano pieza por pieza, el gorro redondo por los ciclos del cielo, el zapato cuadrado por la forma de la tierra y el disco roto por la acción decisiva.

«But a gentleman may embrace a doctrine without necessarily wearing the garb that goes with it, and he may wear the garb without necessarily comprehending the doctrine. If Your Grace does not believe this is so, then why not try issuing an order to the state proclaiming: ‘All those who wear the garb without practicing the doctrine that goes with it will be sentenced to death!’”» — Zhuangzi separa la doctrina del atuendo en los dos sentidos y propone el edicto que los separa por la fuerza.

«Duke Ai did in fact issue such an order, and within five days there was no one in the state of Lu who dared wear Confucian» — el edicto vacía el Estado de atuendo confuciano en cinco días; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el desenlace sigue en la 197.

«garb. Only one old man came in Confucian dress and stood in front of the duke’s gate. The duke at once summoned him and questioned him on affairs of state, and though the discussion took a thousand turnings and ten thousand shifts, the old man was never at a loss for words. Zhuangzi said, “In the whole state of Lu, then, there is only one man who is a real Confucian. How can you say there are a great many of them?”» — el desenlace, ya en la plana siguiente: un solo viejo queda de traje confuciano y resiste mil vueltas de discusión, y Zhuangzi concluye que confuciano de verdad no hay más que uno; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Boli Xi did not let title and stipend get inside his mind. He fed the cattle and the cattle grew fat, and this fact made Duke Mu of Qin forget Boli Xi’s lowly position and turn over the government to him.10 Shun, the man of the Yu clan, did not let life and death get inside his mind. So he was able to influence others.» — el texto empareja a Boli Xi, que no dejó entrar el título en su mente y engordó el ganado, y a Shun, que no dejó entrar la vida ni la muerte; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Lord Yuan of Song wanted to have some pictures painted. The crowd of court clerks all gathered in his presence, received their drawing panels,12 and took their places in line, licking their brushes, mixing their inks; so many of them that there were more outside the room than inside it. There was one clerk who arrived late, sauntering in without the slightest haste. When he received his drawing panel, he did not look for a place in line but went straight to his own quarters. The ruler sent someone to see what he was doing, and it was found that he had taken off his robes, stretched out his legs, and was sitting there naked. “Very good,” said the ruler. “This is a true artist!”» — el clérigo que llega tarde, se va a su cuarto, se quita la ropa y se sienta desnudo es el que el señor Yuan llama artista verdadero.

«King Wen was seeing the sights at Zang when he spied an old man fishing.13 Yet his fishing wasn’t really fishing. He didn’t fish as though he were fishing for anything but as though it were his constant occupation to fish.» — el texto describe al viejo de Zang, cuya pesca no era pesca porque no pescaba nada sino que pescar era su ocupación constante; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«King Wen wanted to summon him and hand over the government to him, but he was afraid that the high officials and his uncles and brothers would be uneasy. He thought perhaps he had better forget the matter and let it rest, and yet he couldn’t bear to deprive the hundred clans of such a Heaven-sent opportunity.» — el rey Wen quiere entregarle el gobierno y teme la inquietud de sus altos oficiales y parientes.

«King Wen thereupon concluded that he had found a Great Teacher, and facing north as a sign of respect, he asked, “Could these methods of government be extended to the whole world?” But the old man of Zang looked blank and gave no answer, evasively mumbling some excuse; and when orders went out the next morning to make the attempt, the old man ran away the very same night and was never heard of again.» — ante la pregunta de si el método vale para el mundo entero, el viejo de Zang no responde y huye esa misma noche.

«“Quiet!” said Confucius. “No more talk from you! King Wen was perfection itself—how can there be any room for carping and criticism! The dream—that was just a way of getting out of a moment’s difficulty.”» — Confucius defiende al rey Wen y declara el sueño mero recurso para salir de una dificultad del momento.

«At the end of three years, King Wen made an inspection tour of the state. He found that the local officials had smashed their gate bars and disbanded their cliques, that the heads of government bureaus achieved no special distinction, and that persons entering the four borders from other states no longer ventured to bring their own measuring cups and bushels with them.» — el texto mide los tres años de gobierno del viejo de Zang por tres señales, barras de las puertas rotas, jefes sin distinción y visitantes que ya no traen sus propias medidas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Lie Yukou was demonstrating his archery to Bohun Wuren.15 He drew the bow as far as it would go, placed a cup of water on his elbow, and let fly. One arrow had no sooner left his thumb ring than a second was resting in readiness beside his arm guard, and all the while he stood like a statue.16 Bohun Wuren said, “This is the archery of an archer, not the archery of a nonarcher! Try climbing up a high mountain with me, scrambling over the steep rocks to the very brink of an eight-hundred-foot chasm—then we’ll see what kind of shooting you can do!”» — Bohun Wuren llama arquería de arquero y no de no arquero a la de Lie Yukou, que dispara con una copa de agua en el codo, y lo reta al borde del abismo; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«There Bohun Wuren, turning his back to the chasm, walked backward until his feet projected halfway off the edge of the cliff, bowed to Lie Yukou, and invited him to come forward and join him. But Lie Yukou cowered on the ground, sweat pouring down all the way to his heels.» — Bohun Wuren camina de espaldas hasta sacar medio pie del acantilado e invita a Lie Yukou, que se encoge sudando hasta los talones.

«Bohun Wuren said, “The Perfect Man may stare at the blue heavens above, dive into the Yellow Springs below, ramble to the end of the eight directions, yet his spirit and bearing undergo no change. And here you are in this cringing, eye-batting state of mind—if you tried to take aim now, you would be in certain peril!”» — Bohun Wuren describe al Hombre Perfecto, que mira el cielo azul y se hunde en los Manantiales Amarillos sin que su espíritu cambie, y declara en peligro cierto a quien apunta en ese estado.

«Sunshu Ao replied, “How am I any better than other men? I considered that the coming of such an honor could not be fended off and that its departure could not be prevented. As far as I was concerned, the question of profit or loss did not rest with me, and so I had no reason to put on a glum expression, that was all.» — Sunshu Ao explica su calma ante tres nombramientos y tres destituciones: ni la llegada del honor se atajaba ni su partida se impedía.

«Moreover, I’m not really certain whether the glory resides in the premiership or in me. If it resides in the premiership, then it means nothing to me. And if it resides in me, then it means nothing to the premiership. Now I’m about to go for an idle stroll, to go gawking in the four directions. What leisure do I have to worry about who holds an eminent position and who a humble one?”» — Sunshu Ao plantea la disyuntiva de dónde reside la gloria, en el cargo o en él, y niega valor a las dos ramas.

«Confucius, hearing of the incident, said, “He was a True Man of old, the kind that the wise cannot argue with, the beautiful cannot seduce, the violent cannot intimidate; even Fu Xi or the Yellow Emperor could not have befriended him. Life and death are great affairs, and yet they are no change to him—how much less to him are things like titles and stipends! With such a man, his spirit may soar over Mount Tai without hindrance, may plunge into the deepest springs without getting wet, may occupy the meanest, most humble position without distress. He fills all Heaven and earth, and the more he gives to others, the more he has for himself.”» — Confucius llama a Sunshu Ao Hombre Verdadero de los antiguos, a quien ni el sabio discute ni el bello seduce ni el violento intimida; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The king of Chu was sitting with the lord of Fan.18 After a little while, three of the king of Chu’s attendants reported that the state of Fan had been destroyed. The lord of Fan said, “The destruction of Fan is not enough to make me lose what I am intent on preserving.19 And if the destruction of Fan is not enough to make me lose what I preserve, then the preservation of Chu is not enough to make it preserve what it ought to preserve. Looking at it this way, then, Fan has not yet begun to be destroyed, and Chu has not yet begun to be preserved!”» — el señor de Fan, oída la destrucción de su Estado, la declara insuficiente para hacerle perder lo que se propone conservar, y con el mismo argumento niega que Chu esté preservado; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Knowledge wandered north to the banks of the Black Waters, climbed the Knoll of Hidden Heights, and there by chance came upon Do-Nothing-Say-Nothing. Knowledge said to Do-Nothing-Say-Nothing, “There are some things I’d like to ask you. What sort of pondering, what sort of cogitation does it take to know the Way? What sort of surroundings, what sort of practices does it take to find rest in the Way? What sort of path, what sort of procedure will get me to the Way?”» — abre *Knowledge Wandered North* con las tres preguntas del Conocimiento sobre qué cavilación, qué entorno y qué senda llevan al Camino.

«Three questions he asked, but Do-Nothing-Say-Nothing didn’t answer. It wasn’t that he just didn’t answer—he didn’t know how to answer!» — el texto acota por qué Nada-Hacer-Nada-Decir no respondió: no era que no respondiera, es que no sabía cómo.

«Knowledge, failing to get any answer, returned to the White Waters of the south, climbed the summit of Dubiety Dismissed, and there caught sight of Wild-and-Witless. Knowledge put the same questions to Wild-and-Witless. “Ah—I know!” said Wild-and-Witless. “And I’m going to tell you.” But just as he was about to say something, he forgot what it was he was about to say.» — el Silvestre-y-Sin-Seso dice saberlo y olvida lo que iba a decir justo al ir a decirlo.

«The Yellow Emperor said, “Only when there is no pondering and no cogitation will you get to know the Way. Only when you have no surroundings and follow no practices will you find rest in the Way. Only when there is no path and no procedure can you get to the Way.”» — el Emperador Amarillo responde las tres preguntas por la negación de cada una.

«The Yellow Emperor said, “Do-Nothing-Say-Nothing—he’s the one who is truly right. Wild-and-Witless appears to be so. But you and I in the end are nowhere near it. Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know. Therefore the sage» — el Emperador Amarillo se pone a sí mismo y al Conocimiento lejos del blanco y cita el dicho de que quien sabe no habla; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«practices the teaching that has no words.1 The Way cannot be brought to light; its virtue cannot be forced to come. But benevolence—you can put that into practice; you can discourse2 on righteousness, you can dupe one another with rites. So it is said, When the Way was lost, then there was virtue; when virtue was lost, then there was benevolence; when benevolence was lost, then there was righteousness; when righteousness was lost, then there were rites. Rites are the frills of the Way and the forerunners of disorder.» — el Emperador Amarillo encadena la caída del Camino a la virtud, la benevolencia, la rectitud y los ritos, y llama a estos últimos adornos del Camino y precursores del desorden; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«So it is said, He who practices the Way does less every day, does less and goes on doing less until he reaches the point where he does nothing; does nothing and yet there is nothing that is not done.» — el Emperador Amarillo cita el dicho del hacer cada día menos hasta no hacer nada y que nada quede sin hacer.

«“Life is the companion of death; death is the beginning of life. Who understands their workings? Man’s life is a coming-together of breath. If it comes together, there is life; if it scatters, there is death. And if life and death are companions to each other, then what is there for us to be anxious about?» — el Emperador Amarillo describe la vida como un juntarse del aliento y la muerte como su dispersarse, y niega motivo de ansiedad.

«“The ten thousand things are really one. We look on some as beautiful because they are rare or unearthly; we look on others as ugly because they are foul and rotten. But the foul and rotten may turn into the rare and un-earthly, and the rare and unearthly may turn into the foul and rotten. So it is said, You have only to comprehend the one breath that is the world. The sage never ceases to value oneness.”» — el Emperador Amarillo declara una sola cosa a las diez mil, con lo hermoso y lo podrido convirtiéndose el uno en el otro, y llama a comprender el aliento único que es el mundo.

«The Yellow Emperor said, “Do-Nothing-Say-Nothing is the one who is truly right—because he doesn’t know. Wild-and-Witless appears to be so—because he forgets. But you and I in the end are nowhere near it—because we know.”» — el Emperador Amarillo gradúa a los tres por el saber: el primero acierta porque no sabe, el segundo se le acerca porque olvida y él mismo yerra porque sabe.

«Heaven and earth have their great beauties but do not speak of them; the four seasons have their clear-marked regularity but do not discuss it; the ten thousand things have their principles of growth but do not expound them. The sage seeks out the beauties of Heaven and earth and masters the principles of the ten thousand things.» — el texto pone la reticencia de las cosas: el cielo y la tierra tienen sus grandes bellezas y no hablan de ellas, y las estaciones su regularidad y no la discuten; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Dark and hidden, [the Way] seems not to exist, and yet it is there; lush and unbounded, it possesses no form but only spirit; the ten thousand things are shepherded by it, though they do not understand it— this is what is called the Source, the Root. This is what may be perceived in Heaven.» — el texto nombra la Fuente y la Raíz: oscura y escondida parece no existir y ahí está, sin forma y solo espíritu, apacentando las diez mil cosas que no la entienden; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«Nie Que asked Piyi about the Way. Piyi said, “Straighten up your body, unify your vision, and the harmony of Heaven will come to you. Call in your knowledge, unify your bearing, and the spirits will come to dwell with you. Virtue will be your beauty, the Way will be your home, and stupid as a newborn calf, you will not try to find out the reason why.”» — Piyi da a Nie Que la receta del Camino: enderezar el cuerpo, unificar la visión y quedar estúpido como ternero recién nacido sin buscar la razón.

«Shun asked Cheng, “Is it possible to gain possession of the Way?” “You don’t even have possession of your own body—how could you possibly gain possession of the Way!” “If I don’t have possession of my own body, then who does?” said Shun.» — Cheng niega a Shun la posesión del Camino por la vía de negarle la de su propio cuerpo; el tramo arranca en la plana 205.

«“It is a form lent you by Heaven and earth. You do not have possession of life—it is a harmony lent by Heaven and earth. You do not have possession of your inborn nature and fate—they are contingencies lent by Heaven and earth. You do not have possession of your sons and grandsons—they are castoff skins lent by Heaven and earth. So it is best to walk without knowing where you are going, stay home without knowing what you are guarding, eat without knowing what you are tasting. All is the work of the Powerful Yang5 in the world. How, then, could it be possible to gain possession of anything?”» — Cheng declara prestados por el cielo y la tierra el cuerpo, la vida, la naturaleza innata y hasta los nietos, y manda andar sin saber adónde y comer sin saber qué se saborea.

«Lao Dan said, “You must fast and practice austerities, cleanse and purge your mind, wash and purify your inner spirit, destroy and do away with your knowledge. The Way is abstruse and difficult to describe. But I will try to give you a rough outline of it.» — Lao Dan pone las condiciones para oír el Camino Perfecto, ayunar, purgar la mente y deshacerse del conocimiento.

«“The bright and shining is born out of deep darkness; the ordered is born out of formlessness; pure spirit is born out of the Way. The body is born originally from this purity,6 and the ten thousand things give bodily form to one another through the process of birth.» — Lao Dan encadena los nacimientos: lo brillante de la oscuridad honda, lo ordenado de lo informe y el espíritu puro del Camino.

«Gateless, roomless, it is airy and open as the highways of the four directions. He who follows along with it will be strong in his four limbs, keen and penetrating in intellect, sharp eared, bright eyed, wielding his mind without wearying it, responding to things without prejudice.» — Lao Dan describe el Camino sin puerta ni cuarto, abierto como los caminos reales, y lo que le pasa a quien lo sigue.

«“Breadth of learning does not necessarily mean knowledge; eloquence does not necessarily mean wisdom—therefore the sage rids himself of these things. That which can be increased without showing any sign of increase; that which can be diminished without suffering any diminution—that is what the sage holds fast to.» — Lao Dan niega que la amplitud del saber sea conocimiento y la elocuencia sabiduría, y describe a qué se aferra el sabio en cambio; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Before he had finished speaking, however, Nie Que fell sound asleep. Piyi, immensely pleased, left and walked away, singing this song: Body like a withered corpse, mind like dead ashes, true in the realness of knowledge, not one to go searching for reasons,» — Nie Que se duerme antes de que Piyi acabe, y Piyi se va cantando la copla del cuerpo como cadáver seco y la mente como ceniza apagada; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la copla termina en la 205.

«dim dim, dark dark, mindless, you cannot consult with him, what kind of man is this?» — el final de la copla de Piyi, ya en la plana siguiente: sin mente y sin consulta posible, y la pregunta por qué clase de hombre es ese; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“Here is a man of the Middle Kingdom, neither yin nor yang, living between heaven and earth. For a brief time only, he will be a man, and then he will return to the Ancestor. Look at him from the standpoint of the Source, and his life is a mere gathering together of breath. And whether he dies young or lives to a great old age, the two fates will scarcely differ—a matter of a few moments, you might say. How, then, is it worth deciding that Yao is good and Jie is bad?» — Lao Dan reduce la vida del hombre a un juntarse del aliento y declara que morir joven o viejo apenas difiere, de donde pone en duda el juicio sobre Yao y Jie.

«“The fruits of trees and vines have their patterns and principles. Human relationships, too, difficult as they are, have their relative order and precedence. The sage, encountering them, does not go against them; passing beyond, he does not cling to them. To respond to them in a spirit of harmony—this is virtue; to respond to them in a spirit of fellowship—this is the Way. Thus it is that emperors have raised themselves up and kings have climbed to power.» — Lao Dan reparte dos respuestas a las relaciones humanas: en espíritu de armonía es virtud y en espíritu de compañía es el Camino.

«“Man’s life between heaven and earth is like the passing of a white colt glimpsed through a crack in the wall—whoosh!—and that’s the end.» — Lao Dan compara la vida del hombre con el potro blanco visto por una grieta del muro.

«Living things grieve over it, mankind mourns. But it is like the untying of the Heaven-lent bow-bag, the unloading of the Heavenlent satchel—a yielding, a mild mutation, and the soul and spirit are on their way, the body following after, on at last to the Great Return.» — Lao Dan compara la muerte con desatar la funda del arco y descargar la mochila prestadas por el Cielo, con el alma y el espíritu yéndose y el cuerpo detrás; el troceo imprime *Heavenlent* sin guion en la segunda mención.

«“The formless moves to the realm of form; the formed moves back to the realm of formlessness. This all men alike understand. But it is not something to be reached by striving. The common run of men all alike debate how to reach it. But those who have reached it do not debate, and those who debate have not reached it.» — Lao Dan describe el vaivén de lo informe a la forma y de vuelta, y niega que se alcance por esfuerzo o por debate; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Zhuangzi said, “Sir, your questions simply don’t get at the substance of the matter. When Inspector Huo asked the superintendent of the market how to test the fatness of a pig by pressing it with the foot, he was told that the lower down on the pig you press, the nearer you come to the truth. But you must not expect to find the Way in any particular place—there is no thing that escapes its presence! Such is the Perfect Way, and so too are the truly great words. ‘Complete,’ ‘universal,’ ‘all-inclusive’— these three are different words with the same meaning. All point to a single reality.» — Zhuangzi explica el diálogo del Camino en la hormiga y el excremento con la prueba de la gordura del cerdo, que se mide pisando cada vez más abajo, y niega que el Camino esté en un lugar particular; este diálogo es el que Watson ya había citado en su introducción y aquí aparece en su sitio.

«“Why don’t you try wandering with me to the Palace of Not-Even-Anything—identity and concord will be the basis of our discussions, and they will never come to an end, never reach exhaustion. Why not join with me in inaction, in tranquil quietude, in hushed purity, in harmony and leisure? Already my will is vacant and blank. I go nowhere and don’t know how far I’ve gotten. I go and come and don’t know where to stop. I’ve already been there and back, and I don’t know when the journey is done.» — Zhuangzi invita al Palacio de Nada-en-Absoluto, donde la identidad y la concordia serán la base de la conversación y esta no acabará nunca.

«“That which treats things as things is not limited by things. Things have their limits—the so-called limits of things. The unlimited moves to the realm of limits; the limited moves to the unlimited realm. We speak of the filling and emptying, the withering and decay of things. [The Way] makes them full and empty without itself filling or emptying; it makes them wither and decay without itself withering or decaying. It establishes root and branch but knows no root and branch itself; it determines when to store up or scatter but knows no storing or scattering itself.”» — el texto enuncia la asimetría de lo que trata las cosas como cosas: llena y vacía sin llenarse ni vaciarse, y establece raíz y rama sin conocer raíz ni rama; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor y el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«A Hegan and Shennong were studying together under Old Longji.9 Shennong sat leaning on his armrest, the door shut, taking his daily nap, when at midday A Hegan threw open the door, entered, and announced, “Old Long is dead!” Shennong, still leaning on the armrest, reached for his staff and jumped to his feet. Then he dropped the staff with a clatter and began to laugh, saying, “My Heavensent Master—he knew how cramped and mean, how arrogant and willful I am, and so he abandoned me and died. My Master went off and died without ever giving me any wild words to open up my mind!”» — Shennong ríe al saber muerto a su maestro y le reprocha haberse ido sin darle nunca palabras salvajes que le abrieran la mente; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Yan Gangdiao, hearing of the incident, said, “He who embodies the Way has all the gentlemen of the world flocking to him. As far as the Way goes, Old Long hadn’t gotten hold of a piece as big as the tip of an autumn hair, hadn’t found his way into one ten-thousandth of it—but even he knew enough to keep his wild words stored away and to die with them unspoken. How much more so, then, in the case of a man who embodies the Way! Look for it, but it has no form; listen, but it has no voice. Those who discourse on it with other men speak of it as dark and mysterious. The Way that is discoursed on is not the Way at all!» — Yan Gangdiao alaba a Old Long por haber muerto con sus palabras salvajes guardadas, y cierra con que el Camino del que se discurre no es el Camino.

«At this point, Grand Purity asked No-End, “Do you understand the Way?” “I don’t understand it,” said No-End. Then he asked No-Action, and No-Action said, “I understand the Way.” “You say you understand the Way—is there some trick to it? “There is.”» — Gran Pureza pregunta a No-Fin y a No-Acción, y uno dice no entender el Camino y el otro dice entenderlo y tener un truco.

«No-Beginning said, “Not to understand is profound; to understand is shallow. Not to understand is to be on the inside; to understand is to be on the outside.”» — No-Comienzo dirime: no entender es profundo y estar dentro, entender es somero y estar fuera; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Thereupon Grand Purity gazed up11 and sighed, saying, “Not to understand is to understand? To understand is not to understand? Who understands the understanding that does not understand?”» — Gran Pureza lleva la respuesta a la paradoja y pregunta quién entiende el entender que no entiende.

«No-Beginning said, “The Way cannot be heard; heard, it is not the Way. The Way cannot be seen; seen, it is not the Way. The Way cannot be described; described, it is not the Way. That which gives form to the formed is itself formless—can you understand that? There is no name that fits the Way.”» — No-Comienzo niega tres veces el Camino, oído, visto y descrito, y declara sin forma lo que da forma a lo formado.

«No-Beginning continued, “He who, when asked about the Way, gives an answer does not understand the Way; and he who asked about the Way has not really heard the Way explained. The Way is not to be asked about, and even if it is asked about, there can be no answer. To ask about what cannot be asked about is to ask for the sky. To answer what cannot be answered is to try to split hairs. If the hair splitter waits for the sky asker,12 then neither will ever perceive the time and space that surround them on the outside or understand the Great Beginning that is within. Such men can never trek across the Kunlun, can never wander in the Great Void!”» — No-Comienzo declara que el Camino no se pregunta y que, preguntado, no cabe respuesta, y llama pedir el cielo a preguntar lo impreguntable.

«Bright Dazzlement asked Nonexistence, “Sir, do you exist, or do you not exist?” Unable to obtain any answer, Bright Dazzlement stared intently at the other’s face and form—all was vacuity and blankness. He stared all day but could see nothing, listened but could hear no sound, stretched out his hand but grasped nothing.» — Brillo Deslumbrante interroga a la Inexistencia y no halla en ella ni forma ni sonido ni nada que asir.

«The grand marshal’s buckle maker was eighty years old, yet he had not lost the tiniest part of his old dexterity. The grand marshal said, “What skill you have! Is there a special way to this?” “I have a way.15 From the time I was twenty, I have loved to forge buckles. I never look at other things—if it’s not a buckle, I don’t bother to examine it.”» — el hebillero de ochenta años declara su método: desde los veinte no mira otra cosa que hebillas; el tramo arranca en la plana 210; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Using this method of deliberately not using other things, he was able, over the years, to get some use out of it. And how much greater would a man be if, by the same method, he reached the point where there was nothing that he did not use! All things would come to depend on him.» — el texto extiende el método del hebillero: no usar otras cosas deliberadamente sacó provecho de una, y quien llegara a no dejar nada sin usar tendría todo dependiendo de él.

«Ran Qiu asked Confucius, “Is it possible to know anything about the time before Heaven and earth existed?” Confucius said, “It is—the past is the present.”» — Confucius responde a Ran Qiu sobre lo anterior al cielo y la tierra con una sola frase: el pasado es el presente.

«Confucius said, “Yesterday it was clear because your spirit took the lead in receiving my words. Today, if it seems obscure, it is because you are searching for it with something other than spirit, are you not? There is no past and no present, no beginning and no end. Sons and grandsons existed before sons and grandsons existed—may we make such a statement?”» — Confucius explica por qué la frase se oscureció al día siguiente, por buscarla con algo que no es el espíritu, y niega pasado, presente, comienzo y fin.

«Ran Qiu had not replied when Confucius said, “Stop!—don’t answer! Do not use life to give life to death. Do not use death to bring death to life.16 Do life and death depend on each other? Both have in them that which makes them a single body.» — Confucius manda no usar la vida para dar vida a la muerte ni la muerte para dar muerte a la vida, y declara que ambas tienen lo que las hace un solo cuerpo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Confucius said, “The men of old changed on the outside but not on the inside. The men of today change on the inside but not on the outside. He who changes along with things is identical with him who does not change. Where is there change? Where is there no change? Where is there any friction with others? Never will he treat others with arrogance. But Xiwei had his park, the Yellow Emperor his garden, Shun his palace, Tang and Wu their halls.18 And among gentlemen, there were those like the Confucians and Mohists who became ‘teachers.’ As a result, people began using their ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ to push one another around. And how much worse are the men of today!» — Confucius opone a los antiguos, que cambiaban por fuera y no por dentro, a los de hoy, que cambian por dentro y no por fuera, y declara idéntico al que cambia con las cosas y al que no cambia; el tramo arranca en la plana 211; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“The sage lives with things but does no harm to them, and he who does no harm to things cannot in turn be harmed by them. Only he who does no harm is qualified to join with other men in ‘going after’ or ‘welcoming.’» — el texto declara que quien no daña a las cosas no puede ser dañado por ellas, y solo ese está calificado para ir tras algo o darle acogida.

«“The mountains and forests, the hills and fields, fill us with overflowing delight, and we are joyful. Our joy has not ended when grief comes trailing it. We have no way to bar the arrival of grief and joy, no way to prevent them from departing.» — el texto pone el deleite de montes y campos seguido del duelo que viene detrás, sin que quepa atajar la llegada ni la partida de ninguno de los dos.

«Alas, the men of this world are no more than travelers, stopping now at this inn, now at that, all of them run by ‘things.’ They know the things they happen to encounter but not those that they have never encountered. They know how to do the things they can do, but they can’t do the things they don’t know how to do. Not to know, not to be able to do—from these, mankind can never escape. And yet there are those who struggle to escape from the inescapable —can you help but pity them? Perfect speech is the abandonment of speech; perfect action is the abandonment of action. To be limited to understanding only what is understood— this is shallow indeed!”» — el capítulo vigesimosegundo cierra llamando viajeros de posada en posada a los hombres, incapaces de escapar del no saber y el no poder, y enuncia que el habla perfecta es el abandono del habla.

«“Perfect!” exclaimed Bright Dazzlement. “Who can reach such perfection? I can conceive of the existence of nonexistence but» — Brillo Deslumbrante declara concebir la existencia de la inexistencia; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el remate sigue en la 210.

«not of the nonexistence of nonexistence. Yet this man has reached the stage of the nonexistence of nonexistence.14 How could I ever reach such perfection!”» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: no concibe la inexistencia de la inexistencia, y a ese punto ha llegado el otro; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«There is that which was born before Heaven and earth, but is it a thing? That which treats things as things is not a thing. Things that come forth can never precede all other things, because there already were» — Confucius niega que lo nacido antes del cielo y la tierra sea una cosa, porque lo que trata las cosas como cosas no es una cosa; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«things existing—so on without end. The sage’s love of mankind, which never comes to an end, is modeled on this principle.”» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: la serie de las cosas no tiene comienzo, y sobre ese principio se modela el amor sin fin del sabio a los hombres; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Among the attendants of Lao Dan was one Gengsang Chu, who had mastered a portion of the Way of Lao Dan, and with it went north to live among the Mountains of Zigzag. His servants, with their bright and knowing looks, he discharged; his concubines, with their tender and solicitous ways, he put far away from him. Instead, he shared his house with drabs and dowdies and employed the idle and indolent to wait on him.» — abre *Gengsang Chu* con el discípulo de Lao Dan que despide a los criados avispados y se rodea de los desaliñados y los indolentes.

«He had been living there for three years when Zigzag began to enjoy bountiful harvests, and the people of Zigzag said to one another, “When Master Gengsang first came among us, we were highly suspicious of him. But now, if we figure by the day, there never seems to be enough, but if we figure by the year, there’s always some left over! It might just be that he’s a sage! Why don’t we make him our impersonator of the dead and pray to him, turn over to him our altars of the soil and grain?”» — los de Zigzag miden los tres años de Gengsang por las cosechas y proponen hacerlo su impersonador de los muertos.

«When Master Gengsang heard this, he faced south with a look of displeasure.1 His disciples thought this strange, but Master Gengsang said, “Why should you wonder that I am displeased? When the breath of spring comes forth, the hundred grasses begin to grow, and later, when autumn visits them, their ten thousand fruits swell and ripen. Yet how could spring and autumn do other than they do?—the Way of Heaven has already set them in motion.» — Gengsang se muestra disgustado y opone la primavera y el otoño, que no pueden hacer otra cosa porque el Camino del Cielo ya los puso en marcha; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«I have heard that the Perfect Man dwells corpse-like in his little four-walled room, leaving the hundred clans to their uncouth and uncaring ways, not knowing where they are going, where they are headed. But now these petty people of Zigzag, in their officious and busybody fashion, want to bring their sacrificial stands and platters and make me one of their ‘worthies’! Am I to be held up as a model for men? That is why, remembering the words of Lao Dan, I am so displeased!”» — Gengsang describe al Hombre Perfecto en su cuarto de cuatro paredes, que deja a las cien familias a sus modos rudos, y rechaza ser modelo para nadie.

«Moreover, to honor the worthy and assign office to the able, according them precedence and conferring benefits on them— this has been the custom from the ancient days of the sages Yao and Shun. How much more so, then, should it be the custom among the common people of Zigzag!» — los discípulos apelan a la costumbre de Yao y Shun de honrar al digno y dar oficio al capaz; el tramo arranca en la plana 214.

«Master Gengsang said, “Come nearer, my little ones! A beast large enough to gulp down a carriage, if he sets off alone and leaves the mountains, cannot escape the perils of net and snare; a fish large enough to swallow a boat, if he is tossed up by the waves and left stranded, is bound to fall victim to ants and crickets.» — Gengsang pone la bestia que deja el monte y el pez que queda varado como figuras de lo que le pasa al que sale a la vista.

«Therefore birds and beasts don’t mind how high they climb to escape danger; fish and turtles don’t mind how deep they dive. So the man who would preserve his body and life must think only of how to hide himself away, not minding how remote or secluded the spot may be.» — Gengsang saca la regla: quien quiera conservar cuerpo y vida ha de pensar solo en esconderse, por remoto que sea el sitio.

«“And as for those two you mentioned—Yao and Shun—how are they worthy to be singled out for praise? With their nice distinctions, they are like a man who goes around willfully poking holes in people’s walls and fences and planting weeds and brambles in them, like a man who picks out which hairs of his head he intends to comb before combing it, who counts the grains of rice before he cooks them.» — Gengsang compara los distingos de Yao y Shun con quien escoge qué pelos peinar antes de peinarse y cuenta los granos antes de cocerlos.

«Promote men of worth and the people begin trampling over one another; employ men of knowledge and the people begin filching from one another. Such procedures will do nothing to make the people ingenuous. Instead, the people will only grow more diligent in their pursuit of gain till there are sons who kill their fathers, ministers who kill their lords, men who filch at high noon, who bore holes through walls in broad daylight. I tell you, the source of all great confusion will invariably be found to lie right there with Yao and Shun! And a thousand generations later, it will still be with us. A thousand generations later—mark my word— there will be men who will eat one another up!”» — Gengsang encadena las consecuencias de promover al digno y emplear al sabio, hasta los hijos que matan a sus padres, y sitúa en Yao y Shun la fuente de toda gran confusión.

«eight or sixteen feet wide, the really big fish doesn’t even have room to turn around, yet the minnows and loaches think it ample. On a knoll no more than five or ten paces in height, the really big animal doesn’t even have room to hide, yet the wily foxes think it ideal.» — los discípulos objetan con la zanja que al pez grande le queda chica y al pececillo amplia, y el cerro que al animal grande no le esconde y al zorro le basta; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Master Gengsang said, “Keep the body whole, cling fast to life! Do not fall prey to the fidget and fuss of thoughts and scheming. If you do this for three years, then you can attain the state I have spoken of.”» — Gengsang da la receta de tres años: conservar entero el cuerpo, aferrarse a la vida y no caer presa del desasosiego de los pensamientos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“I’ve said all I can say,” exclaimed Master Gengsang. “The saying goes, mud daubers have no power to transform caterpillars.5 The little hens of Yue cannot hatch goose eggs, though the larger hens of Lu can do it well enough. It isn’t that one kind of hen isn’t just as henlike as the other. One can and the other can’t because their talents just naturally differ in size.» — Gengsang declara agotado su decir y pone las gallinas de Yue que no empollan huevos de ganso y las de Lu que sí, sin que unas sean menos gallinas que otras; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Now I’m afraid my talents are not sufficient to bring about any transformation in you. Why don’t you go south and visit Laozi?”» — Gengsang declara insuficiente su propio talento para transformar a Nanrong Zhu y lo manda al sur con Laozi.

«Laozi said, “Did you come from Gengsang Chu’s place?” “Yes, sir,” said Nanrong Zhu. “Why did you come with all this crowd of people?” asked Laozi. Nanrong Zhu, astonished, turned to look behind him.» — Laozi recibe a Nanrong Zhu preguntándole por qué viene con toda esa multitud, y él se vuelve a mirar; es la anécdota que Watson glosa en su introducción como el bagaje de ideas viejas.

«Nanrong Zhu hung his head in shame and then, looking up with a sigh, said, “Now I’ve even forgotten the right answer to that, so naturally I can’t ask any questions of my own.”» — Nanrong Zhu confiesa haber olvidado hasta la respuesta correcta y no poder ya preguntar nada.

«Nanrong Zhu said, “The eyes are part of the body—I have never thought them anything else—yet the blind man cannot see with his. The ears are part of the body—I have never thought them anything else—yet the deaf man cannot hear with his. The mind is part of the body—I have never thought it anything else— yet the madman cannot comprehend with his.» — Nanrong Zhu objeta con el ciego, el sordo y el loco, cuyos órganos son del cuerpo y no sirven.

«The body, too, must be part of the body—surely they are intimately connected.3 Yet—is it because something intervenes?—I try to seek my body, but I cannot find it. Now you tell me, ‘Keep the body whole, cling fast to life! Do not fall prey to the fidget and fuss of thoughts and scheming.’ As hard as I try to understand your explanation of the Way, I’m afraid your words penetrate no farther than my ears.”» — Nanrong Zhu declara no hallar su propio cuerpo por más que lo busca, y que las palabras del maestro no le pasan de los oídos; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Laozi said, “A moment ago, when I looked at the space between your eyebrows and eyelashes, I could tell what kind of person you are. And now what you have said confirms it. You are confused and crestfallen as though you had lost your father and mother and were setting off with a pole to fish for them in the sea. You are a lost man—hesitant and unsure, you want to return to your true form and inborn nature, but you have no way to go about it—a pitiful sight indeed!”» — Laozi lee a Nanrong Zhu en el espacio entre cejas y pestañas y lo compara con quien salió a pescar a sus padres al mar con una caña; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Nanrong Zhu asked to be allowed to repair to his quarters. There he tried to cultivate his good qualities and rid himself of his bad ones; and after ten days of making himself miserable, he went to see Laozi again. Laozi said, “You have been very diligent in your washing and purifying—as I can see from your scrubbed and shining look. But there is still something smoldering away inside you—it would seem that there are bad things there yet.» — Nanrong Zhu se retira diez días a cultivar lo bueno y quitarse lo malo, y Laozi le ve todavía algo ardiendo dentro.

«When outside things trip you up and you can’t snare and seize them, then bar the inside gate. When inside things trip you up and you can’t bind and seize them, then bar the outside gate. If both outside and inside things trip you up, then even the Way and its virtue themselves can’t keep you going—much less one who is a mere follower of the Way in his actions.”» — Laozi reparte las dos puertas, la de dentro y la de fuera, y declara que si ambas cosas tropiezan ni el Camino sostiene a nadie.

«Nanrong Zhu said, “When a villager gets sick and his neighbors ask him how he feels, if he is able to describe his illness, it means he can still recognize his illness as an illness— and so he isn’t all that ill. But now, if I were to ask about the Great Way, it would be like drinking medicine that made me sicker than before. What I would like to ask about is simply the basic rule of life preservation, that is all.”» — Nanrong Zhu compara el preguntar por el Gran Camino con beber una medicina que lo enferma más, y pide solo la regla básica de conservar la vida.

«Laozi said, “Ah—the basic rule of life preservation. Can you embrace the One? Can you keep from losing it? Can you, without tortoise shell or divining stalks, foretell fortune and misfortune? Do you know where to stop; do you know where to leave off? Do you know how to disregard it in others and instead look for it in» — Laozi responde con una ristra de preguntas: abrazar el Uno, no perderlo, predecir sin caparazón ni tallos y saber dónde parar; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«yourself? Can you be brisk and unflagging? Can you be rude and unwitting? Can you be a little baby? The baby howls all day, yet its throat never gets hoarse—harmony at its height!7 The baby makes fists all day, yet its fingers never get cramped—virtue is all it holds to.» — Laozi acaba las preguntas en la del bebé, que aúlla todo el día sin enronquecer, cima de la armonía, y aprieta los puños sin acalambrarse; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The baby stares all day without blinking its eyes—it has no preferences in the world of externals. To move without knowing where you are going, to sit at home without knowing what you are doing, traipsing and trailing about with other things, riding along with them on the same wave—this is the basic rule of life preservation, this and nothing more.”» — Laozi cierra la regla básica: el bebé mira sin parpadear porque no tiene preferencias, y así moverse sin saber adónde y cabalgar la misma ola que las cosas.

«“Oh, no! This is merely what is called the freeing of the ice bound, the thawing of the frozen. Can you do it?8 The Perfect Man joins with others in seeking his food from the earth, his pleasures in Heaven. But he does not become embroiled with them in questions of people and things, profit and loss. He does not join them in their shady doings; he does not join them in their plots; he does not join them in their projects. Brisk and unflagging, he goes; rude and unwitting, he comes. This is what is called the basic rule of life preservation.”» — Laozi rebaja lo dicho a deshielo y describe al Hombre Perfecto, que busca su comida en la tierra y sus placeres en el Cielo sin enredarse en el pleito de las cosas.

«“Not yet! Just a moment ago I said to you, ‘Can you be a baby?’ The baby acts without knowing what it is doing, moves without knowing where it is going. Its body is like the limb of a withered tree, its mind like dead ashes. Since it is so, no bad fortune will ever touch it, and no good fortune will come to it, either.» — Laozi vuelve al bebé como grado más alto: obra sin saber qué hace y su cuerpo es rama seca y su mente ceniza apagada, y por eso ni la mala ni la buena fortuna lo tocan.

«will bring worry on myself. If I am not benevolent, I will harm others; but if I am benevolent, then, on the contrary, I will make trouble for myself. If I am not righteous, I will do injury to others; but if I am righteous, then, on the contrary, I will distress myself. How can I possibly escape from this state of affairs? It is these three dilemmas that are harassing me, and so through Gengsang Chu’s introduction, I have come to beg an explanation.”» — Nanrong Zhu formula sus tres dilemas, del saber, de la benevolencia y de la rectitud, en los que cada rama le daña; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«He whose inner being rests in the Great Serenity will send forth a Heavenly light. But though he sends forth a Heavenly light, men will see him as a man, and things will see him as a thing. When a man has trained himself to this degree, then for the first time, he achieves constancy. Because he possesses constancy, men will come to lodge with him, and Heaven will be his helper. Those whom men come to lodge with may be called the people of Heaven; those whom Heaven aids may be called the sons of Heaven.» — el texto describe a quien reposa en la Gran Serenidad: emite luz celeste y aun así los hombres lo ven como hombre, y al lograr constancia los hombres se alojan en él y el Cielo lo ayuda.

«Utilize the bounty of things and let them nourish your body; withdraw into thoughtlessness, and in this way give life to your mind; be reverent of what is within and extend this same reverence to others. If you do these things and yet are visited by ten thousand evils, then all are Heaven sent and not the work of man. They should not be enough to destroy your composure; they must not be allowed to enter the Spirit Tower.10 The Spirit Tower has its guardian, but unless it understands who its guardian is, it cannot be guarded.» — el texto manda usar la abundancia de las cosas, retirarse al no pensar y ser reverente hacia dentro, y declara que la Torre del Espíritu tiene guardián y no se guarda sin conocerlo; el tramo arranca en la plana 218; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«If you do not perceive the sincerity within yourself and yet try to move forth, each movement will miss the mark. If outside concerns enter and are not expelled, each movement will only add failure to failure. He who does what is not good in clear and open view will be seized and punished by men. He who does what is not good in the shadow of darkness will be seized and punished by ghosts. Only he who clearly understands both men and ghosts will be able to walk alone.» — el texto reparte el castigo del mal hecho a la vista, que es de los hombres, y el del hecho en la sombra, que es de los fantasmas, y declara que solo quien entiende a unos y a otros anda solo.

«He who concentrates on the internal does deeds that bring no fame. He who concentrates on the external sets his mind on the hoarding of goods.12 He who does deeds that bring no fame is forever the possessor of light. He who sets his mind on the hoarding of goods is a mere merchant.» — el texto opone al que se concentra en lo interno, poseedor perpetuo de luz, y al que se concentra en lo externo, mero mercader; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«There is no weapon more deadly than the will—even Moye is inferior to it.13 There are no enemies greater than the yin and yang—because nowhere between heaven and earth can you escape from them. It is not that the yin and yang deliberately do you evil—it is your own mind that makes them act so.» — el texto declara la voluntad el arma más mortífera, por encima de la espada Moye, y al yin y al yang los mayores enemigos, que no obran el mal sino por la propia mente; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«It comes out from no source, it goes back in through no aperture. It has reality yet no place where it resides; it has duration yet no beginning or end. Something emerges, though through no aperture—this refers to the fact that it has reality. It has reality, yet there is no place where it resides—this refers to the dimension of space. It has duration but no beginning or end— this refers to the dimension of time. There is life, there is death, there is a coming out, there is a going back in—yet in the coming out and going back, its form is never seen.» — el texto describe aquello que sale sin fuente y entra sin abertura, con realidad y sin sitio, con duración y sin comienzo, y reparte esas dos cosas entre el espacio y el tiempo.

«This is called the Heavenly Gate. The Heavenly Gate is nonbeing. The ten thousand things come forth from nonbeing. Being cannot create being out of being; inevitably it must come forth from nonbeing. Nonbeing is absolute nonbeing, and it is here that the sage hides himself.» — el texto nombra Puerta Celeste al no ser, de donde salen las diez mil cosas, y declara que ahí se esconde el sabio.

«means practicing what cannot be practiced; discriminating means discriminating what cannot be discriminated. Understanding that rests in what it cannot understand is the finest.9 If you do not attain this goal, then Heaven the Equalizer will destroy you.» — el texto define aprender, practicar y discriminar por su imposible, y repite la fórmula del entendimiento que reposa en lo que no entiende; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana, en la palabra con que sigue la frase de la 217; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The Way permeates all things. Their dividedness is their completeness; their completeness is their impairment.15 What is hateful about this state of dividedness is that men take their» — el capítulo repite la fórmula de la división y la entereza que el capítulo segundo ya trajo, esta vez con la llamada a la nota 15, donde Watson cita de vuelta aquel pasaje; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«dividedness and seek to supplement it; and what is hateful about attempts to supplement it is that they are a mere supplementation of what men already have. So they go forth and forget to return— they act as though they had seen a ghost. They go forth and claim to have gotten something—what they have gotten is the thing called death. They are wiped out and choked off—already a kind of ghost themselves.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: lo odioso de suplementar la propia división, y los que salen y olvidan volver como si hubieran visto un fantasma; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Out of the murk, things come to life. With cunning, you declare, “We must analyze this!” You try putting your analysis in words,» — el texto describe el impulso a analizar lo que no se deja poner en palabras; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y los ejemplos siguen en la 220.

«though it is not something to be put into words. You cannot, however, attain understanding. At the winter sacrifice, you can point to the tripe or the hoof of the sacrificial ox, which can be considered separate things and yet, in a sense, cannot be considered separate. A man who goes to look at a house walks all around the chambers and ancestral shrines, but he also goes to inspect the privies. And so for this reason, you launch into your analysis.» — los ejemplos, ya en la plana siguiente: la tripa y la pezuña del buey del sacrificio, separables y no separables, y quien recorre una casa e inspecciona también las letrinas; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«If you step on a stranger’s foot in the marketplace, you apologize at length for your carelessness. If you step on your older brother’s foot, you give him an affectionate pat, and if you step on your parent’s foot, you know you are already forgiven. So it is said, perfect ritual makes no distinction of persons; perfect righteousness takes no account of things; perfect knowledge does not scheme; perfect benevolence knows no affection; perfect trust dispenses with gold.» — el texto escala del pie pisado a un extraño, a un hermano y a un padre, y saca de ahí que el rito perfecto no distingue personas y la benevolencia perfecta no conoce afecto.

«Wipe out the delusions of the will; undo the snares of the heart; rid yourself of the entanglements to virtue; open up the roadblocks in the Way. Eminence and wealth, recognition and authority, fame and profit—these six are the delusions of the will. Appearances and carriage, complexion and features, temperament and attitude—these six are the snares of the heart. Loathing and desire, joy and anger, grief and happiness—these six are the entanglements of virtue. Rejecting and accepting, taking and giving, knowledge and ability—these six are the roadblocks of the Way.» — el texto enumera los cuatro grupos de seis, delirios de la voluntad, trampas del corazón, enredos de la virtud y barreras del Camino.

«Let me try describing this analysis of yours. It takes life as its basis and knowledge as its teacher and, from there, proceeds to assign “right” and “wrong.” So in the end, we have “names” and “realities,” and accordingly each man considers himself to be their arbiter.» — el texto describe el análisis que toma la vida por base y el conocimiento por maestro, hasta los nombres y las realidades de las que cada cual se hace árbitro.

«To such men, he who is useful is considered wise; he who is of no use is considered stupid. He who is successful wins renown; he who runs into trouble is heaped with shame. Analyzers—that is what the men of today are!21 They are like the cicada and the little dove who agreed because they were two of a kind.» — el texto describe la escala de valor de esos hombres y los llama analistas, comparándolos con la cigarra y la tórtola del capítulo primero.

«When these four sixes no longer seethe within the breast, then you will achieve uprightness; being upright, you will be still; being still, you will be enlightened; being» — el texto encadena lo que sigue a apaciguar esos cuatro seises, rectitud, quietud e iluminación; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la cadena remata en la 221.

«enlightened, you will be empty; and being empty, you will do nothing, and yet there will be nothing that is not done.» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: vacío y el no hacer nada que nada deja sin hacer; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Way is virtue’s idol. Life is virtue’s light. The in-born nature is the substance of life. The inborn nature in motion is called action. Action that has become artificial is called loss.» — el texto encadena las definiciones del Camino, la vida, la naturaleza innata, la acción y la pérdida; el troceo imprime *in-born* con guion dentro del renglón.

«Understanding reaches out, understanding plots. But the understanding of that which is not to be understood is a childlike stare. Action that is done because one cannot do otherwise is called virtue. Action in which there is nothing other than self is called good order. In definition, the two seem to be opposites, but in reality they agree.» — el texto llama mirada de niño al entender de lo que no se entiende y define la virtud como la acción que se hace porque no cabe otra cosa.

«Archer Yi was skilled at hitting the smallest target but clumsy in not preventing people from praising him for it. The sage is skilled in what pertains to Heaven but clumsy in what pertains to man. To be skilled in Heavenly affairs and good at human ones as well —only the Complete Man can encompass that.» — el texto pone al arquero Yi, diestro en dar en el blanco y torpe en evitar que lo alabaran, y reparte destreza celeste y torpeza humana en el sabio.

«Only bugs can be bugs because only bugs can abide by Heaven. The Complete Man hates Heaven and hates the Heavenly in man. How much more, then, does he hate the “I” who distinguishes between Heaven and man.» — el texto declara que solo los bichos pueden ser bichos porque solo ellos se atienen al Cielo, y que el Hombre Completo odia al yo que distingue entre Cielo y hombre.

«If a single sparrow came within Archer Yi’s range, he was sure to bring it down—impressive shooting. But he might have made the whole world into a cage, and then the sparrows would have had no place to flee to. That was the way it was when Tang caged Yi Yin by making him a cook and Duke Mu caged Boli Xi for the price of five ram skins.25 But if you hope to get a man, you must cage him with what he likes, or you will never succeed.» — el texto vuelve al arquero Yi y a la jaula: quien quiera atrapar a un hombre ha de enjaularlo con lo que le gusta, como se hizo con Yi Yin de cocinero y con Boli Xi por cinco pieles de carnero; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The man who has had his feet cut off in punishment discards his fancy clothes—because praise and blame no longer touch him. The chained convict climbs the highest peak without fear— because he has abandoned all thought of life and death. These two are submissive26 and un-ashamed because they have forgotten other men, and by forgetting other men, they have become men of Heaven. Therefore you may treat such men with respect, and they will not be pleased; you may treat them with contumely, and they will not be angry.» — el texto empareja al mutilado que desecha la ropa fina y al presidiario que sube al pico sin miedo, y los llama hombres del Cielo por haber olvidado a los otros hombres.

«If he who bursts out in anger is not really angry, then his anger is an outburst of nonanger. If he who launches into action is not really acting, then his action is a launching into inaction. He who» — el texto formula la ira que no es ira y la acción que no es acción; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el remate sigue en la 222.

«wishes to be still must calm his energies; he who wishes to be spiritual must compose his mind; he who in his actions wishes to hit the mark must go along with what he cannot help doing. Those things that you cannot help doing—they represent the Way of the sage.» — el capítulo vigesimotercero cierra mandando calmar las energías, componer la mente e ir con lo que no se puede dejar de hacer, que es el Camino del sabio; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“I am the one who should be comforting you!” said Xu Wugui. “What reason have you to comfort me? If you try to fulfill all your appetites and desires and indulge your likes and dislikes, then you will bring affliction to the true form of your inborn nature and fate. And if you try to deny your appetites and desires and forcibly change your likes and dislikes, then you will bring affliction to your ears and eyes. It is my place to comfort you—what reason have you to comfort me!”» — abre *Xu Wugui* con el recluso invirtiendo el consuelo del marqués: colmar los apetitos aflige la naturaleza innata y negarlos aflige los oídos y los ojos.

«After a little while, Xu Wugui said, “Let me try telling you about the way I judge dogs. A dog of the lowest quality thinks only of catching its fill of prey—that is, it has the nature of a wildcat. One of middling quality always seems to be looking up at the sun.1 But one of the highest quality acts as though it had lost its own identity.» — Xu Wugui gradúa los perros por lo que dejan de perseguir, hasta el de calidad más alta, que obra como si hubiera perdido su propia identidad; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«And I’m even better at judging horses than I am at judging dogs. When I judge a horse, if he can gallop as straight as a plumb line, arc as neat as a curve, turn as square as a T square, and round as true as a compass, then I’d say he was a horse for the kingdom to boast of.» — Xu Wugui describe el caballo del que un reino puede jactarse, recto como plomada y redondo como compás.

«But not a horse for the whole world to boast of. A horse the whole world can boast of—his talents are already complete. He seems dazed, he seems lost, he seems to have become unaware of his own identity, and in this way he overtakes, passes, and leaves the others behind in the dust. You can’t tell where he’s gone to!”» — Xu Wugui describe el caballo del que el mundo entero puede jactarse: aturdido y perdido de su propia identidad, y por eso deja a los otros en el polvo.

«Xu Wugui said, “I was merely explaining to him how I judge dogs and horses, that was all.”» — Xu Wugui declara que solo le habló de juzgar perros y caballos, tras los Odes y los Documentos con que Nü Shang nunca le arrancó una sonrisa; el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«“Haven’t you ever heard about the men who are exiled to Yue?” said Xu Wugui. “A few days after they have left their homelands, they are delighted if they come across an old acquaintance. When a few weeks or a month has passed, they are delighted if they come across someone they had known by sight when they were at home. And by the time a year has passed, they are delighted if they come across someone who even looks as though he might be a countryman. The longer they are away from their countrymen, the more deeply they long for them—isn’t that it?» — Xu Wugui gradúa la nostalgia de los desterrados a Yue, del conocido al que solo parece paisano, según pasan los días, las semanas y el año.

«A man who has fled into the wilderness, where goosefoot and woodbine tangle the little trails of the polecat and the weasel, and has lived there in emptiness and isolation for a long time, will be delighted if he hears so much as the rustle of a human footfall. And how much more so if he hears his own brothers and kin chattering and laughing at his side!» — Xu Wugui extiende la figura al que huyó al yermo y se alegra hasta del roce de una pisada humana.

«It has been a long time, I think, since one who speaks like a True Man has sat chattering and laughing at our ruler’s side.» — Xu Wugui explica así la risa del marqués: hacía mucho que nadie que hablara como Hombre Verdadero charlaba a su lado.

«“It won’t!” said Xu Wugui “To cherish the people is to open the way to harming them! To practice righteousness and lay down your weapons is to sow the seeds for more weapon wielding! If you go at it this way, I’m afraid you will never succeed.» — Xu Wugui niega el plan de mimar al pueblo y deponer las armas: mimar abre la vía a dañar y deponer las armas siembra más blandir de armas.

«All attempts to create something admirable are the weapons of evil. You may think you are practicing benevolence and righteousness, but in effect you will be creating a kind of artificiality. When a model exists, copies will be made of it; when success has been gained, boasting follows; when debate4 exists, there will be outbreaks of hostility.» — Xu Wugui llama armas del mal a todo intento de crear algo admirable y encadena modelo, copias, jactancia y hostilidad.

«Do not store in your heart what is contrary to your interests. Do not try to outdo others in skill. Do not try to overcome others by stratagems. Do not try to conquer others in battle.» — Xu Wugui da cuatro prohibiciones al marqués, no aventajar en destreza ni vencer por estratagema ni conquistar en batalla.

«The Yellow Emperor set out to visit Great Clod at Juci Mountain.5 Fang Ming was his carriage driver, while Chang Yu rode at his right side; Zhang Ruo and Xi Peng led the horses, and Kun Hun and Gu Ji followed behind the carriage. By the time they reached the wilds of Xiangcheng, all seven sages had lost their way and» — el Emperador Amarillo sale con seis acompañantes a visitar al Gran Terrón y los siete sabios se pierden en los yermos de Xiangcheng; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«If you must do something, cultivate the sincerity that is in your breast and use it to respond without opposition to the true form of Heaven and» — Xu Wugui cierra proponiendo cultivar la sinceridad del pecho y responder sin oposición a la forma verdadera del cielo y la tierra; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«“Governing the empire just means doing what I’m doing here, doesn’t it?” said the young boy. “What about it is special? When I was little, I used to go wandering within the Six Realms, but in time I contracted a disease that blurred my eyesight. An elderly gentleman advised me to mount the chariot of the sun and go wandering in the wilds of Xiangcheng, and now my illness is getting a little better. Soon I can go wandering once more, this time beyond the Six Realms. Governing the empire just means doing what I’m doing—I don’t see why it has to be anything special.”» — el muchacho pastor responde que gobernar el imperio es lo que él está haciendo, y cuenta la enfermedad de la vista que se le cura vagando por los yermos de Xiangcheng.

«The young boy made excuses, but when the Yellow Emperor repeated his request, the boy said, “Governing the empire, I suppose, is not much different from herding horses. Get rid of whatever is harmful to the horses—that’s all.”» — el muchacho da su receta de gobierno: como pastorear caballos, quitar lo que les hace daño y nada más.

«The wise man is not happy without the modulations of idea and thought; the rhetorician is not happy without the progression of argument and rebuttal; the examiner is not happy without the tasks of interrogation and intimidation. All are penned in by these things.» — el texto empareja al sabio, al retórico y al examinador por lo que cada uno necesita para estar contento, y los declara a todos encerrados por ello; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Men who attract the attention of the age win glory at court; men who hit it off well with the people shine in public office; men of strength and sinew welcome hardship; men of bravery and daring are spurred on by peril; men of arms and armor delight in combat; men of haggard-hermit looks reach out for fame; men of laws and regulations long for broader legislation; men of ritual and instruction revere appearances; men of benevolence and righteousness value human relationships.» — el texto inventaria nueve tipos de hombre por aquello en que cada uno halla su gloria o su deleite.

«Servants to circumstance and things, they delight in change, and if the moment comes when they can put their talents to use, then they cannot keep from acting. In this way, they all follow along with the turning years, letting themselves be changed by things.6 Driving their bodies and natures on and on, they drown in the ten thousand things and, to the end of their days never turn back. Pitiful, are they not?» — el texto llama siervos de la circunstancia a todos esos y los describe ahogándose en las diez mil cosas sin volverse nunca; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Zhuangzi said, “If an archer, without taking aim at the mark, just happens to hit it, and we dub him a skilled archer, then everyone in the world can be an Archer Yi—all right?”» — Zhuangzi pone el arquero que acierta sin apuntar como reducción al absurdo del título de diestro.

«Zhuangzi said, “If there is no publicly accepted ‘right’ in the world, but each person takes right to be what he himself thinks is right, then everyone in the world can be a Yao—all right?”» — Zhuangzi extiende la reducción al acierto: si cada cual toma por recto lo que él cree recto, cualquiera es un Yao.

«Heaven and earth provide nourishment for all things alike. To have ascended to a high position cannot be considered an advantage; to live in lowliness cannot be considered a handicap.» — Xu Wugui declara que el cielo y la tierra nutren por igual a todas las cosas, y niega que la posición alta sea ventaja y la baja desventaja; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Now you, as the sole ruler of this land of ten thousand chariots, may tax the resources of the entire populace of your realm in nourishing the appetites of your ears and eyes, your nose and mouth. But the spirit will not permit such a way of life. The spirit loves harmony and hates licentiousness. Licentiousness is a kind of sickness, and that is why I have come to offer my comfort.» — Xu Wugui declara que el espíritu ama la armonía y odia la licencia, llama enfermedad a la licencia y dice venir por eso a ofrecer consuelo.

«Zhuangzi said, “Well then, here are the four schools of the Confucians, Mo, Yang, and Bing7 and, with your own, that makes five. Now which of you is, in fact, right?» — Zhuangzi cuenta cinco escuelas con la de Huizi y pregunta cuál es de hecho la que tiene razón; el tramo cruza el cambio de plana.

«Huizi said, “The followers of Confucius, Mo, Yang, and Bing often engage with me in debate, each of us trying to overwhelm the others with phrases and to silence them with shouts—but so far they have never proved me wrong. So what do you make of that?”» — Huizi alega que nadie lo ha probado errado en el debate y pide a Zhuangzi que saque de ahí su conclusión.

«Zhuangzi said, “A man of Qi sold his own son into service in Song, having dubbed him Gatekeeper and maimed him;10 but when he acquired any bells or chimes, he wrapped them up carefully to prevent breakage. Another man went looking for a lost son but was unwilling to go any farther than the border in his search—there are men as mixed up as this, you know.» — Zhuangzi responde con el hombre de Qi que mutiló y vendió a su hijo y envolvía con cuidado sus campanas, y con el que buscaba a su hijo perdido y no pasaba de la frontera.

«Zhuangzi was accompanying a funeral when he passed by Huizi’s grave. Turning to his attendants, he said, “There was once a plasterer who, if he got a speck of mud on the tip of his nose no thicker than a fly’s wing, would get his friend Carpenter Shi to slice it off for him. Carpenter Shi, whirling his hatchet with a noise like the wind, would accept the assignment and proceed to slice, removing every bit of mud without injury to the nose, while the plasterer just stood there completely unperturbed.» — Zhuangzi cuenta ante la tumba de Huizi al carpintero Shi que rebanaba de un hachazo la mota de barro en la nariz del enlucidor, que se quedaba impertérrito.

«Since you died, Master Hui, I have had no material to work on. There’s no one I can talk to any more.”» — Zhuangzi aplica la anécdota a su amigo muerto: desde que Huizi murió no tiene material sobre el que trabajar ni con quién hablar; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Guan Zhong said, “To whom would Your Grace like to entrust them?” “Bao Shuya,” said the duke. “That will never do! He is a fine man, a man of honesty and integrity. But he will have nothing to do with those who are not like himself. And if he once hears of some-one’s error, he won’t forget it to the end of his days. If he were given charge of the state, he would be sure to tangle with you on the higher level and rile the people below him. It would be no time at all before he did something you considered unpardonable.”» — Guan Zhong descarta a Bao Shuya por honesto en exceso, que no trata con los que no son como él y no olvida un error ajeno mientras vive.

«‘But that is simply using the yang to attract the yang, and the yin to attract the yin,’ said Lu Ju.8 ‘That is not what I call the Way! I will show you my Way!’ Thereupon he tuned two lutes, placed one in the hall, and the other in an inner room. When he struck the gong note on one lute, the gong on the other lute sounded; when he struck the jue note, the other jue sounded —the pitch of the two instruments was in perfect accord.» — Lu Ju niega que hacer fuego en invierno y hielo en verano sea el Camino y muestra el suyo con dos laúdes acordados que se responden nota por nota; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Then he changed the tuning of one string so that it no longer corresponded to any of the five notes. When he plucked this string, it set all the twenty-five strings of the other instrument to jangling. But he was still using sounds to produce his effect; in this case it just happened to be the note that governs the other notes.» — Lu Ju desafina una cuerda fuera de las cinco notas y con ella hace sonar las veinticinco del otro laúd, y aun así reconoce que seguía usando sonidos.

«“If I must give an answer, then I would say that Xi Peng will do. He forgets those in high places and does not abandon those in low ones.13 He is ashamed that he himself is not like the Yellow Emperor, and pities those who are not like himself.» — Guan Zhong propone a Xi Peng, que olvida a los altos y no abandona a los bajos y se avergüenza de no ser como el Emperador Amarillo; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«He who shares his virtue with others is called a sage; he who shares his talents with others is called a worthy man. If he uses his worth in an attempt to oversee others, then he will never win their support; but if he uses it to humble himself before others, then he will never fail to win their support. With such a man, there are things within the state that he doesn’t bother to hear about, things within the family that he doesn’t bother to look after. If I must give an answer, I would say that Xi Peng will do.”» — Guan Zhong distingue al sabio que comparte su virtud del digno que comparte su talento, y declara que quien se humilla ante otros nunca deja de ganar su apoyo.

«The king of Wu, boating on the Yangtze, stopped to climb a mountain noted for its monkeys. When the pack of monkeys saw him, they dropped what they were doing in terror and scampered off to hide in the deep brush. But there was one monkey who, lounging about nonchalantly, picking at things, scratching,» — el mono que se queda a exhibirse ante el rey de Wu mientras la manada huye; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«decided to display his skill to the king. When the king shot at him, he snatched hold of the flying arrows with the greatest nimbleness and speed. The king thereupon ordered his attendants to hurry forward and join in the shooting, and the monkey was soon captured and killed. The king turned to his friend Yan Buyi and said, “This monkey, flouting its skill, trusting to its tricks, deliberately displayed its contempt for me—so it met with this end. Take warning from it! Ah—you must never let your expression show arrogance toward others!» — el desenlace, ya en la plana siguiente: el mono atrapa las flechas al vuelo hasta que los servidores lo matan, y el rey saca de ahí el aviso de no mostrar nunca arrogancia; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When Yan Buyi returned, he put himself under the instruction of Dong Wu, learning to wipe the expression from his face, to discard delight, to excuse himself from renown—and at the end of three years, everyone in the state was praising him.» — Yan Buyi se pone a aprender a borrar la expresión de su cara y a excusarse de la fama, y a los tres años todo el Estado lo alaba.

«Ziai of Nanpo14 sat leaning on his armrest, staring up at the sky and breathing. Yan Chengzi entered and said, “Master, you surpass all other things! Can you really make the body like a withered tree and the mind like dead ashes?”» — el capítulo repite la escena de apertura del capítulo segundo, con otro nombre para el maestro y la misma pregunta por el cuerpo como árbol seco y la mente como ceniza apagada.

«“Once I lived in a mountain cave. At that time, Tian He came to pay me one visit, and the people of the state of Qi congratulated him three times.15 I must have had hold of16 something in order for him to find out who I was; I must have been peddling something in order for him to come and buy. If I had not had hold of something, then how would he have been able to find out who I was? If I had not been peddling something, then how would he have been able to buy? Ah, how I pitied those men who destroy themselves! Then again, I pitied those who pity others, and again, I pitied those who pity those who pity others. But all that was long ago.”» — Ziai explica que si lo hallaron era porque algo tenía asido y algo estaba vendiendo, y escala la compasión hasta compadecer a los que compadecen a los que compadecen; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Confucius said, “I have heard of the speech that is not spoken, though I have never tried to speak about it. Shall I take this occasion to speak about it now?» — Confucius declara haber oído del habla que no se habla y no haber intentado nunca hablar de ella.

«These were men who followed what is called the Way that is not a way, and this exchange of theirs is what is called the debate that is not spoken. Therefore, when virtue is resolved in the unity of the Way and words come to rest at the place where understanding no longer understands, we have perfection.» — el texto llama Camino que no es camino y debate que no se habla a lo que hicieron esos hombres, y pone la perfección donde las palabras reposan en que el entendimiento ya no entiende.

«The sea does not refuse the rivers that come flowing eastward into it—it is the perfection of greatness. The sage embraces all heaven and earth, and his bounty extends to the whole world, yet no one knows who he is or what family he belongs to. For this reason, in life he holds no titles, in death he receives no posthumous names. Realities do not gather about him, names do not stick to him—this is what is called the Great Man.» — el texto pone el mar que no rehúsa los ríos como perfección de la grandeza, y describe al Gran Hombre a quien las realidades no se agregan ni los nombres se pegan.

«A dog is not considered superior merely because it is good at barking; a man is not considered worthy merely because he is good at speaking. Much less, then, is he to be considered great. That which has become great does not think it worth trying to become great, much less to become virtuous.» — el texto niega que ladrar bien haga superior al perro y hablar bien digno al hombre, y declara que lo que se ha vuelto grande no tiene por valioso volverse grande.

«Nothing possesses a larger measure of greatness than Heaven and earth, yet when have they ever gone in search of greatness? He who understands what it means to possess greatness does not seek, does not lose, does not reject, and does not change himself for the sake of things. He returns to himself and finds the inexhaustible; he follows antiquity and discovers the imperishable —this is the sincerity of the Great Man.» — el texto pone el cielo y la tierra, que nunca salieron a buscar grandeza, y describe al que entiende poseerla: ni busca ni pierde ni se muda por las cosas.

«Ziqi had eight sons, and lining them up in front of him, he summoned Jiufang Yin and said, “Please physiognomize my sons for me and tell me which one is destined for good fortune.” Jiufang Yin replied, “Kun—he is the one who will be fortunate.”» — Ziqi hace fisonomizar a sus ocho hijos y le señalan a Kun como el afortunado.

«Tears sprang from Ziqi’s eyes, and in great dejection he said, “Why should my boy be brought to this extreme?” “He who eats the same food as the ruler of a kingdom will bring bounty to all his three sets of relatives, not to mention his own father and mother,” said Jiufang Yin. “Yet now when you hear of this, sir, you burst out crying—this will only drive the blessing away! The son is auspicious enough, but the father is decidedly inauspicious!”» — Ziqi llora al oír la fortuna de su hijo y el fisonomista le dice que con eso ahuyenta la bendición; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Ziqi said, “Yin, what would you know about this sort of thing! You say Kun will be fortunate—but you are speaking solely of the meat and wine that are to affect his nose and mouth. How could you understand where such things come from!» — Ziqi objeta al fisonomista que solo habla de la carne y el vino que tocarán la nariz y la boca de su hijo, y no de dónde vienen esas cosas.

«When my son and I go wandering, we wander through Heaven and earth. He and I seek our delight in Heaven and our food from the earth. He and I do not engage in any undertakings, do not engage in any plots, do not engage in any peculiarities. He and I ride on the sincerity of Heaven and earth and do not allow things to set us at odds with it. He and I stroll and saunter in unity, but never do we try to do what is appropriate to the occasion.» — Ziqi describe el vagar suyo y de su hijo por el cielo y la tierra, sin empresas, sin planes y sin peculiaridades.

«Not long afterward, Ziqi sent his son Kun on an errand to the state of Yan, and along the way he was seized by bandits. They considered that he would be difficult to sell as a slave in his present state but that if they cut off his feet, they could dispose of him easily.19 Accordingly, they cut off his feet and sold him in the state of Qi. As it happened, he was made gatekeeper of the inner chamber in the palace of Duke Kang20 and so was able to eat meat until the end of his days.» — el desenlace del vaticinio: los bandidos le cortan los pies a Kun para venderlo mejor y así acaba comiendo carne de por vida como guardián de cámara; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«There is nothing difficult about attracting the people. Love them and they will feel affection for you; benefit them and they will flock to you; praise them and they will do their best; do something they dislike and they will scatter.» — Xu You describe lo fácil que es atraer a la gente, amándola, beneficiándola y alabándola; el tramo arranca en la plana 234.

«Yao understands that the worthy man can benefit the world, but he does not understand that he can also ruin the world. Only a man who has gotten outside the realm of ‘worthiness’ can understand that!”» — Xu You acota lo que Yao entiende y lo que no: que el hombre digno puede beneficiar al mundo y también arruinarlo.

«Therefore the Holy Man hates to see the crowd arriving, and if it does arrive, he does not try to be friendly with it; not being friendly with it, he naturally does nothing to benefit it. So he makes sure that there is nothing he is very close to and nothing he is very distant from. Embracing virtue, infused with harmony, he follows along with the world—this is what is called the True Man.» — el texto describe al Hombre Santo que no se acerca ni se aleja de nada, y llama Hombre Verdadero al que abraza la virtud y va con el mundo.

«Use the eye to look at the eye, the ear to listen to the ear, and the mind to restore the mind. Do this, and your levelness will be as though measured with the line; your transformations will be a form of compliance.» — el texto da la regla del ojo que mira al ojo y la mente que restaura la mente, con la que la nivelación sale como medida con plomada.

«The True Man of ancient times used Heaven to deal with man; he did not use man to work his way into Heaven. The True Man of ancient times got it and lived, lost it and died, got it and died, lost it and lived.» — el texto declara que el Hombre Verdadero usaba el Cielo para tratar con el hombre y no al revés, y enuncia las cuatro combinaciones de obtenerlo y perderlo con vivir y morir.

«Therefore it is said, The owl’s eyes have their special aptness, the stork’s legs have their proper proportions; to try to cut away anything would make the creatures sad.» — el texto pone los ojos del búho y las patas de la cigüeña, cuyo recorte entristecería a las criaturas.

«“Because Yao is so earnestly and everlastingly benevolent! I’m afraid he’ll make himself the laughingstock of the world. In later ages, men may even end up eating one another because of him!» — Xu You huye de Yao por su benevolencia incesante y augura que los hombres acabarán comiéndose unos a otros por él; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«There are the smug-and-satisfied, there are the precariously perched, and there are the bent-with-burdens. What I call the smug-and-satisfied are those who, having learned the words of one master, put on a smug and satisfied look, privately much pleased with themselves, considering that what they’ve gotten is quite sufficient, and not even realizing that they haven’t begun to get anything at all.» — el texto nombra tres tipos y describe el primero, el del engreído satisfecho que aprendió las palabras de un maestro y no advierte que no ha empezado a obtener nada.

«What I call the precariously perched are like the lice on a pig. They pick out a place where the bristles are long and sparse and call it their spacious mansion, their ample park; or a place in some corner of the hams or hoofs, between the nipples, or down around the haunches, and call it their house of repose, their place of profit.» — el texto describe el segundo tipo con los piojos del cerdo, que llaman mansión a las cerdas largas y casa de reposo a los jamones.

«They do not know that one morning the butcher will give a swipe of his arm, spread out the grass, light up the fire, and that they will be roasted to a crisp along with the pig. Their advancement in the world is subject to such limitations as this, and their retirement from it is subject to similar limitations. This is what I call the precariously perched.» — el remate del segundo tipo: los piojos no saben que un día el carnicero encenderá el fuego y arderán con el cerdo.

«What I call the bent-with-burdens are those like Shun. The mutton doesn’t long for the ants; it is the ants that long for the mutton. Mutton has a rank odor, and Shun must have done rank deeds for the hundred clans to have delighted in him so.» — el texto describe el tercer tipo con Shun, a quien las multitudes siguieron como las hormigas al carnero por sus hechos rancios; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When Shun was raised up from the barren plains, he was already well along in years, and his hearing and eyesight were failing, and yet he was not able to go home and rest. This is what I call the bent-with-burdens.» — el remate del tercer tipo: Shun, levantado ya viejo y con la vista y el oído fallando, no pudo irse a descansar.

«It is said, When the wind passes over it, the river loses something; when the sun passes over it, it loses something. But» — el texto pone el río que pierde algo con el viento y con el sol; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el remate sigue en la 236.

«even if we asked the wind and sun to remain constantly over the river, the river would not regard this as the beginning of any real trouble for itself—it relies on the springs that feed it and goes on its way. The water sticks close to the land; the shadow sticks close to the form; things stick close to things.» — el remate, ya en la plana siguiente: el río no lo toma por desgracia porque se apoya en los manantiales que lo alimentan; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«sight may be a danger to the eye; sharp hearing may be a danger to the ear; and the pursuit of thought may be a danger to the mind. All the faculties that are stored up in man are a potential source of danger, and if this danger becomes real and is not averted, misfortunes will go on piling up in increasing number. A return to the original condition takes effort; its accomplishment takes time. And yet men look on these faculties as their treasures —is it not sad? Therefore we have this endless destruction of states and slaughter of the people—because no one knows enough to ask about This!» — el texto declara peligro potencial a todas las facultades almacenadas en el hombre y consigna que este las tiene por sus tesoros; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The foot treads a very small area of the ground, but although the area is small, the foot must rely on the support of the untrod ground all around before it can go forward in confidence. The understanding of man is paltry, but although it is paltry, it must rely on all those things that it does not understand before it can understand what is meant by Heaven.» — el texto pone el pie que pisa poco y necesita el suelo no pisado alrededor, y de ahí deriva que el entendimiento necesita lo que no entiende.

«To understand the Great Unity, to understand the Great Yin, to understand the Great Eye, to understand the Great Equality, to understand the Great Method, to understand the Great Trust, to understand the Great Serenity—this is perfection. With the Great Unity you may penetrate it;27 with the Great Yin, unknot it; with the Great Eye, see it; with the Great Equality, follow it; with the Great Method, embody it; with the Great Trust, reach it; with the Great Serenity, hold it fast.» — el texto lista las siete Grandes y reparte a cada una su verbo, penetrar, desanudar, ver, seguir, encarnar, alcanzar y sostener.

«End with what is Heavenly, follow what is bright, hide in what is pivotal, begin in what is objective—then your comprehension will seem like noncomprehension; your understanding will seem like no understanding; not understanding it, you will later understand it. Your questions about it cannot have a limit, and yet they cannot not have a limit. Vague and slippery, there is yet some reality there. Past and present, it does not alter—nothing can do it injury. We may say that there is one great goal, may we not? Why not inquire about it? Why act in such perplexity? If we use the unperplexed to dispel perplexity and return to unperplexity, this will be the greatest unperplexity.» — el capítulo vigesimocuarto cierra mandando acabar en lo Celeste y esconderse en lo pivotal, con la comprensión que parece incomprensión, y con lo no perplejo para disipar la perplejidad.

«Love and benefit are the products of benevolence and righteousness. There are few men who will renounce benevolence and righteousness, but many who will seek to benefit by them. To practice benevolence and righteousness in such a fashion is at best a form of insincerity, at worst a deliberate lending of weapons to the evil22 and rapacious.» — el texto declara que pocos renuncian a la benevolencia y muchos buscan beneficiarse de ella, y llama a esa práctica insinceridad o préstamo de armas al rapaz.

«Yi Jie is the kind of man who has understanding, though he lacks real virtue. He is not permissive with himself but puts his whole spirit into pleasing his friends. He has always been dazzled and misled by wealth and eminence—so he is not the kind to help others out with virtue but instead will help them out with harm.» — abre *Zeyang* con el retrato de Yi Jie, que tiene entendimiento y carece de virtud real y por eso ayuda con daño en vez de con virtud.

«A man who is chilled will think spring has come if he piles on enough clothes; a man suffering from the heat will think winter has returned if he finds a cool breeze.» — Wang Guo pone al friolento que cree llegada la primavera con ropa encima y al acalorado que cree vuelto el invierno con una brisa.

«“The true sage, now—living in hardship, he can make his family forget their poverty; living in affluence, he can make kings and dukes forget their titles and stipends and humble themselves before him. His approach to things is to go along with them and be merry; his approach to men is to take pleasure in the progress of others and to hold on to what is his own.» — Wang Guo describe al sabio verdadero, que en la penuria hace olvidar su pobreza a los suyos y en la abundancia hace humillarse a reyes y duques.

«The sage penetrates bafflement and complication, rounding all into a single body, yet he does not know why—it is his inborn nature.» — el texto describe al sabio que redondea en un solo cuerpo lo enmarañado sin saber por qué, porque es su naturaleza innata; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When people are born with good looks, you may hand them a mirror, but if you don’t tell them, they will never know that they are better looking than others. Whether they know it or don’t know it, whether they are told of it or are not told of it, however, their delightful good looks remain unchanged to the end, and others can go on endlessly admiring them—it is a matter of inborn nature.» — el texto pone al hermoso que no sabe que lo es sin espejo ni aviso, y a quien eso no le cambia la hermosura.

«The sage loves other men, and men accordingly pin labels on him, but if they do not tell him, then he will never know that he loves other men. Whether he knows it or doesn’t know it, whether he is told of it or is not told of it, however, his love for men remains unchanged to the end, and others can find endless security in it—it is a matter of in-born nature.» — el texto aplica la figura al sabio: ama a los hombres sin saber que los ama y su amor no cambia por saberlo o ignorarlo; el troceo imprime *in-born* con guion dentro del renglón.

«The old homeland, the old city—just to gaze at it from afar is to feel a flush of joy. Even when its hills and mounds are a tangle of weeds and brush, and nine out of ten of the ones you knew have gone to lie under them, still you feel joyful. How much more so, then, when you see those you used to see, when you hear the voices you used to hear—they stand out like eighty-foot towers among the crowd.» — el texto describe el gozo de mirar de lejos la ciudad vieja aunque esté cubierta de maleza y bajo ella yazcan nueve de cada diez conocidos.

«Mr. Renxiang held on to the empty socket and followed along to completion.6 Joining with things, he knew no end, no beginning, no year, no season.» — el texto describe al señor Renxiang, que se asió al cuenco vacío y siguió hasta la compleción, sin fin, sin comienzo, sin año y sin estación; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The sage has never begun to think of Heaven, has never begun to think of man, has never begun to think of a beginning, has never begun to think of things. He moves in company with the age, never halting; wherever he moves, he finds completion and no impediment. Others try to keep up with him, but what can they do?» — el texto niega que el sabio haya empezado siquiera a pensar en el Cielo, en el hombre, en un comienzo o en las cosas, y lo hace moverse con la época sin detenerse; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Tang got hold of the groom and guardsman Deng Heng and had him be his tutor. He followed him and treated him as a teacher but was not confined by him—so he could follow along to completion, becoming, as a result, a mere holder of titles.» — el texto pone a Tang, que tomó por maestro a un mozo de cuadra y lo siguió sin quedar confinado por él.

«King Ying of Wei made a treaty with Marquis Tian Mou of Qi, but Marquis Tian Mou violated it.9 King Ying, enraged, was about to send a man to assassinate him. Gong-sun Yan, the minister of war, heard of this and was filled with shame. “You are the ruler of a state of ten thousand chariots,” he said to the king, “and yet you would send a commoner to carry out your revenge!» — Gongsun Yan se avergüenza de que el rey mande a un plebeyo a vengarlo y pide doscientos mil hombres de armas; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Jizi, hearing this, was filled with shame and said, “If one sets out to build an eighty-foot wall, and then, when it is already seven-tenths finished,12 deliberately pulls it down, the convict laborers who built it will look upon it as a bitter waste. Now for seven years we have not had to call out the troops, and this peace has been the foundation of your sovereignty. Gongsun Yan is a troublemaker—his advice must not be heeded!”» — Jizi opone el muro derribado cuando estaba a siete décimos de acabado y recuerda los siete años de paz que son la base de la soberanía.

«“Then what should I do?” said the ruler. “Just try to find the Way, that’s all.”» — la única receta que Huazi da al gobernante es buscar el Camino; el tramo arranca en la plana 243.

«Dai Jinren said, “There is a creature called the snail—does Your Majesty know it?” “Yes.” “On top of its left horn is a kingdom called Buffet, and on top of its right horn is a kingdom called Maul.13 At times they quarrel over territory and go to war, strewing the field with corpses by the ten thousands, the victor pursuing the vanquished for half a month before returning home.”» — Dai Jinren pone los dos reinos que guerrean sobre los cuernos del caracol, con muertos por decenas de miles y persecución de medio mes; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Huazi, hearing this, was filled with disgust and said, “He who is so quick to say ‘Attack Qi!’ is a troublemaker, and he who is so quick to say ‘Don’t attack Qi!’ is a troublemaker! And he who says that both those who are for and against the attack are» — Huazi llama alborotador al que dice atacar y al que dice no atacar; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el remate sigue en la 243.

«“And do you know that when the mind has wandered in these limitless reaches and returns to the lands we know and travel, they seem so small that it is not certain whether or not they even exist?”» — Dai Jinren lleva al rey por las direcciones sin límite y de vuelta a las tierras conocidas, tan pequeñas que no se sabe si existen.

«“And among these lands we know and travel is the state of Wei, and within the state of Wei is the city of Liang, and within the city of Liang is Your Majesty. Is there any difference between you and the ruler of Maul?”» — Dai Jinren encaja al rey dentro de Liang, dentro de Wei, dentro de las tierras conocidas, y le pregunta en qué se diferencia del señor de uno de los cuernos del caracol.

«Huizi said, “Blow on a flute, and you get a nice shrill note; but blow on the ring of your sword hilt, and all you get is a feeble wheeze. People are inclined to praise the sages Yao and Shun, but if you started expounding on Yao and Shun in the presence of Dai Jinren, it would sound like one little wheeze!”» — Huizi compara la flauta que da nota aguda con el anillo del puño de la espada que solo resuella, y aplica la figura a exponer sobre Yao y Shun ante Dai Jinren.

«“Let it be!” said Confucius. “He knows that I am out to make a name for myself, and he knows I am on my way to the capital of Chu. He is sure to assume that I am trying to get the king of Chu to give me a position and will accordingly take me for a sycophant. A man like that is ashamed even to hear the words of a sycophant, much less appear in person before him! What makes you think he is still at home, anyway?”» — Confucius rehúsa llamar al sabio porque sabe que este lo tomará por adulador, y adivina que ya no está en casa; el tramo arranca en la plana 244.

«The border guard of Zhangwu said to Zilao,16 “In running the government, you mustn’t be slipshod; in ordering the people, you mustn’t be slapdash! In the past, I used to grow grain. I plowed in a slipshod way and got a slipshod crop in return. I weeded in a slapdash way and got a slap-dash crop in return. The following year, I changed my methods, plowing deeper than before and raking with great care—the grain grew thick and luxuriant, and I had all I wanted to eat for the whole year!”» — el guardia de frontera de Zhangwu opone su labranza descuidada y su labranza honda, y saca de ahí la regla de no gobernar de modo chapucero; el troceo parte *slapdash* a fin de renglón en la segunda mención y la herramienta la devuelve unida.

«Zhuangzi, hearing of this, said, “People of today, when they come to ordering their bodies and regulating their minds, too, often do it in a manner like that which the border guard described. They turn their backs on the Heavenly part, deviate from the inborn nature, destroy the true form, and annihilate the spirit, just to be doing what the crowd is doing.» — Zhuangzi aplica la figura del guardia al ordenar el propio cuerpo y la propia mente, donde la gente de hoy da la espalda a la parte Celeste por hacer lo que hace la multitud.

«“They are the servants of a sage,” said Confucius. “He has buried himself among the people, hidden himself among the fields. His reputation fades away, but his determination knows no end. Though his mouth speaks, his mind has never spoken. Perhaps he finds himself at odds with the age and, in his heart, disdains to go along with it. He is one who has ‘drowned in the midst of dry land.’ I would guess that it is Yiliao from south of the Market.”» — Confucius describe al sabio enterrado entre la gente, cuya boca habla mientras su mente nunca ha hablado, y lo llama ahogado en tierra seca; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Bo Ju, having studied under Lao Dan, said, “I would like permission to go wandering about the world.” “Let it be!” said Lao Dan. “The world is right here.”» — Lao Dan responde a la petición de vagar por el mundo diciendo que el mundo está justo ahí; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“The gentlemen of old attributed what success they had to the people and what failure they had to themselves, attributed what was upright to the people and what was askew to themselves. Therefore, if there was something wrong with the body of even a single being, they would retire and take the blame themselves.» — Bo Ju describe a los caballeros antiguos, que atribuían el éxito al pueblo y el fracaso a sí mismos.

«But that is not the way it is done today. They make things obscure and then blame people for not understanding;18 they enlarge the difficulties and then punish people for not being able to cope with them; they pile on responsibilities and then penalize people for not being able to fulfill them; they make the journey longer and then chastise people for not reaching the end of it.» — Bo Ju describe el proceder de hoy: oscurecer y culpar de no entender, agrandar la dificultad y castigar por no poder con ella.

«A lack of strength invites artifice; a lack of knowledge invites deceit; a lack of goods invites theft. But these thefts and robberies—who in fact deserves the blame for them?”» — Bo Ju encadena la falta de fuerza con el artificio, la de saber con el engaño y la de bienes con el robo, y pregunta quién merece la culpa de esos robos.

«Qu Boyu has been going along for sixty years and has changed sixty times. There was not a single instance in which what he called right in the beginning he did not, in the end, reject and call wrong. So now there’s no telling whether what he calls right at the moment is not, in fact, what he called wrong during the past fifty-nine years.» — el texto cuenta sesenta años y sesenta cambios de Qu Boyu, sin que una sola vez dejara de acabar rechazando lo que al principio llamó recto; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The ten thousand things have their life, yet no one sees its roots; they have their comings forth, yet no one sees the gate. Men all pay homage to what understanding understands, but no one understands enough to rely on what understanding does not understand and thereby come to understand. Can we call this anything but great perplexity? Let it be, let it be! There is no place you can escape it. This is what is called saying both “that is so” and “is that so?”» — el texto declara que nadie ve la raíz ni la puerta de las diez mil cosas, y nombra gran perplejidad al homenaje a lo que el entendimiento entiende.

«Bo Changqian said, “Duke Ling had three wives with whom he would bathe in the same tub. But when Shi Qiu appeared in his presence to offer a gift of cloth, the duke would accept it in person and respectfully attend Shi Qiu.21 He was so depraved as to bathe with his wives and yet so correct in his behavior before a worthy man—this is why he was titled Duke Ling.”» — el segundo historiógrafo explica el título del duque Ling por la mezcla de depravación con las esposas y corrección ante el hombre digno; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Xi Wei said, “When Duke Ling died, we divined to see if he should be buried in the family graveyard, but the omens were unfavorable. Then we divined to see if he should be buried at Sand Hill, and the omens were favorable. Digging down several fathoms, we found a stone coffin, and when we had washed and examined it, we discovered an inscription that said: ‘You cannot depend on your heirs—Duke Ling will seize this plot for his own burial.’22 So it appears that Duke Ling had already been titled Ling for a long long time. How could these two here know enough to understand this!”» — el tercer historiógrafo explica el título por la inscripción hallada bajo tierra, que ya daba el nombre al duque, y descarta las dos explicaciones anteriores.

«Pushing and dragging until he had it laid out in proper position, he took off his formal robes and covered it with them, wailing to Heaven and crying out, “Alas, alas! The world is in dire misfortune, and you have been quicker than the rest of us to encounter it. ‘Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not murder!’ they say. But when glory and disgrace have once been defined, you will see suffering; when goods and wealth have once been gathered together, you will see wrangling.» — Bo Ju cubre con su propia ropa el cadáver del ajusticiado y grita al Cielo que definir la gloria y la deshonra trae sufrimiento y juntar bienes trae pleito.

«To define something that brings suffering to men, to gather together what sets them to wrangling, inflicting misery and weariness on them, never granting them a time of rest, and yet to hope somehow that they will not end up like this—how could it be possible?» — Bo Ju pregunta cómo podría esperarse otra cosa de quien define lo que hace sufrir y junta lo que hace pelear.

«Great Impartial Accord said, “‘Community words’ refers to the combining of ten surnames and a hundred given names into a single social unit.23 Differences are combined into a sameness; samenesses are broken up into differences. Now we may point to each of the hundred parts of a horse’s body and never come up with a ‘horse’—yet here is the horse, tethered right before our eyes. So we take the hundred parts and set up the term ‘horse.’» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial define las palabras de la comunidad y lo ilustra con las cien partes del caballo, de las que ninguna es el caballo y con las que se monta el término; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«Thus it is that hills and mountains pile up one little layer on another to reach loftiness; the Yangtze and the Yellow River combine stream after stream to achieve magnitude; and the Great Man combines and brings together things to attain generality.24 Therefore, when things enter his mind from the outside, there is a host to receive them but not to cling to them; and when things come forth from his mind, there is a mark to guide them but not to constrain them.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial pone los montes que se apilan capa a capa y los ríos que juntan corriente tras corriente, y describe al Gran Hombre que recibe sin aferrar y guía sin constreñir; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The four seasons each differ in breath, but Heaven shows no partiality26 among them, and therefore the year comes to completion. The five government bureaus differ in function, but the ruler shows no partiality among them, and therefore the state is well ordered. In both civil and military affairs, the Great Man shows no partiality, and therefore his virtue is complete.27 The ten thousand things differ in principle, but the Way shows no partiality among them, and therefore they may achieve namelessness.28 Being nameless, they are without action; without action, yet there is nothing they do not do.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial encadena cuatro imparcialidades, la del Cielo con las estaciones, la del señor con los ministerios, la del Gran Hombre con lo civil y lo militar y la del Camino con las diez mil cosas; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«“The seasons have their end and beginning, the ages their changes and transformations. Bad fortune and good, tripping and tumbling, come now with what repels you, now with what you welcome. Set in your own opinion, at odds with others, now you judge things to be upright, now you judge them to be warped. But if you could only be like the great swamp, which finds accommodation for a hundred different timbers, or take your model from the great mountain, whose trees and rocks share a common groundwork! This is what is meant by the term ‘community words.’”» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial pone el gran pantano que acomoda cien maderos distintos y la montaña cuyos árboles y rocas comparten un mismo suelo frente al juicio empecinado.

«“Oh, no,” said Great Impartial Accord. “If we calculate the number of things that exist, the count certainly does not stop at ten thousand. Yet we set a limit and speak of the ‘ten thousand» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial niega que esos conceptos generales sean el Camino: el conteo de las cosas no se detiene en diez mil; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«things’—because we select a number that is large and agree to apply it to them. In the same way, heaven and earth are forms that are large, the yin and yang are breaths that are large, and the Way is the generality that embraces them.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el número es un acuerdo, y así el cielo y la tierra son formas grandes, el yin y el yang alientos grandes y el Camino la generalidad que los abraza; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«If from the point of view of largeness we agree to apply [the name ‘Way’] to it, then there will be no objection. But if, having established this name, we go on and try to compare it to the reality, then it will be like trying to compare a dog to a horse—the distance between them is impossibly far.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial acota el nombre: por su largueza no hay objeción, pero comparar el nombre con la realidad sería comparar un perro con un caballo; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«Great Impartial Accord said, “The yin and yang shine on each other, maim each other, heal each other; the four seasons succeed each other, give birth to each other, slaughter each other. Desire and hatred, rejection and acceptance, thereupon rise up in succession;30 the pairing of halves between male and female thereupon becomes a regular occurrence. Security and danger trade places with each other; bad and good fortune give birth to each other; tense times and relaxed ones buffet each other; gathering together and scattering bring it all to completion.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial describe la génesis de las cosas por pares que se alternan: el yin y el yang, las estaciones, la seguridad y el peligro, el juntarse y el dispersarse.

«But that which words can adequately describe, that which understanding can reach to, extends only as far as the level of ‘things,’ no further. The man who looks to the Way does not try to track down what has disappeared, does not try to trace the source of what springs up. This is the point at which debate comes to a stop.”» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial pone el límite de la palabra y del entendimiento en el nivel de las cosas, y declara que ahí se detiene el debate.

«But whether you say that ‘nothing does it’ or that ‘something makes it like this,’ you have not yet escaped from the realm of ‘things,’ and so in the end you fall into error. If ‘something makes it like this,’ then it is real; if ‘nothing does it,’ then it is unreal. When there are names and realities, you are in the presence of things. When there are no names and realities, you exist in the absence of things.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial iguala las dos tesis por no salir del reino de las cosas, y reparte lo real y lo irreal entre ellas; el tramo arranca en la plana 249.

«“Before they are born, things cannot decline to be born; already dead, they cannot refuse to go. Death and life are not far apart, though the principle that underlies them cannot be seen. ‘Nothing does it,’ ‘something makes it like this’—these are speculations born out of doubt. I look for the roots of the past, but they extend back and back without end. I search for the termination of the future, but it never stops coming at me.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial llama especulaciones nacidas de la duda a las dos tesis, y describe su propia busca de raíces y términos que no acaban.

«“The Way cannot be thought of as being, nor can it be thought of as nonbeing. In calling it the Way, we are only adopting a temporary expedient.» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial niega al Camino tanto el ser como el no ser y declara el nombre un expediente temporal.

«Great Impartial Accord said, “Chickens squawk, dogs bark— this is something men understand. But no matter how great their understanding, they cannot explain in words how the chicken and the dog have come to be what they are, nor can they imagine in» — Gran Acuerdo Imparcial pone el cacareo y el ladrido, que todos entienden y nadie sabe explicar cómo llegaron a ser; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la frase remata en la 249; el troceo deja un espacio tras la raya.

«to the Way. But if you talk in an unworthy manner, you can talk all day long, and all of it will pertain to mere things. The perfection of the Way and things—neither words nor silence is worthy of expressing it. Not to talk, not to be silent—this is the highest form of debate.”» — el capítulo vigesimoquinto cierra declarando que ni la palabra ni el silencio bastan para la perfección del Camino, y que no hablar y no callar es la forma más alta del debate; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«External things cannot be counted on. Hence Longfeng was executed, Bi Gan was sentenced to death, Prince Ji feigned madness, E Lai was killed, and Jie and Zhou were overthrown.1 There is no ruler who does not want his ministers to be loyal. But loyal ministers are not always trusted. Hence Wu Yun was thrown into the Yangzi, and Chang Hong died in Shu, where the people stored away his blood, and after three years it was transformed into green jade.2 There is no parent who does not want his son to be filial. But filial sons are not always loved. Hence Xiaoji grieved, and Zeng Shen sorrowed.» — abre *External Things* declarando que no se puede contar con las cosas externas, y lo prueba con los leales no creídos y los hijos piadosos no amados; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«When wood rubs against wood, flames spring up. When metal remains by the side of fire, it melts and flows away. When the yin and yang go awry, then heaven and earth see astounding sights. Then we hear the crash and roll of thunder, and fire comes in the midst of rain and burns up the great pagoda tree. Delight and sorrow are there to trap man on either side so that he has no escape. Fearful and trembling, he can reach no completion.» — el texto encadena la fricción de la madera, el metal junto al fuego y el yin y el yang descarriados, y pone el deleite y el dolor como trampa a ambos lados del hombre.

«Profit and loss rub against each other and light the countless fires that burn up the inner harmony of the mass of men. The moon cannot put out the fire, so that in time, all is consumed, and the Way comes to an end.» — el texto declara que la luna no puede apagar los fuegos que el provecho y la pérdida encienden, y que así se consume todo y el Camino acaba.

«Zhuang Zhou’s family was very poor, and so he went to borrow some grain from the marquis of Jianhe. The marquis said, “Why, of course. I’ll soon be getting the tribute money from my fief, and when I do, I’ll be glad to lend you three hundred pieces of gold. Will that be all right?”» — el marqués de Jianhe ofrece a Zhuang Zhou trescientas piezas de oro cuando le llegue el tributo, en vez del grano que pide.

«Zhuang Zhou flushed with anger and said, “As I was coming here yesterday, I heard someone calling me on the road. I turned around and saw that there was a perch in the carriage rut. I said to him, ‘Come, perch—what are you doing here?’» — Zhuang Zhou responde con la perca que lo llamó desde el surco del carro.

«I said to him, ‘Why, of course. I’m just about to start south to visit the kings of Wu and Yue. I’ll change the course of the West River and send it in your direction. Will that be all right?’ The perch flushed with anger and said, ‘I’ve lost my element! I have nowhere to go! If you can get me a dipper of water, I’ll be able to stay alive. But if you give me an answer like that, then you’d best look for me in the dried fish store!’”» — la perca rechaza la promesa de desviarle el Río del Oeste y pide un cazo de agua, o que lo busquen en la tienda de pescado seco; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Prince Ren made an enormous fishhook with a huge line, baited it with fifty bullocks, settled himself on top of Mount Kuaiji, and cast with his pole into the eastern sea. Morning after morning, he dropped the hook, but for a whole year he got nothing. At last a huge fish swallowed the bait and dived down, dragging the enormous hook. It plunged to the bottom in a fierce charge, rose up and shook its dorsal fins until the white waves were like mountains and the sea waters lashed and churned. The noise was like that of gods and demons, and it spread terror for a thousand li.» — el príncipe Ren pesca un año entero con cincuenta bueyes de carnada hasta que un pez enorme muerde y levanta olas como montañas.

«Now if you shoulder your pole and line, march to the ditches and gullies, and watch for minnows and perch, then you’ll have a hard time ever landing a big fish. If you parade your little theories and fish for the post of district magistrate, you will be far from the Great Understanding. So if a man has never heard of the style of Prince Ren, he’s a long way from being able to join with the men who run the world.» — el texto saca la moraleja del príncipe Ren: quien pesca en zanjas nunca sacará un pez grande, y quien pesca con teorías menudas el cargo de magistrado queda lejos del Gran Entendimiento.

«The Confucians rob graves in accordance with the Odes and ritual. The big Confucian announces to his underlings: “The east grows light! How is the matter proceeding?”» — el texto pone a los confucianos robando tumbas conforme a los Odes y al rito, con el confuciano grande dando la orden al alba.

«They push back his sidelocks, press down his beard, and then one of them pries into his chin with a little metal gimlet and gently pulls apart the jaws so as not to injure the pearl in his mouth.» — el texto describe cómo los confucianos abren la mandíbula del muerto con una lezna de metal para no dañar la perla; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Lao Laizi said, “Qiu, get rid of your proud bearing and that knowing look on your face, and you can become a gentleman!”» — Lao Laizi manda a Confucius deshacerse de su porte orgulloso y de su cara de sabio para poder ser un caballero.

«Lao Laizi said, “You can’t bear to watch the sufferings of one age, and so you go and make trouble for ten thousand ages to come!7 Are you just naturally a boor? Or don’t you have the sense to understand the situation? You take pride in practicing charity and making people happy8—the shame of it will follow you all your days! These are the actions, the ‘progress’ of mediocre men—men who pull one another around with fame, drag one another into secret schemes, join together to praise Yao and condemn Jie, when the best thing would be to forget them both and put a stop to praise!» — Lao Laizi reprocha a Confucius que por no soportar el sufrimiento de una edad haga problemas para diez mil, y llama mediocres a los que se arrastran unos a otros con la fama.

«The sage is hesitant and reluctant to begin an affair, and so he always ends in success. But what good are these actions of yours? They end in nothing but a boast!”» — Lao Laizi describe al sabio, vacilante en empezar un asunto y por eso siempre exitoso, frente a las acciones que acaban en jactancia.

«Lord Yuan of Song one night dreamed he saw a man with disheveled hair who peered in at the side door of his chamber and said, “I come from the Zailu Deeps. I was on my way as envoy from the Clear Yangzi to the court of the Lord of the Yellow River when a fisherman named Yu Ju caught me!”» — el señor Yuan sueña con el hombre despeinado que dice venir de los Abismos de Zailu y haber sido capturado por un pescador.

«The next day Yu Ju appeared at court, and the ruler said, “What kind of fish have you caught recently?” Yu Ju replied, “I caught a white turtle in my net. It’s five feet around.” “Present your turtle!” ordered the ruler. When the turtle was brought, the ruler could not decide whether to kill it or let it live, and being in doubt, he consulted his diviners, who replied, “Kill the turtle and divine with it—it will bring good luck.” Accordingly the turtle was stripped of its shell, and of seventy-two holes drilled in it for prognostication, not one failed to yield a true answer.» — el desenlace: la tortuga blanca es desollada y de los setenta y dos agujeros de adivinación ninguno deja de dar respuesta verdadera; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Confucius said, “The sacred turtle could appear to Lord Yuan in a dream, but it couldn’t escape from Yu Ju’s net. It knew enough to give correct answers to seventy-two queries, but it couldn’t escape the disaster of having its belly ripped open. So it is that knowledge has its limitations, and the sacred has that which it can do nothing about.» — Confucius saca el límite del saber de la tortuga sagrada: supo aparecer en sueños y responder setenta y dos consultas y no supo librarse de la red ni del cuchillo.

«Even the most perfect wisdom can be outwitted by ten thousand schemers. Fish do not [know enough to] fear a net but only to fear pelicans. Discard little wisdom, and great wisdom will become clear. Discard goodness, and goodness will come of itself. The little child learns to speak, though it has no learned teachers—because it lives with those who know how to speak.”» — Confucius manda descartar la sabiduría pequeña para que aclare la grande, y pone al niño que aprende a hablar sin maestros por vivir entre los que hablan; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«Huizi said to Zhuangzi, “Your words are useless!” Zhuangzi said, “A man has to understand the useless before you can talk to him about the useful. The earth is certainly vast and broad, though a man uses no more of it than the area he puts his feet on. If, however, you were to dig away all the earth from around his feet until you reached the Yellow Springs,11 then would the man still be able to make use of it?” “No, it would be useless,” said Huizi. “It is obvious, then,” said Zhuangzi, “that the useless has its use.”» — Zhuangzi responde a Huizi con la tierra excavada alrededor de los pies hasta los Manantiales Amarillos, y concluye que lo inútil tiene su uso.

«“To admire antiquity and despise the present—this is the fashion of scholars. And if one is to look at the present age after the fashion of Xiwei, then who can be without prejudice?12 Only the Perfect Man can wander in the world without taking sides, can follow along with men without losing himself. His teachings are not to be learned, and one who understands his meaning has no need for him.» — Zhuangzi llama moda de letrados admirar la antigüedad y despreciar el presente, y declara que quien entiende el sentido del Hombre Perfecto ya no lo necesita; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“The eye that is penetrating sees clearly, the ear that is penetrating hears clearly, the nose that is penetrating distinguishes odors, the mouth that is penetrating distinguishes flavors, the mind that is penetrating has understanding, and the understanding that is penetrating has virtue. In all things, the Way does not want to be obstructed, for if there is obstruction, there is choking; if the choking does not cease, there is disorder; and disorder harms the life of all creatures.» — Zhuangzi encadena los seis órganos penetrantes hasta la virtud, y declara que el Camino no quiere obstrucción porque de ella vienen el ahogo y el desorden.

«“All things that have consciousness depend on breath. But if they do not get their fill of breath, it is not the fault of Heaven. Heaven opens up the passages and supplies them day and night without stop. But man, on the contrary, blocks up the holes. The cavity of the body is a many-storied vault; the mind has its Heavenly wanderings. But if the chambers are not large and roomy, then the wife and mother-in-law will fall to quarreling. If the mind does not have its Heavenly wanderings, then the six apertures of sensation will defeat one another.» — Zhuangzi declara que todo lo consciente depende del aliento, que el Cielo abre los pasajes sin parar y el hombre tapa los agujeros, con la imagen de la bóveda del cuerpo y de la suegra y la nuera riñendo en cuartos estrechos.

«Zhuangzi said, “If you have the capacity to wander, how can you keep from wandering? But if you do not have the capacity to» — Zhuangzi plantea la disyuntiva del vagar por la capacidad de vagar; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«“The great forests, the hills and mountains, excel man in the fact that their growth is irrepressible. [In man,] virtue spills over into a concern for fame, and a concern for fame spills over into a love of show. Schemes are laid in time of crisis; wisdom is born from contention; obstinacy comes from sticking to a position; government affairs are arranged for the convenience of the mob.» — Zhuangzi opone el crecer irreprimible de los bosques al hombre, en quien la virtud desborda en afán de fama y la fama en amor a la ostentación; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«“Stillness and silence can benefit the ailing, massage can give relief to the aged, and rest and quiet can put a stop to agitation. But these are remedies that the troubled and weary man has recourse to. The man who is at ease does not need them and has never bothered to ask about them.» — Zhuangzi enumera tres remedios y los acota: son de quien está atribulado, y el que está a sus anchas no los necesita ni ha preguntado nunca por ellos; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The Holy Man does not bother to ask what methods the sage uses to reform the world. The sage does not bother to ask what methods the worthy man uses to reform the age. The worthy man does not bother to ask what methods the gentleman uses to reform the state. The gentleman does not bother to ask what methods the petty man uses to get along with the times.» — Zhuangzi encadena la cadena de los que no preguntan por los métodos del de abajo, del Hombre Santo al caballero.

«“There was a man of Yan Gate who, on the death of his parents, won praise by starving and disfiguring himself and was rewarded with the post of Official Teacher. The other people of the village likewise starved and disfigured themselves, and more than half of them died.» — Zhuangzi cuenta al hombre de la Puerta Yan que ganó puesto de maestro por matarse de hambre en el duelo, y a los vecinos que lo imitaron y murieron más de la mitad.

«“The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you’ve gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?”» — el capítulo vigesimosexto cierra con la nasa, el lazo y las palabras, que existen por el pez, el conejo y el sentido y se olvidan una vez obtenidos estos, y con la pregunta por el hombre que ha olvidado las palabras.

«Imputed words make up nine-tenths of it; repeated words make up seven-tenths of it; goblet words come forth day after day, harmonizing things in the Heavenly Equality.» — abre *Imputed Words* con la proporción de los tres recursos, las palabras imputadas, las repetidas y las de copa, que armonizan las cosas en la Igualdad Celeste.

«These imputed words that make up nine-tenths of it are like persons brought in from outside for the purpose of exposition. A father does not act as go-between for his own son because the praises of the father would not be as effective as the praises of an outsider. It is the fault of other men, not mine, [that I must resort to such a device, for if I were to speak in my own words], then men would respond only to what agrees with their own views and reject what does not, would pronounce “right” what agrees with their own views and “wrong” what does not.» — el texto explica las palabras imputadas con el padre que no hace de casamentero de su hijo, porque su elogio vale menos que el de un extraño; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«These repeated words that make up seven-tenths of it are intended to put an end to argument. They can do this because they are the words of the elders. If, however, one is ahead of others in age but does not have a grasp of the warp and woof, the root and branch of things, that is commensurate with his years, then he is not really ahead of others. An old man who is not in some way ahead of others has not grasped the Way of man, and if he has not grasped the Way of man, he deserves to be looked on as a mere stale remnant of the past.» — el texto explica las palabras repetidas por la autoridad de los ancianos, y acota que el viejo que no lleva ventaja en el entendimiento es solo un resto rancio del pasado.

«With these goblet words that come forth day after day, I harmonize all things in the Heavenly Equality, leave them to their endless changes, and so live out my years. As long as I do not say anything about them, they are a unity. But the unity and what I say about it have ceased to be a unity; what I say and the unity have ceased to be a unity.» — el texto explica las palabras de copa y pone el límite: mientras no se diga nada de las cosas son una unidad, y la unidad y lo dicho de ella ya han dejado de serlo.

«Therefore I say, we must have no-words! With words that are no-words, you may speak all your life long, and you will never have said anything. Or you may go through your whole life without speaking them, in which case you will never have stopped speaking.» — el texto formula las no palabras, con las que se puede hablar toda la vida sin decir nada o callar toda la vida sin dejar de hablar.

«There is that which makes things acceptable; there is that which makes things unacceptable; there is that which makes things so; there is that which makes things not so. What makes them so? Making them so makes them so. What makes them not so? Making them not so makes them not so. What makes them acceptable? Making them acceptable makes them acceptable. What makes them not acceptable? Making them not acceptable makes them not acceptable. Things all must have that which is so; things all must have that which is acceptable. There is nothing that is not so, nothing that is not acceptable.» — el capítulo repite la fórmula del capítulo segundo sobre lo que hace así a las cosas, con otra entrada; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«If there were no goblet words coming forth day after day to harmonize all by the Heavenly Equality, then how could I survive for long?» — el texto declara que sin las palabras de copa que armonizan por la Igualdad Celeste no sobreviviría mucho.

«The ten thousand things all come from the same seed, and with their different forms they give place to one another. Beginning and end are part of a single ring, and no one can comprehend its principle. This is called Heaven the Equalizer, which is the same as the Heavenly Equality.» — el texto declara que las diez mil cosas vienen de una misma semilla y se ceden el sitio con formas distintas, y nombra Cielo Igualador al anillo del comienzo y el fin.

«Zhuangzi said to Huizi, “Confucius has been going along for sixty years, and he has changed sixty times. What at the beginning he used to call right he has ended up calling wrong. So now there’s no telling whether what he calls right at the moment is not, in fact, what he called wrong during the past fifty-nine years.”» — Zhuangzi aplica a Confucius los sesenta años y los sesenta cambios que el capítulo vigesimoquinto adjudicaba a Qu Boyu, y Watson lo consigna en nota.

«“Oh, no—Confucius has given all that up,” said Zhuangzi. “It’s just that he never talks about it. Confucius said, ‘We receive our talents from the Great Source, and with the spirit hidden within us,5 we live.’ [As for you, you] sing on key, you talk by the rules, you line up ‘profit’ and ‘righteousness’ before us, but your ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes,’ your ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs,’ are merely something that command lip service from others, that’s all. If you could make men pay service with their minds and never dare stand up in defiance—this would settle things for the world so they would stay settled. But let it be, let it be! As for me, what hope have I of ever catching up with Confucius?”» — Zhuangzi niega que Confucius siga haciendo servir el conocimiento, le atribuye la sentencia de recibir los talentos de la Gran Fuente y reprocha a Huizi que solo consiga servicio de labios; los corchetes son añadidura del traductor.

«“But he was already entangled! If he hadn’t been entangled, how could he have had any cause for sorrow? He would have regarded three fu or three thousand zhong as so many sparrows or mosquitoes passing in front of him!”» — Confucius declara ya enredado a Zeng Shen, porque sin enredo no habría tenido causa de tristeza y habría visto los dos salarios como gorriones o mosquitos que pasan; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Yan Cheng Ziyou said to Ziqi of East Wall, “When I began listening to your words, the first year I was a bumpkin; the second I followed along; the third I worked into it; the fourth I was just another thing; the fifth it began to come; the sixth the spirits descended to me; the seventh the Heavenly part was complete; the eighth I didn’t understand death and didn’t understand life; and with the ninth I reached the Great Mystery.» — Yan Cheng Ziyou cuenta los nueve años de su escucha, del primero de patán al noveno del Gran Misterio, pasando por el sexto en que los espíritus descendieron.

«Penumbra said to Shadow, “A little while ago you were looking down, and now you’re looking up; a little while ago your hair was bound up, and now it’s hanging loose; a little while ago you were sitting, and now you’re standing up; a little while ago you were walking, and now you’re still—why is this?”» — el capítulo repite la escena de la Penumbra y la Sombra del capítulo segundo con otro arranque, esta vez por el mirar y el pelo suelto.

«Yang Ziju went south to Pei, and when he got to Liang, he went out to the edge of the city to greet Lao Dan, who had been traveling west to Qin, and escort him in. Laozi stood in the middle of the road, looked up to heaven, and sighed, saying, “At first I thought that you could be taught, but now I see it’s hopeless!”» — Laozi se planta en medio del camino, mira al cielo y declara sin remedio a Yang Ziju; el tramo arranca en la plana 263.

«Laozi said, “High and mighty, proud and haughty—who could stand to live with you!10 The greatest purity looks like shame; abundant virtue seems to be insufficient.”» — Laozi nombra la falta de Yang Ziju y le opone la pureza que parece vergüenza y la virtud abundante que parece insuficiencia.

«When Yang Ziju first arrived at the inn, the people in the inn came out to greet him. The innkeeper stood ready with a mat, his wife with towel and comb, while the other guests moved politely off their mats, and those who had been warming themselves at the stove stepped aside. But when Yang returned from his interview with Laozi, the people at the inn tried to push him right off his own mat.» — el capítulo vigesimoséptimo cierra con la posada, donde a Yang Ziju lo agasajaban antes de la entrevista y después le disputaban su propia estera.

«Zengzi twice held office, each time with a change of heart.6 “The first time, when I was taking care of my parents, I received a salary of only three fu of grain, and yet my heart was happy,” he» — Zengzi cuenta su primer empleo, con tres fu de grano y padres que cuidar y el corazón alegre; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y el segundo empleo sigue en la 262.

«said. “The second time I received a salary of three thousand zhong, but I no longer had them to take care of, and my heart was sad.”» — el segundo empleo, ya en la plana siguiente: tres mil zhong y sin padres a quienes cuidar, y el corazón triste; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«“When the living start doing things, they are dead. When they strive for public causes because private ones mean death, they are following a path. But what lives in the light is following no path at all.7» — el texto declara muertos a los vivos que empiezan a hacer cosas y sin senda a lo que vive en la luz.

«Heaven has its cycles and numbers, earth its flats and slopes8—yet why should I seek to comprehend them? No one knows when they will end—how then can we say that they are fated to die? No one knows when they began—how then can we say that they are not fated to die? There seems to be something that responds—how then can we say there are no spirits? There seems to be something that does not respond—how then can we say that spirits do exist?”» — el texto encadena preguntas sobre lo que nadie sabe, si están destinadas a morir las cosas y si hay o no espíritus, y deja las dos sin cerrar.

«Shadow said, “Quibble, quibble! Why bother asking about such things? I do them, but I don’t know why. I’m the shell of the cicada, the skin of the snake—something that seems to be but» — la Sombra se llama a sí misma cáscara de cigarra y piel de serpiente, algo que parece ser; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana.

«isn’t. In firelight or sunlight, I draw together; in darkness or night, I disappear. But do you suppose I have to wait around for those things? (And how much less so in the case of that which waits for nothing!) If those things come, then I come with them; if they go, then I go with them; if they come with the Powerful Yang, then I come with the Powerful Yang. But this Powerful Yang—why ask questions about it?”» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: la Sombra declara que va y viene con lo que la hace ir y venir, y deja sin preguntar por el Yang Poderoso; los paréntesis son del traductor y el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Yao wanted to cede the empire to Xu You, but Xu You refused to accept it.1 Then he tried to give it to Zichou Zhifu. Zichou Zhifu said, “Make me the Son of Heaven?—that would be all right, I suppose. But I happen to have a deep-seated and worrisome illness that I am just now trying to put in order. So I have no time to put the empire in order.”» — abre *Giving Away a Throne* con la cesión que Zichou Zhifu rechaza alegando una enfermedad que aún trata de poner en orden; el capítulo primero ya traía la cesión de Yao a Xu You con otras palabras; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The empire is a thing of supreme importance, yet he would not allow it to harm his life. How much less, then, any other thing! Only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it.» — el texto saca la regla: solo aquel que no tiene uso para el imperio es apto para que se le confíe.

«Shun tried to cede the empire to Shan Quan, but Shan Quan said, “I stand in the midst of space and time. Winter days, I dress in skins and furs; summer days, in vine cloth and hemp. In spring, I plow and plant—this gives my body the labor and exercise it needs; in fall, I harvest and store away—this gives my form the leisure and sustenance it needs. When the sun comes up, I work; when the sun goes down, I rest. I wander free and easy between heaven and earth, and my mind has found all that it could wish for. What use would I have for the empire? What a pity that you don’t understand me!”» — Shan Quan describe su año entero, pieles en invierno y cáñamo en verano, arar en primavera y almacenar en otoño, y declara no tener uso para el imperio.

«The Great King Danfu may be said to have known how to respect life. He who knows how to respect life, though he may be rich and honored, will not allow the means of nourishing life to injure his person. Though he may be poor and humble, he will not allow concerns of profit to entangle his body.» — el texto declara que Danfu supo respetar la vida y define ese respeto por los dos lados, el del rico y el del pobre.

«The men of the present age, if they occupy high office and are honored with titles, all think only of how serious a matter it would be to lose them. Eyes fixed on profit, they make light of the risk to their lives. Are they not deluded indeed?» — el texto describe a los hombres de hoy, que con los ojos fijos en el provecho toman a la ligera el riesgo de sus vidas.

«The men of Yue three times in succession assassinated their ruler. Prince Sou, fearful for his life, fled to the Cinnabar Cave, and the state of Yue was left without a ruler. The men of Yue, searching for Prince Sou and failing to find him, trailed him to the Cinnabar Cave, but he refused to come forth. They smoked him out with mugwort and placed him in the royal carriage. As Prince Sou took hold of the strap and pulled himself up into the carriage, he turned his face to heaven and cried, “To be a ruler! A ruler! Could I alone not have been spared this?”» — el príncipe Sou huye a la Cueva del Cinabrio, lo sacan con humo de artemisa y llora al subir al carro por no haberse librado de ser rey.

«Master Huazi said, “Suppose the men of the empire were to draw up a written agreement and place it before you, and the inscription read: ‘Seize this with your left hand and you will lose your right hand; seize it with your right hand and you will lose your left; yet he who seizes this will invariably gain possession of the empire.’ Would you be willing to seize it?”» — Huazi plantea al marqués el contrato que da el imperio a cambio de una mano.

«“Very good!” exclaimed Master Huazi. “From this I can see that your two hands are more important to you than the empire. And of course, your body as a whole is a great deal more important than your two hands, while the state of Han is a great deal less important than the empire as a whole. Moreover, this piece of territory that you are fighting over is a great deal less important than the state of Han as a whole. And yet you make yourself miserable and endanger your life, worrying and fretting because you can’t get possession of it!”» — Huazi escala la comparación de las manos al cuerpo, del cuerpo al Estado y del Estado al pedazo de territorio en disputa.

«Shun wanted to cede the empire to his friend, the farmer of Stone Door. The farmer of Stone Door said, “Such vigor and vitality you» — el labrador de la Puerta de Piedra mide la virtud de Shun por su vigor; el tramo se corta en el cambio de plana y la huida sigue en la 266.

«have, my lord! You are a gentleman of perseverance and strength!” Then, surmising that Shun’s virtue would hardly amount to very much, he lifted his wife on his back, took his son by the hand, and disappeared among the islands of the sea, never to return to the end of his days.» — la continuación, ya en la plana siguiente: el labrador se marcha con mujer e hijo a las islas para no volver; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«When the Great King Danfu was living in Bin, the Di tribes attacked his territory.2 He offered them skins and silks, but they refused them; he offered them dogs and horses, but they refused them; he offered them pearls and jades, but they refused them. What the men of the Di tribes were after was his land.» — el gran rey Danfu ofrece pieles, perros y jades a los Di, que los rechazan porque lo que quieren es su tierra; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana; el dígito pegado a la palabra es la llamada a la nota de Watson, impresa así por la fuente, y no un cosido: el tramo se releyó entero en el crudo.

«The Great King Danfu said, “To live among the older brothers and send the younger brothers to their death; to live among the fathers and send the sons to their death—this I cannot bear! My people, be diligent and remain where you are. What difference does it make whether you are subjects of mine or of the men of Di? I have heard it said, one must not injure that which he is nourishing for the sake of that by which he nourishes it.”» — Danfu entrega su tierra antes que mandar a morir a los hijos y a los hermanos menores, y cita el dicho de no dañar lo que se nutre por causa de aquello con que se nutre.

«hated the perils that go with being a ruler. Prince Sou, we may say, was the kind who would not allow the state to bring injury to his life. This, in fact, was precisely why the people of Yue wanted to obtain him for their ruler.» — el texto acota el llanto del príncipe Sou: no odiaba ser rey sino los peligros que van con serlo, y por eso mismo lo querían de rey; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«Hence it is said, The Truth of the Way lies in looking out for oneself; its fringes and leftovers consist in managing the state and its great families; its offal and weeds consist in governing the empire.» — el texto reparte por grados: la Verdad del Camino está en mirar por uno mismo, sus flecos en gobernar el Estado y sus desperdicios en gobernar el imperio; el tramo arranca tras el marcador de plana.

«The accomplishments of emperors and kings are superfluous affairs as far as the sage is concerned, not the means by which to keep the body whole and to care for life. Yet how many gentlemen of the vulgar world today endanger themselves and throw away their lives in the pursuit of mere things! How can you help pitying them?» — el texto declara superfluos los logros de emperadores y reyes para el sabio y compadece a los que arriesgan la vida por meras cosas.