Chapter 814: 504 chapters, the sunshine hidden in the petals

504 chapters, the sunshine hidden in the petals

5o4 chapters, the sunshine hidden in the petals

――――a red apricot branch reaching over the wall

How could the Son of Heaven's sword be hidden in an ant's eyes? Is Zhuangzi just talking nonsense?

"Am I talking nonsense?" Zhuangzi seemed to perceive the doubts in the hearts of King Zhao and his ministers and swordsmen, saying: "This is what my teacher told me."

"Who is your teacher?"

"My teacher is none other than the renowned Laozi—also known as Lao Dan."

Ah, it turns out this brat Zhuangzi is still a disciple of Lao Dan. No wonder he speaks so fluently and yet makes people feel obscure and hard to understand. Indeed, his teacher's speech is just as fluent and obscure, heavenly one sentence, earthly the next—leaving one unable to grasp the details. Truly, like teacher, like student.

King Zhao said: "You brat, don't try to slick-talk in front of me. I understand a bit of the grand words your teacher Laozi speaks. What did he say in the Classic of the Way and Virtue? 'All under heaven know that taking something as beautiful makes it ugly... All know that taking something as good makes it not good... Therefore, being and non-being produce each other; difficult and easy complete each other; long and short contrast each other; high and low lean towards each other; sound and voice harmonize with each other; front and back follow each other. Thus the sage manages affairs without action and teaches without words. All things arise and he does not depart from them; he gives life but does not possess; he acts but does not rely on; he achieves success but does not dwell. Because he does not dwell, he does not leave.'"

Your teacher's words—who could understand them? They're all chaotic, moldy, ancient nonsense. I don't see a single sentence mentioning the Son of Heaven's sword. Are you, Zhuangzi brat, trying to deceive this king?

"Your Majesty, who would dare to deceive you? You are the King of Zhao, possessing a state of ten thousand chariots, and within a thousand miles, all the people hold you in reverent respect. You hold the life-and-death register of millions of people in your hand."

You say my teacher's words are chaotic nonsense, but in fact they are exactly a true reflection of your state of mind.

My teacher always speaks to anyone with a calm and peaceful demeanor; he has never been disorderly.

The first day I studied under my teacher, he told me: "All great things in this world are hidden within small things."

My teacher said you look at the sun in the sky—it is the greatest, yet it hides its brilliance in petals, in the leaves of small grass.

In this world, who can say what is greatest and what is smallest? For example, when you write an article, punctuation marks are the tiniest, most inconspicuous; you must never slight those tiny punctuation marks. Even the finest article, if stripped of punctuation, who could read it? Therefore, my friend Weiyun, who studies punctuation, says——

For a young person, it is necessary to cultivate the good habit of using punctuation marks in a standardized way.

For example, if you are the king of the state of Zhao, within Zhao you are the greatest. Yet your greatness is protected by countless multitudes of the smallest; you are hidden among countless common folk; if you were to leave those common folk, you would cease to exist.

You see, the ant isn't the smallest creature, is it? You must not despise it for its smallness; it can cause a thousand-mile dike to burst, and it can make Mount Tai shift.

You say the Son of Heaven's sword isn't hidden in the ant's eyes—where then is it hidden? As the King of Zhao, your every move is watched by the populace, as numerous as ants—don't you see them clearly?

You demand that your people have love, filial piety, fraternal duty, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, fidelity, chastity, integrity and other noble virtues, yet you, King Zhao, spend all day with a bunch of unkempt and dirty-faced swordsmen, neglecting state affairs, practicing swordplay in the palace; the Zhao populace, as numerous as ants, have long seen this. You say the Son of Heaven's sword is not hidden in the ant's eyes—where then is it hidden?

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(Heart with the disaster area, feeling with the disaster area: may peace, courage, confidence, and strength accompany and be with the people of the disaster area!)