折疑論 5.86

5.86

He straightened the tilting vessel. (Confucius visited the ancestral temple of Duke Huan of Lu, where there was a tilting vessel. He asked the temple keeper, "What is this vessel called?" He replied, "This is a vessel placed beside the seat." The Master said, "I have heard that the vessel placed beside the seat tilts when empty, stands upright when moderately full, and overturns when completely full. The sages took it as utmost sincerity, and therefore always placed it beside their seats." Turning to his disciples, he said, "Try pouring water into it." They poured it, and indeed it stood upright when moderately full and overturned when completely full. The Master sighed and said, "Alas, how could anything be completely full and not overturn?" Zilu stepped forward and said, "May I venture to ask if there is a way to maintain fullness?" The Master said: "One who possesses intelligence and sage wisdom preserves it with foolishness; one whose merits cover the realm preserves them with deference; one whose courage and strength shake the age preserves them with timidity; one whose wealth encompasses the four seas preserves it with caution. This is what is meant by the way of diminishing and yet diminishing it.")