53

"If I know a little of anything, When I travel on the main road, What I fear most is going astray. The main road is flat and smooth, Yet some people prefer the by-paths. Their palaces are spotlessly clean, Their fields lie in waste, Their barns quite empty. They wear embroidered satin, Carry all-penetrating swords, Indulge in food and drink, Luxuriate in wealth and goods. That is dao the bandit chief, Not Dao the Main Road."