20

"Cut off learning and there will be nothing more to worry about. How much difference is there really between a polite “yes” and an emphatic “no!”? How much difference is there between what is deemed beautiful and ugly? Those whom people fear Cannot but also fear others. So indefinite! Does this humbuggery ever come to an end! Most people are happy, happy, As though feasting at the Tailao banquet Or climbing some sightseeing tower in the springtime. I alone am so impassive, revealing nothing at all, Like a babe that has yet to smile; So listless, as though nowhere to go. Most people have more than enough, While I alone have lost out. I have the heart-and-mind of a fool—so vacant and dull! The common lot see things so clearly, While I alone seem to be in the dark. The common lot are so discriminating, While I alone am so obtuse. So vague and hazy, like the rolling seas; So indeterminate, as though virtually endless. The common lot all have their purposes While I alone am a dull-witted yokel. My needs alone are different from other people, Cherishing my mother’s milk."