When the sun and moon have come forth,

If illumination have not been put out,

Would it not be difficult for them

To send down their light equally to all?

When the seasonal rains are coming down,

If we still keep watering the ground,

Would not our toil be labour lost

For all the good it will do?

Taking a position of responsibility,

Shall we not be doing so for the sake

Of the name? But the name

Is but the guest of the reality;

Shall we be playing the part

Of the guest instead that of host?

The tailor-bird makes its nest in the thicket,

But only uses a single twig;

The mole drinks from the great volume

Of the groundwaters, but only takes

What fills its stomach, and that's it.

When the chief cook is not attending

To his kitchen, the scullions do not

Leave their pots and stands to take his place.

He who has not planted himself

Deeply enough in the right position,

Has no chance to get on in life,

As his place in the world will indeed

Become indifferent to him,

Preventing him from succeeding

According to the law of equality.