Someone said to me, "As is well-known,

Long life, riches and many heirs are what

All men wish for. How is it that you alone

Do not wish for them?" I replied,

"Many heirs may bring many fears,

Riches bring a lot of troubles. As to long life,

It gives rise to many obloquies.

Since these three things do not help

To nourish virtue, I just decline them."

The other rejoined, "At first I considered you

To be a sagely minded man, now I see in you

Only a scheming brain. Heaven, in producing men,

Is sure to appoint for them their several offices.

What would you have to fear? If you had riches

And made other people share them with you,

Tell me, what trouble would you have then?

"The sage is he who finds his dwelling like the quail,

Without any choice of his own; and he is fed

Like the fledgling; he is like the bird which passes on

Through the air and leaves no trace of its flight.

When good order prevails in the world

He shares in the general prosperity;

When there is no such order, he cultivates his virtues

And seeks to be unoccupied. After long years,

Tired of the world, he simply leaves it

And ascends the Pure Land to dwell among immortals.

The three forms of evil do not reach him,

His person is always free from ill fortune --

What obloquy has he to incur?"