It seems to be that he who too much obliges

Is involved in many troubles, and he

Who is owned by men suffers from distress.

Hence the sagely minded men

Neither own others, nor be owned by them.

I wish to remove your trouble and

Take away your distress, and it is only

To be done by inducing you to enjoy yourself

With the ways of Mother Nature which run

Beyond the human paradoxes and conflicts.

Try to figure it out for yourself. For example,

If a man is crossing a stream in a boat,

And another empty vessel suddenly comes

Into collision with it, even though he is a man

Of a choleric temper, he will not be angry with it.

But if there be a person, however, in that boat,

He will bawl out to him to haul out of the way.

If his shout be not heard, he will repeat it,

And if the other do not then hear, he will call out

A third time and again, following up the shout

With abusive terms and offensive meanings. . .

But now he is; formerly he saw the boat was empty,

But now there is a person in it. Though in both cases

The collision objectively takes place, in the latter case

The subjective human factor prevails in the occurrence.

Don't you think our subject lays himself open to trouble?