To maintain a proper harmony

The union of parts

Must not be considered redundance,

Nor their divergence superfluity;

What is long

Must not be considered too long,

Nor what is short too short.

A duck's legs, for instance, are short,

But if we try to lengthen them,

It occasions pain;

And a crane's legs are long,

But if we try to cut off a portion,

It produces grief.

Where a part is by nature long,

We are not to amputate

Or where it is by nature short,

We are not to lengthen it.

There is no occasion to try to remove

Any trouble that it may cause.

The presumption is that

A harmonious state

Is not constituents of humanity;

For to how much anxiety

Does the exercise of it give rise!