55
ONE who is steeped in Virtue is akin to the
new-born
babe.
Wasps and poisonous serpents do not sting it,
Nor fierce
beasts seise it,
Nor birds of prey maul it.
Its bones are tender,
its sinews soft,
But its grip is firm.
It has not known the union of
the male and the female,
Growing in its wholeness, and keeping its
vitality in its
perfect integrity.
It howls and screams all
day long without getting hoarse,
Because it embodies perfect harmony.
To know harmony is to know the Changeless.
To know the Changeless is
to have insight.
To hasten the growth of life is ominous.
To control the breath by
the will is to overstrain it.
To be overgrown is to decay.
All this
is against Tao,
And whatever is against Tao soon ceases to be.
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