53.—Makanu tané wa haënu.
Nothing will grow, if the seed be not sown.[[45]]
[45] Do not expect harvest, unless you sow the seed. Without earnest effort no merit can be gained.
54.—Matéba, kanrō no hiyori.
If you wait, ambrosial weather will come.[[46]]
[46] Kanrō, the sweet dew of Heaven, or amrita. All good things come to him who waits.
55.—Meidō no michi ni Ō wa nashi.
There is no King on the Road of Death.[[47]]
[47] Literally, “on the Road of Meidō.” The Meidō is the Japanese Hades,—the dark under-world to which all the dead must journey.
56.—Mekura hebi ni ojizu.
The blind man does not fear the snake.[[48]]
[48] The ignorant and the vicious, not understanding the law of cause-and-effect, do not fear the certain results of their folly.
57.—Mitsuréba, hakuru.
Having waxed, wanes.[[49]]
[49] No sooner has the moon waxed full than it begins to wane. So the height of prosperity is also the beginning of fortunes decline.