"Whither bound?" cried the latter.
"I am going to the ocean," replied Chun Mang.
"What are you going to do there?" asked Yüan Fêng.
"The ocean," said Chun Mang, "is a thing you cannot fill by pouring in, nor empty by taking out. I am simply on a trip."
You cannot do anything to the infinite.
"But surely you have intentions with regard to the straight-browed people?... Come, tell me how the Sage governs."
The straight-browed, lit. horizontal-eyed, people, are said by one commentator to have been "savages."
"Oh, the government of the Sage," answered Chun Mang. "The officials confine themselves to their functions. Ability is secure of employment. The voice of the people is heard, and action is taken accordingly. Men's words and deeds are their own affairs, and so the empire is at peace. A beck or a call, and the people flock together from all sides. This is how the Sage governs."
"Tell me about the man of perfect virtue," said Yüan Fêng.
"The man of perfect virtue," replied Chun Mang, "in repose has no thoughts, in action no anxiety. He recognises no right, nor wrong, nor good, nor bad. Within the Four Seas, when all profit—that is his pleasure; when all share—that is his repose. Men cling to him as children who have lost their mothers; they rally round him as wayfarers who have missed their road. He has wealth and to spare, but he knows not whence it comes. He has food and drink more than sufficient, but knows not who provides it. Such is a man of virtue."