ABSTRACT
Lie Yukou1 was on his way to Qi but came back when he was only halfway there. He came upon Bohun Maoren who asked, “Why have you come back?”
“I was frightened.” “What frightened you?” “I went into ten soup shops on the way and in five of them I was
served soup free of charge.” “But why did that frighten you?” Liezi replied, “Even when the inward true nature is not clearly mani-
fested, the body betrays it, giving an outward shine. This outward shine overwhelms men’s minds, making them, on slim evidence, treat you as noble or venerable. From this, afflictions will arise. Now, vendors of soup serve up soup as their work and, however much they sell, they make only a little profit and their power is meagre. Yet they treated me thus-how much more then would the lord of ten thousand chariots do so!2 His body exhausted by the rule of his state, and his knowledge stretched to the limit by its administration, he would encumber me with the affairs of the state and require me to carry them out successfully. That is what frightened me.”
