"In Tao alone," said Hua Tzŭ.
When Hui Tzŭ heard this, he introduced Tai Chin Jen to the prince.
- A Sage of the Liang State. For Hui Tzŭ, see p. 8.
"There is a creature called a snail," said Tai Chin Jen. "Does your Highness know what I mean? "
"I do," replied the prince.
"There is a kingdom on its left horn," continued Tai Chin Jen, "ruled over by Aggression, and another on its right horn, ruled over by Violence. These two rulers are constantly fighting for territory. In such cases, corpses lie about by thousands, and one party will pursue the other for fifteen days before returning."
"Whew!" cried the prince. "Surely you are joking."
"Sire," replied Tai Chin Jen, "I beg you to regard it as fact. Does your Highness recognise any limit to space? "
"None," said the prince, "It is boundless."
"When, therefore," continued Tai Chin Jen, "the mind descends from the contemplation of boundless space to the contemplation of a kingdom with fixed boundaries, that kingdom must seem to be of dimensions infinitesimally small?"
"Of course," replied the prince.
"Well then," said Tai Chin Jen, "in a kingdom with fixed boundaries
- Meaning the then empire of the Chous.
