6:08

意而子見許由，許由曰：「堯何以資汝？」

意而子曰：「堯謂我：『汝必躬服仁義，而明言是非。』」

許由曰：「而奚為來軹？夫堯既已黥汝以仁義，而劓汝以是非矣，汝將何以遊夫遙蕩、恣睢、轉徙之途乎？」

意而子曰：「雖然，吾願遊於其藩。」

許由曰：「不然。夫盲者無以與乎眉目顏色之好，瞽者無以與乎青黃黼黻之觀。」

意而子曰：「夫無莊之失其美，據梁之失其力，黃帝之亡其知，皆在鑪捶之間耳。庸詎知夫造物者之不息我黥而補我劓，使我乘成以隨先生邪？」

許由曰：「噫！未可知也。我為汝言其大略。吾師乎！吾師乎！齏萬物而不為義，澤及萬世而不為仁，長於上古而不為老，覆載天地、刻彫眾形而不為巧。此所遊已。」

[a] 故聖人之用兵也，亡國而不失人心；利澤施於萬物，不為愛人。故樂通物，非聖人也；有親，非仁也；天時，非賢也；利害不通，非君子也；行名失己，非士也；亡身不真，非役人也。若狐不偕、務光、伯夷、叔齊、箕子胥餘、紀他、申徒狄，是役人之役，適人之適，而不自適其適者也。

The Thinker went to see Xu You. Xu You asked him, “How has Emperor Yao rewarded you?”

The Thinker said, “Yao told me, ‘You must submit to kindness and morality to speak clearly about right and wrong.’”

Xu You said, “So what did you come here for? Yao’s already tattooed your face with benevolence and righteousness and snipped off your nose with right and wrong. How can you expect to wander distant, unrestrained, rolling paths?”

The Thinker said, “But still, I’d like to wander along the edge.”

Xu You said, “It’s not like that. The blind cannot appreciate the loveliness of faces or gorgeous tapestries.” 

The Thinker said, “But Nomakeup lost her beauty and Leanbeam lost his strength. Even the Yellow Emperor forgot his knowledge—all in the process of being re-cast. How do you know the former of things won’t erase my tattoos, replace my nose, and make me whole so I can follow you, sir?”

Xu You said, “Ah, you never know! I’ll give you the main outlines. My teachers! My teachers! They sort ten thousand things but are not righteous and benefit ten thousand generations but are not kind. They roof heaven, floor earth, and fashion everything between but are not handy. That’s how they wander.

So when wise people use force, they can destroy whole countries without losing the people's hearts. Their benefits extend to all things but isn't considered love. 

One who enjoys comprehending things is not wise; one who holds people dear is not kind; one who is naturally seasonal is not a worthy; one who does not comprehend benefit and harm is not a gentleman; one who advances their reputation and loses themself is not a knight; one who destroys themself and is insincere is no user of other people. They are like Hu Buxie, Wu Guang, Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Jizi Xuyu, Ji To, and Shentu Di--people who enslave themselves to other's servitude and take satisfaction in other people's satisfaction but find no satisfaction in their own satisfaction." [1]

[1] Once again we find ourselves asking, Who is the hero in this story? Xu You has the last word, but it is hardly a very informative one. The Thinker seems to have succeeded in changing his interlocutor's mind. At issue is the status of conventional morality, which Xu You initially likens to disfigurement. But the question is whether this disfigurement should be rejected, as Xu You suggests, or tolerated and even embraced, like Shu's splayed limbs in 4:07. Why should morality be any different? So the Thinker seems to be the hero and seems to have won Xu You around to his way of thinking.

But perhaps it isn't a story about heroes and losers at all but simply about people changing. How does Xu You's appearance here juxtapose to his conversation with Yao in 1:04? Is he the same guy here that he is there? Or is he able to have that conversation as a result of what he learns here? How is all this a response to Thinker's question above on how to wander the edge of distant, unrestrained, rolling paths?

Cheng Xuanying says in 6.111 此數子者，皆矯情偽行，亢志立名，分外波蕩，遂至於此。自餓自沈，促齡夭命，而芳名令譽，傳諸史籍。斯乃被他驅使，何能役人！悅樂眾人之耳目，焉能自適其情性耶！ These guys were all haughtily artificial, obstinately intent on establishing a reputation. The raised waves outside their lot and so ended this way. They starved themselves and drowned themselves, hurrying to death. Ordered about by others, how could they rule other people? Catering to the crowd's ears and eye, how could they fulfill their own natures?

[a] Graham places 101 characters from earlier in the chapter here (CTP 6.01, HYZY 6.11-14).

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