![]() ![]() Shall I never again find a moment of forgetfulness?” I fear that all the disasters and recoveries, gains and losses, joys and sorrows, loves and hates still to come will confound my heart just as much. Now suddenly I remember and all the disasters and recoveries, gains and losses, joys and sorrows, loves and hates of twenty or thirty years past rise up in a thousand tangled threads. “Formerly when I forgot,” said Hua-tzu, “I was boundless I did not notice whether heaven and earth existed or not. ![]() The authorities of Sung arrested him and wanted to know the reason. He dismissed his wife, punished his sons, and chased away the Confucian with a spear. They agreed, and no one knew what methods the Confucian used but the sickness of many years was completely dispelled in a single morning. I shall shut out his attendants, and stay alone with him in his room for seven days.” ![]() “The sickness is curable but my arts have been passed down secretly through the generations, and are not disclosed to outsiders. The Confucian was delighted and told the man’s sons: Then the Confucian tried stripping Hua-tzu, and he looked for his clothes tried starving him, and he looked for food tried shutting him up in the dark, and he looked for light. I shall try reforming his mind, changing his thoughts there is a good chance that he will recover.” The Confucian told them: “This is clearly not a disease which can be divined by hexagrams and omens, or charmed away by auspicious prayers, or treated by medicines and the needle. Hua-tzu’s wife and children offered half of their property in return for his skill. There was a Confucian of Lu who, acting as his own go-between, claimed that he could cure it. They invited a doctor to treat him, but it did no good. They invited a shaman to perform an auspicious rite, but it made no difference. His family were troubled about it and invited a diviner to tell his fortune, but without success. Today he would not remember yesterday tomorrow he would not remember today. In the street he would forget to walk at home he would forget to sit down. He would receive a present in the morning and forget it by the evening give a present in the evening and forget it by the morning. In middle age Hua-tzu of Yang-li in Sung lost his memory. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |