Tsu T'ang Chi (143)

[TC Nguyen]

ttc143

The great master investigated a monk of Ddo^ng Quo^'c nation :
- How old are you ?
Replied :
- 78.
The great master said :
- Is it really 78 ? (1)
Replied :
- Yes, it is.
Su ( Su+ ) beat him. (2)

Later a person brought the anecdote to ask Tao So+n :
- How to respond to avoid the beating from Yueh Shan ?
Ta`o So+n said :

- Keep firmly the order of the emperor , (3)
All the small nation kings give way, by standing at the road side.
(4)

Asked :
- For the monk, what was his fault to be beaten like that ?
Ta`o So+n said :

- The first arrow (5) was still nailed swallow;
The second nailed deep. (6)

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Notes

(1) First arrow
(2) Second arrow.
(3) Original text :
Chi'nh : rightly
ha`m : keep, have in mind, bit of horse
thie^n tu+? : king, emperor
sa('c : order
(4) It does not help.
(5) Original text :
Tie^`n : before, first
thu+o+ng : sound from stone. I think it miswritten.
I change to first arrow to be in accord with the second phrase.
(6) Ta`o So+n did not answer the question.