Page:Zhuang Zi - translation Giles 1889.djvu/323

CAP. XXII.] is not. It cannot be spoken. Spoken, it is not. That which imparts form to forms is itself formless; therefore cannot have a name."


 * Form precedes name.

No-beginning continued, "He who replies to one asking about, does not know . Although one may hear about , he does not really hear about . There is no such thing as asking about . There is no such thing as answering such questions. To ask a question which cannot be asked is vain. To answer a question which cannot be answered is unreal. And one who thus meets the vain with the unreal is one who has no physical perception of the universe, and no mental perception of the origin of existence,—unfit alike to roam over the K'un-lun peak or to soar into the Supreme Void."

Light asked Nothing, saying, "Do you, Sir, exist, or do you not exist?"

But getting no answer to his question, Light set to work to watch for the appearance of Nothing.

Hidden, vacuous,—all day long he looked but could not see it, listened but could not hear it, grasped at but could not seize it.


 * See The Remains of Lao Tzŭ, p. 31.

"Bravo!" cried Light. "Who can equal this? I can get to be nothing.


 * Darkness.