旅 Lǚ

旅瑣瑣斯其所取災

If the wanderer busies himself with trivial things, he draws down misfortune upon himself. A wanderer should not demean himself or busy himself with inferior things along the way. The humbler and more defenseless your outward position, the more you should preserve inner dignity. A stranger mistaken if hoping to find friendly reception through jokes and buffoonery. The result will be only contempt and insulting treatment.

旅即次懷其資得童僕貞

The wanderer comes to an inn. He has his property with him. He wins the steadfastness of a young servant. This wanderer is modest and reserved. Not losing touch with their inner being, they find a resting place. In the outside world, they don't lose the liking of other people, so all further them. They can acquire property and moreover win the allegiance of a faithful servant—a thing of inestimable value to a wanderer.

旅焚其次喪其童僕貞厲

The wanderer's inn burns down. He loses the steadfastness of his young servant. Danger. A truculent stranger doesn't know how to behave properly. Meddling in affairs and controversies that don't concern them, they lose their resting place. Treating their servant with aloofness and arrogance, they lose the man's loyalty. When a stranger in a strange land has no one left on whom to rely, the situation becomes very dangerous.

旅于處得其資斧我心不快

The wanderer rests in a shelter. He obtains his property and an ax. My heart is not glad. A wanderer who knows how to limit desires outwardly, though inwardly strong and aspiring. Finding at least a place of shelter, succeeding in acquiring property, but not secure. Always on guard, ready to defend with arms. Hence not at ease—persistently conscious of being a stranger in a strange land.

射雉一矢亡終以譽命

He shoots a pheasant. It drops with the first arrow. In the end this brings both praise and office. Traveling statesmen would introduce themselves to local princes with the gift of a pheasant. You shoot one, killing it at the first shot. Thus you find friends who praise and recommend you, and in the end the prince accepts you and confers an office. If you know how to meet the situation and introduce yourself in the right way, you may find a circle of friends and a sphere of activity even in a strange country.

鳥焚其巢旅人先笑後號咷喪牛于易凶

The bird's nest burns up. The wanderer laughs at first, then must needs lament and weep. Through carelessness he loses his cow. Misfortune. Loss of one's resting place. If heedless and imprudent when building the nest, this misfortune may overtake you. If you let yourself go, laughing and jesting, forgetting that you are a wanderer, you will later have cause to weep and lament. Through carelessness losing your cow—your modesty and adaptability—evil will result.