The Three Principle Texts of Daoism translated by ... - Bad Request

of the sage are unlimited: that is why he is able to leadthem, to do his bidding. The intelligence of animals isinnate, even as that of man. Their common desire is forself-preservation, but they do not borrow theirknowledge from men. There is pairing between the maleand the female, and mutual attachment between themother and her young. They shun the open plain andkeep to the mountainous parts; they flee the cold andmake for warmth; when they settle, they gather inflocks; when they travel, they preserve a fixed order. Theyoung ones are stationed in the middle, the strongerones place themselves on the outside. They show oneanother the way to the drinking-places, and call to theirfellows when there is food. In the earliest ages, theydwelt and moved about in company with man. It was nottill the age of emperors and kings that they began to beafraid and broke away into scattered bands. And now, inthis final period, they habitually hide and keep out ofman's way so as to avoid injury at his hands. At thepresent day, in the country of the Chieh clan to the east,the people can often interpret the language of the sixdomestic animals, although they have probably but animperfect understanding of it.In remote antiquity, there were men of divineenlightenment who were perfectly acquainted with thefeelings and habits of all living things, and thoroughlyunderstood the languages of the various species. Theybrought them together, trained them, and admittedthem to their society, exactly like human beings....Thesesages declared that, in mind and understanding, therewas no wide gulf between any of the living species