Part 29 (1/2)

In every case, ritual begins in that which must be released, reaches full development in giving it proper form, and finishes in providing it satisfaction. And so when ritual is at its most perfect, the requirements of inner dispositions and proper form are both completely fulfilled.38 At its next best, the dispositions and outer form overcome one another in succession. Its lowest manner is to revert to the dispositions alone so as to subsume everything in this grand unity.

By ritual, Heaven and earth harmoniously combine; By ritual, the sun and the moon radiantly s.h.i.+ne; By ritual, the four seasons in progression arise; By ritual, the stars move orderly across the skies; By ritual, the great rivers through their courses flow; By ritual, the ten thousand things all thrive and grow; By ritual, for love and hate proper measure is made; By ritual, on joy and anger fit limits are laid.

By ritual, compliant subordinates are created, By ritual, enlightened leaders are generated; With ritual, all things can change yet not bring chaos, But deviate from ritual and you face only loss.

Is not ritual perfect indeed! It establishes a lofty standard that is the ultimate of its kind, and none under Heaven can add to or subtract from it. In it, the fundamental and the secondary accord with each other, and beginning and end match each other. In its differentiations of things, it is the utmost in patterning. In its explanations, it is the utmost in keen discernment. Those under Heaven who follow it will have good order. Those who do not follow it will have chaos. Those who follow it will have safety. Those who do not follow it will be endangered. Those who follow it will be preserved. Those who do not follow it will perish. The petty man cannot fathom it. Deep indeed is the principle of ritual! Investigations into the hard and the white, the same and the different drown when they try to enter into it.39 Vast indeed is the principle of ritual! Those expert in creating inst.i.tutions and the purveyors of perverse, vulgar doctrines are lost when they try to enter it. High indeed is the principle of ritual! Those who take violent arrogance, haughty indulgence, and contempt of custom for loftiness fall when they try to enter it.

And so, when the ink-line is reliably laid out, then one cannot be deceived by the curved and the straight. When the scale is reliably hung, then one cannot be deceived by the light and the heavy. When the compa.s.s and carpenter's square are reliably set out, then one cannot be deceived by the circular and the rectangular. The gentleman examines ritual carefully, and then he cannot be deceived by trickery and artifice. Thus, the ink-line is the ultimate in straightness, the scale is the ultimate in balance, the compa.s.s and carpenter's square are the ultimate in circular and rectangular, and ritual is the ultimate in the human way. Those who nevertheless do not take ritual as their model nor find sufficiency in it are called ”standardless commoners.” Those who take ritual as their model and find sufficiency in it are called ”men of standards.” To be able to reflect and ponder what is central to ritual is called ”being able to deliberate.” To be able not to diverge from what is central to ritual is called ”being able to be firm.” When one can deliberate and be firm, and adds to this fondness for it, then this is to be a sage. Thus, Heaven is the ultimate in height, earth is the ultimate in depth, the boundless is the ultimate in breadth, and the sage is the ultimate in the Way. And so, learning is precisely learning to be a sage-one does not learn solely so as to become a standardless commoner.

Ritual takes resources and goods as its implements. It takes n.o.ble and lowly as its patterns. It takes abundance and scarcity as its differentiations. It takes elevating some and lowering others as its essentials. When patterning and order are made bountiful, and the dispositions and implements are limited, this is the most elevated state of ritual. When the dispositions and implements are made bountiful, but the patterning and order are limited, this is the lowest state of ritual. When patterning and order, dispositions and implements are in turn central and peripheral, so that they proceed together and are mixed evenly, this is the intermediate course of ritual. And so at his greatest, the gentleman achieves the most elevated state of ritual, and at the least he fulfills completely its lowest form, and when in intermediate circ.u.mstances, he dwells in its intermediate form. Whether going slowly, quickly, or at full gallop, he never departs from this, for this is the gentleman's home and palace. If a person grasps this, he is a man of good breeding or a gentleman. If he departs from this, he is but a commoner. Thus, to be able to travel everywhere in its midst and in every case obtain its proper arrangement is to be a sage. And so, being generous is due to the acc.u.mulated richness of ritual. Being great is due to the vastness of ritual. Being lofty is due to the elevated nature of ritual. Being enlightened is due to the exhaustive nature of ritual. The Odes says, ”Their rituals and ceremonies completely follow the proper measure. Their laughter and speech are completely appropriate.”40 This expresses my meaning.

Ritual is that which takes care to order living and dying. Birth is the beginning of people, and death is the end of people. When beginning and end are both good, then the human way is complete. Thus, the gentleman is respectful of the beginning and careful about the end. When end and beginning are treated alike, this is the way of the gentleman, and the proper form contained in ritual and the standards of righteousness. To treat people generously while alive but stingily when dead is to show respect to those with awareness and show arrogance to those without awareness. This is the way of a vile person and is an att.i.tude of betrayal. The gentleman considers it shameful to use such a betraying att.i.tude in dealing with servants and children-how much more so in the case of those he exalts and those he loves! . . .

For the funeral of the Emperor, one notifies all within the four seas and summons the feudal lords. For the funeral of a feudal lord, one notifies all allied states and summons the grand ministers. For the funeral of a grand minister, one notifies all within his state and summons those distinguished among the well-bred. For the funeral of a distinguished, well-bred man, one notifies all in his county and summons his a.s.sociates. For the funeral of a common person, one gathers together his family and friends and notifies all within the neighborhood and district. For the funeral of an executed convict one is not allowed to a.s.semble his family and friends but rather summons only his wife and children. The coffin's thickness may be only three inches. There may be only three layers of burial clothing and coverings. One is not allowed to decorate the coffin. One is not allowed to have the funeral procession during the day but must rather perform the interment at night. One goes out to bury him wearing ordinary clothing, and upon the return, there are to be no periods of crying, no wearing of mourning garb, and no differentiation of mourning periods for closer and more distant relatives. Everyone is to return to their normal ways and revert to their original state. When a person has just been buried, but it is as though there had never been a funeral and the matter has simply come to an end, this is called the greatest disgrace.41 Ritual takes care that fortunate and unfortunate events do not intrude upon each other. When it comes to the point where one has to place gauze on the person's face42 and listen for breathing, then the loyal minister and filial son know that his illness is serious indeed. Even so, they do not yet seek the items for dressing the corpse and the lying-in-state. They weep and are filled with fear. Even so, they do not stop in their feelings of hoping that miraculously the person will live, and they do not cease their attempts to maintain the person's life. Only when the person has truly died do they then make and prepare the necessary items.

Thus, even the best equipped households are sure to pa.s.s a day before the lying-in-state, and three days before the mourning garments are complete. Only then do those sent to notify people far away set out, and only then do those responsible for preparing things get to work. And so, at its longest, the lying-in-state is not to last for more than seventy days, and at its quickest, it is not to last less than fifty days. Why is this? I say: It is so that those far away can come, so that many needs can be fulfilled, and so that many matters can be accomplished. The loyalty expressed in this is of the highest sort. The proper regulation involved in this is of the greatest type. The good form displayed in this is of the greatest kind. . . .

The standard practice of funeral rites is that one changes the appearance of the corpse by gradually adding more ornamentation, one moves the corpse gradually further away, and over a long time one gradually returns to one's regular routine. Thus, the way that death works is that if one does not ornament the dead, then one will come to feel disgust at them, and if one feels disgust, then one will not feel sad. If one keeps them close, then one will become casual with them, and if one becomes casual with them, then one will grow tired of them. If one grows tired of them, then one will forget one's place, and if one forgets one's place, then one will not be respectful. If one day a person loses his lord or father, but his manner in sending them off to be buried is neither sad nor respectful, then he is close to being a beast. The gentleman is ashamed of this, and so the reason that he changes the appearance of the corpse by gradually adding more ornamentation is to eliminate any disgust. The reason that he moves the corpse gradually further away is to pursue respectfulness. The reason that only over a long time does he gradually return to his regular routine is to properly adjust his life.

Ritual cuts off what is too long and extends what is too short. It subtracts from what is excessive and adds to what is insufficient. It achieves proper form for love and respect, and it brings to perfection the beauty of carrying out the standards of righteousness. Thus, fine ornaments and coa.r.s.e materials, music and weeping, happiness and sorrow-these things are opposites, but ritual makes use of them all, employing them and alternating them at the appropriate times. And so, fine ornaments, music, and happiness are that by which one responds to peaceful events and that by which one pays homage to good fortune. Coa.r.s.e mourning garments, weeping, and sorrow are that by which one responds to threatening events and that by which one pays homage to ill fortune. Thus, the way ritual makes use of fine ornaments is such as not to lead to exorbitance and indulgence. The way it makes use of coa.r.s.e mourning garments is such as not to lead to infirmity or despondency. The way it makes use of music and happiness is such as not to lead to perversity or laziness. The way it makes use of weeping and sorrow is such as not to lead to dejection or self-harm. This is the mid-way course of ritual.

Thus, when the changes in disposition and appearance are sufficient to differentiate good fortune and ill fortune and to make clear the proper measures for n.o.ble and lowly, close relations and distant relations, then ritual stops. To go beyond this is vile, and even should it be a feat of amazing difficulty, the gentleman will still consider it base. And so, to measure one's food and then eat it, to measure one's waist and then tie the mourning sash, to show off to those in high positions one's emaciation and infirmity-this is the way of a vile person. It is not the proper patterning of ritual and the standards of righteousness; it is not the true disposition of a filial son. It is rather the behavior of one acting for ulterior purposes.

And so, a joyful glow and a s.h.i.+ning face, a sorrowful look and a haggard appearance-these are the ways in which the dispositions in good fortune and ill fortune,43 happiness and sorrow are expressed in ones countenance. Singing and laughing, weeping and sobbing-these are the ways in which the dispositions in good fortune and ill fortune, happiness and sorrow are expressed in one's voice. Fine meats and grains and wine and fish, gruel and roughage and plain water-these are the ways in which the dispositions in good fortune and ill fortune, happiness and sorrow are expressed in one's food and drink. Ceremonial caps and embroidered insignias and woven patterns, coa.r.s.e cloth and a mourning headband and thin garments and hempen sandals-these are the ways in which the dispositions in good fortune and ill fortune, happiness and sorrow are expressed in one's dress. Homes and palaces and cus.h.i.+ons and beds and tables and mats, a thatched roof and mourning lean-to and rough mat and earthen pillow-these are the ways in which the dispositions in good fortune and ill fortune, happiness and sorrow are expressed in one's dwelling.

In people's lives originally there are the beginnings of these two dispositions. If you cut them short and extend them, broaden them and narrow them, add to them and subtract from them, make them conform to their proper cla.s.ses and fully express them, make them abundant and beautify them, cause root and branch, beginning and end all to go smoothly and fit together, then they can serve as the model for ten thousand ages-and just such is what ritual does! None but a devotedly and thoroughly cultivated gentleman can understand it.

Thus, I say that human nature is the original beginning and the raw material, and wei , ”deliberate effort,” is to pattern and order it and make it exalted. If there were no human nature, then there would be nothing for deliberate effort to be applied to. If there were no deliberate effort, then human nature would not be able to beautify itself. Human nature and deliberate effort must unite, and then the reputation of the sage and the work of unifying all under Heaven is thereupon brought to completion. And so I say, when Heaven and earth unite, then the myriad creatures are born. When yin and yang interact, then changes and transformations arise. When human nature and deliberate effort unite, then all under Heaven is ordered. For Heaven can give birth to creatures, but it cannot enforce distinctions among creatures. Earth can support people, but it cannot order people. In the world, the ten thousand things and human beings all must await the sage, and only then will they be appropriately divided up. The Odes says, ”He mollifies the hundred spirits, and extends this to the rivers and towering peaks.”44 This expresses my meaning.45. . .

For the burial offerings,46 among the hats there is to be a helmet but no straps for binding the hair. There are to be various vessels and containers, but they are to be empty and unfilled. There are to be mats but no bedding materials. The wooden utensils are not to be completely carved, the pottery utensils are not to be finished products, and the utensils woven from reeds are not to be capable of holding things. A set of music pipes is to be prepared, but they are not to be harmonized. A lute and zither are to be laid out, but they are not to be tuned. A chariot is to be included in the burial, but the horse returns home. This is to indicate that these things will not be used.

One prepares the utensils used by the person in life and takes them to the tomb, and this resembles the way one acts when moving house. The spirit goods are to be simple and not perfect. They are to have the appearance of the regular items but are not to be functional. One drives a chariot out to the tomb and buries it, but the bit ornaments, bridle, and harness are not to be included. This makes clear that these things will not be used. One uses the symbols of moving house but also makes clear that the things will not be used, and these are all means by which to emphasize sorrowfulness. . . .

To deprive the dead in order to give to the living is called Mohism. To deprive the living in order to give to the dead is called confusion. To kill the living in order to send off the dead is called villainy.47. . .

Among all the living things between Heaven and earth, those that have blood and qi are sure to have awareness, and of those that have awareness, none does not love its own kind. Now if one of the great birds or beasts loses its group of companions, then after a month or a season has pa.s.sed, it is sure to retrace its former path and go by its old home. When it does, it is sure to pace back and forth, cry out, stomp the ground, pause hesitatingly, and only then is it able to leave the place. Even among smaller creatures such as swallows and sparrows, they will still screech for a moment before being able to leave. Thus, among the creatures that have blood and qi, none has greater awareness than man, and so man's feeling for his parents knows no limit until the day they die. Will we follow foolish, ignorant, perverse men? Those who have died that morning they forget by that evening. If one gives way to this, then one will not even be as good as the birds and beasts. How could such people come together and live in groups without there being chaos? Will we follow cultivated gentlemen? For them the twenty-five months of the three-year mourning period pa.s.ses by as quickly as a galloping horse glimpsed through a crack. If one simply acquiesces in this, then mourning would continue without end. Therefore, the former kings and sages accordingly established a middle way and fixed a proper measure for it, such that once mourning is made sufficient to achieve good form and proper order, then one stops it.

That being the case, then how is it divided up? I say: The mourning for those most close is broken off at one year. Why is that? I say: By then, Heaven and earth have already gone through their alterations, the four seasons have already completed their course, and everything in the world changes and begins again. Thus, the sage kings accordingly took this and made it their image. That being the case, then why the three-year mourning period? I say: To add loftiness to it, they accordingly made the period double, and thus it continues for another year. What about the mourning of nine months and below? I say: They accordingly made it not as great. Thus, the three-year mourning period is the most lofty, the sima and xiao-gong mourning periods are the most slight,48 and the year-long and nine-month mourning periods are in between. The sage kings took an image from Heaven above, they took an image from earth below, they took a standard from humans in the middle, and then the order by which people are to live together in harmony and unity was complete. . . .

The sacrificial rites are the refined expression of remembrance and longing. To be moved and feel upset are things that cannot but come upon one at times. And so, on occasions when people are happy and join together harmoniously, then a loyal minister or filial son will also be moved and such feelings will come to him. When the feelings that come to him stir him greatly but are deprived of an outlet and stopped, then with regard to the refined expression of remembrance he will feel anguished and unsatisfied, and his practice of ritual and proper regulation will be lacking and incomplete. And so, the former kings accordingly established a proper form for it, and thereby was set what is righteous in venerating those esteemed and loving those intimate. Thus I say: The sacrificial rites are the refined expression of remembrance and longing. They are the utmost in loyalty, trustworthiness, love, and respect. They are the fullest manifestation of ritual, proper regulation, good form, and proper appearance. If one is not a sage, then one will not be able to understand them. The sage clearly understands them. The well-bred man and the gentleman are at ease in carrying them out. The officials take them as things to be preserved. The common people take them as their set customs. The gentleman regards them as the way to be a proper human being. The common people regard them as serving the ghosts. . . .

For the ritual sacrifices, one engages in divination and determines the appropriate day. One fasts and sweeps out the site, sets out tables and food offerings, and has the ”announcement to the a.s.sistant,”49 as if the deceased were attending a banquet. The impersonator of the dead takes the goods and from each of them makes a sacrifice, as if the deceased were tasting them.50 No helper raises the toast, but rather the host himself takes hold of the cup, as if the deceased were engaging in the toast. When the guests leave, the host sends them off and bows to them as they go, then returns and changes his clothing.51 He goes back to this position and cries, as if the deceased had left. How full of sorrow! How full of respect! One serves the dead as if one were serving the living, and one serves the departed as if one were serving a surviving person. One gives a shape to that which is bodiless and in magnificent fas.h.i.+on accomplishes proper form.

Chapter Twenty: Discourse on Music.

Music is joy, an unavoidable human disposition.52 So, people cannot be without music; if they feel joy, they must express it in sound and give it shape in movement. The way of human beings is that changes in the motions of their nature are completely contained in these sounds and movements. So, people cannot be without joy, and their joy cannot be without shape, but if it takes shape and does not accord with the Way, then there will inevitably be chaos. The former kings hated such chaos, and therefore they established the sounds of the Ya and the Song53 in order to guide them. They caused the sounds to be enjoyable without becoming excessive.54 They caused the patterns to be recognizable without becoming degenerate. They caused the progression, complexity, intensity, and rhythm of the music to be sufficient to move the goodness in people's hearts. They caused perverse and corrupt qi to have no place to attach itself to them. This is the manner in which the former kings created music, and so why is Mozi denouncing it?55 And so, when music is performed in the ancestral temple and the ruler and ministers, superiors and inferiors listen to it together, there are none who do not become harmoniously respectful. When it is performed within the home and father and sons, elder and younger brothers listen to it together, there are none who do not become harmoniously affectionate. And when it is performed in the village, and old and young people listen to it together, there are none who do not become harmoniously cooperative. Thus, music observes a single standard in order to fix its harmony, it brings together different instruments in order to ornament its rhythm, and it combines their playing in order to achieve a beautiful pattern. It is sufficient to lead people in a single, unified way, and is sufficient to bring order to the myriad changes within them. This is the method by which the former kings created music, and so why is Mozi denouncing it?56. . .

Chapter Twenty-One: Undoing Fixation.

Almost always, the problem with people is that they become fixated on one angle and are deluded about the greater order of things. If they are brought under control, then they will return to the right standards. If they are of two minds, then they will be hesitant and confused. There are not two Ways for the world, and the sage is not of two minds. Nowadays the feudal lords have different governments, and the hundred schools have different teachings, so that necessarily some are right and some are wrong, and some lead to order and some lead to chaos. The rulers of chaotic states and the followers of pernicious schools all sincerely seek what they consider correct and put themselves into achieving it. They hate what they consider erroneous views of the Way, and others are seduced into following their same path. They selfishly favor the approach in which they have acc.u.mulated effort and only fear to hear it disparaged. They rely on it when regarding other approaches and only fear to hear those others praised. Therefore, they depart further and further from getting under control and think they are right not to stop. Is this not because they have become fixated on one angle and missed the true object of their search? If the heart does not apply itself to the eyes, then black and white can be right in front of you and the eyes will not see them. If the heart does not apply itself to the ears, then drums and thunder can be right at your side and the ears will not hear them. How much more so in the case of that which is applying itself in the first place!57 The person of true Virtue and the true Way is denounced from above by the rulers of chaotic states, and denounced from below by the followers of pernicious schools. Is this not lamentable?

Thus, among the cases of fixation, one can be fixated on desires, or one can be fixated on dislikes. One can be fixated on origins, or one can be fixated on ends. One can be fixated on what is far away, or one can be fixated on what is nearby. One can be fixated by broad learning, or one can be fixated by narrowness. One can be fixated on the ancient past, or one can be fixated on the present. In whatever respect the ten thousand things are different, they can become objects of fixation to the exclusion of each other. This is the common problem in the ways of human hearts. . . .

Mozi was fixated on the useful and did not understand the value of good form. Songzi was fixated on having few desires and did not understand the value of achieving the objects of desires. Shenzi was fixated on laws and did not understand the value of having worthy people. Shen Buhai was fixated on power and did not understand the value of having wise people. Huizi was fixated on words and did not understand the value of their corresponding objects. Zhuangzi was fixated on the Heavenly and did not understand the value of the human.

Thus, if one speaks of it in terms of usefulness, then the Way will consist completely in seeking what is profitable. If one speaks of it in terms of desires, then the Way will consist completely in learning to be satisfied. If one speaks of it in terms of laws, then the Way will consist completely in making arrangements. If one speaks of it in terms of power, then the Way will consist completely in finding what is expedient. If one speaks of it in terms of wording, then the Way will consist completely in discoursing on matters. If one speaks of it in terms of the Heavenly, then the Way will consist completely in following along with things. These various approaches are all merely one aspect of the Way. As for the Way itself, its substance is constant, yet it covers all changes. No one aspect is sufficient to exhibit it fully.

People of biased understanding observe just a single aspect of the Way and are unable to recognize it as such. So, they think it sufficient and proceed to embellish it. On the inside, they use it to disorder their own lives. On the outside, they use it to confuse other people. As superiors, they use it to transfix their subordinates. As subordinates, they use it to transfix their superiors. This is the disaster of being fixated and blocked up in one's thinking. Kongzi was benevolent, wise, and was not fixated, and so through his study of various methods, he was worthy of being one of the former kings. His one line alone grasped the way of the Zhou and upheld and used it, because he was not fixated by acc.u.mulated efforts in any area. Thus, his Virtue equals that of the Duke of Zhou, and his name ranks with those of the three kings. This is the good fortune that comes from not being fixated.

The sage knows the problems in the ways of men's hearts, and sees the disaster of being fixated and blocked up in one's thinking. So, he is neither for desires, nor for dislikes, is neither for the origins, nor for the end results, is neither for what is near, nor for what is far away, is neither for what is broad, nor for what is shallow, is neither for the ancient past, nor for the present. He lays out all the ten thousand things and in their midst hangs his scales over them. For this reason, the various different things are unable to become fixating and so disorder the proper categories of things.

What am I calling his ”scales”? I say: It is the Way. Thus, one's heart must not be ignorant of the Way. If the heart does not know the Way, then it will not approve of the Way, but will rather approve what is not the Way. For what person would wish to be so dissolute as to keep to what they disapprove and reject what they approve? If one chooses people using a heart that does not approve of the Way, then one is sure to accord with people who do not follow the Way, and one will not know to accord with people who do follow the Way. To use a heart that does not approve of the Way and to join together with people who do not follow the Way when judging people who do follow the Way-this is the root of chaos.

How will one know [which are the people who follow the Way]? I say: The heart must know the Way, and only then will it approve of the Way. Only after it approves of the Way will it be able to keep to the Way and reject what is not the Way. If one chooses people using a heart that approves of the Way, then one will accord with people who follow the Way, and one will not accord with people who do not follow the Way. To use a heart that approves of the Way and to join together with people who follow the Way when judging what is not the Way-this is the essential thing for good order. What problem of not knowing [which people follow the Way] could there be? Thus, the essential thing for good order rests in knowing the Way.

How do people know the Way? I say: It is with the heart. How does the heart know the Way? I say: It is through emptiness, single-mindedness, and stillness. The heart is never not holding something. Yet, there is a state called being ”empty.” The heart is never not two-fold. Yet, there is a state called being ”single-minded.” The heart is never not moving. Yet, there is a state called being ”still.” Humans are born and have awareness. With awareness, they have focus.58 To focus is to be holding something. Yet, there is a state called being ”empty.” Not to let what one is already holding harm what one is about to receive is called being ”empty.”59 The heart is born and has awareness. With awareness, there come awareness of differences. These differences are known at the same time, and when they are known at the same time, this is to be two-fold. Yet, there is a state called being ”single-minded.” Not to let one idea harm another idea is called being ”single-minded.” When the heart sleeps, then it dreams. When it relaxes, then it goes about on its own. When one puts it to use, then it forms plans. Thus, the heart is never not moving. Yet, there is a state called being ”still.” Not to let dreams and worries disorder one's understanding is called being ”still.”

For those who have not yet grasped the Way but are seeking the Way, I say: Emptiness, single-mindedness, and stillness-make these be your principles. If one who would search for the Way achieves emptiness, then he may enter upon it. If one who would work at the Way achieves single-mindedness, then he will exhaustively obtain it. If one who would ponder the Way achieves stillness, then he will discern it keenly. One who knows the Way and observes things by it, who knows the Way and puts it into practice, is one who embodies the Way. To be empty, single-minded, and still-this is called great clarity and brilliance. For such a one, none of the ten thousand things takes form and is not seen. None is seen and not judged. None is judged and loses its proper position. He sits in his chamber yet sees all within the four seas.60 He dwells in today yet judges what is long ago and far away in time. He comprehensively observes the ten thousand things and knows their true dispositions. He inspects and examines order and disorder and discerns their measures. He sets straight Heaven and earth, and arranges and makes useful the ten thousand things. He inst.i.tutes great order, and the whole world is encompa.s.sed therein. So vast and broad is he! Who grasps his true limits? So lofty and broad is he! Who grasps his true Virtue? So active and varied is he! Who grasps his true form? His brilliance matches the sun and moon. His greatness fills all the eight directions. Such a one is called the ”Great Man.” What fixation could there be in him?