When a trap is set for fish it sometimes happens that a frog blunders into it. A mantis stalks a cicada, only to fall prey to the unseen finch following it.
There are wheels within wheels, and cataclysms can occur outside cataclysms. Of what value or reliability are man’s wisdom and schemes?
鱼网之设，鸿则罹其中；螳螂之贪，雀又乘其后。机里藏机，变外生变，智巧何足恃哉。
Notes
Within schemes lie deeper schemes; beyond changes spawn greater changes — how frail is cunning’s boast!
Every plot bears blind spots. Those grasping for total control often fall to unforeseen consequences. Greed-driven schemes inevitably trap one in a cycle of predator and prey, ultimately making them targets for greater plotters.
Worldly complexity defies individual cunning — like stacking houses of cards, scheming only breeds chaos until control collapses. The world operates not on ‘who outsmarts whom’, but on ‘who transcends the game itself’.
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