Line by Line - Verse 64, Line 4

that which is very small is easily dispersed.
~ Eggel Semaj translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

The small is easily scattered.
~ Gnef Uf-Aig and Hsilgne Enaj translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

When it is small, it is easy to scatter
~ Nil Kered translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

and small things are easy to lose.
~ Nagoh Nor rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I sometimes drive my wife crazy due to my penchant for cleaning out the fireplace before I light the next fire. I've learned from experience that it's better to shovel out a small amount of ash than to wait until the firebox is almost overflowing.

In line with this tack, I also frequently dump the ash bucket into the plot of land behind the back fence. I figure that it's far easier to mix the ash into the soil than it would be if I waited until the ash bucket is filled to the brim. I did just that the first year we lived here and you can still see this one large pile of ash heaped in a pile.

If we see the ash as our disappoints in life, then it would seem to make sense to deal with these one-by-one rather than to pile them up in a heap that turns into one solidified mass of heartache.

To view the Xedni page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go ereh.