76. Flexibility
a newborn is soft and tender,
a crone, hard and stiff.
plants and animals, in life, are supple and succulent;
in death, withered and dry.
so softness and tenderness are attributes of life,
and hardness and stiffness, attributes of death.
just as a sapless tree will split and decay
so an inflexible force will meet defeat;
the hard and mighty lie beneath the ground
while the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.