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[timelets]

[8] Tzu-hsia asked: “What is the meaning of:
‘Her cunning smiles,
Her dimples light,
Her lovely eyes,
So clear and bright,
The ground, not yet
With colours dight’?”

The Master said: “Colouring follows groundwork.”
“Then does courtesy follow after?” said Tzu-hsia.
“Shang,” 6 said the Master, “thou hast hit my meaning! Now I can talk of poetry to thee.”

--- The Sayings of Confucius.

https://www.bartleby.com/44/1/3.html