隨 → 艮

Commentary

Thunder rests within the lake, but the butcher's blade strikes the sheep wrong — too little blood, not enough for broth. A woman holds an empty basket, unable to gather mulberry leaves. Every effort here misses its mark: the slaughter yields insufficient return, and the silk work cannot begin without raw material. The verse pairs two images of productive labor thwarted by poor execution or bad timing. From Following to Keeping Still, twin mountains stand immovable. Gen's stillness is not restful here but obstructive — the mountain blocks the path to productivity. When following leads to inadequate action, the result is Gen's paralysis: effort expended but nothing obtained, the worker frozen before an empty yield.