Many people live their whole lives this way — in a state of restless laziness. You would feel sorry for some of them when you see them running around like their house is on fire. They bump into everyone they meet and drag both themselves and others along in their rush. But where are they going? To greet someone who won't greet them back. To attend the funeral of someone they didn't even know. To hear the verdict in a lawsuit involving someone who's always in court. To watch the wedding of someone who gets married all the time. They'll follow someone's sedan chair through the streets, and sometimes even help carry it. Then they come home exhausted from all this pointless activity. They swear they don't know why they went out or where they've been. And the next day? They'll wander through the exact same routine again.
Many men spend their lives in exactly the same fashion, which one may call a state of restless indolence. You would pity some of them when you see them running as if their house was on fire: they actually jostle all whom they meet, and hurry along themselves and others with them, though all the while they are going to salute some one who will not return their greeting, or to attend the funeral of some one whom they did not know: they are going to hear the verdict on one who often goes to law, or to see the wedding of one who often gets married: they will follow a man's litter, and in some places will even carry it: afterwards returning home weary with idleness, they swear that they themselves do not know why they went out, or where they have been, and on the following day they will wander through the same round again.