"He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who do not harbour such thoughts still their hatred.

The same four verbs return. The wound is unchanged. The only variable is whether one continues to recite it. The pair of verses three and four are an experiment with one variable held constant — what happens, says the Buddha, depends on the rehearsal, not the event. There is a particular consolation in this teaching for anyone who feels that the wound was real and the suffering is justified. The verse does not contest that. It simply notes that what is being asked to do the suffering — the rehearsal — is something within the suffering one's control.