7. "Of old time, the market-dealers excharged the articles which they had for others which they had not, and simply had certain officers to keep order among them. It happened that there was a mean fellow, who made it a point to look out for a conspicuous mound, and get up upon it. Thence he looked right and left, to catch in his net the whole gain of the market. The people all thought his conduct mean, and therefore they proceeded to lay a tax upon his wares. The taxing of traders took its rise from this mean fellow."

XI. 1. Mencius, having taken his leave of Ts'e, was passing the night in Chow.

2. A person who wished to detain him on behalf of the king, came and sat down, and began to speak to him. Mencius gave him no answer, but leant upon his stool and slept.

3. The stranger was displeased, and said, "I passed the night in careful vigil, before I would venture to speak to you, and you, Master, sleep and do not listen to me. Allow me to request that I may not again presume to see you." Mencius replied, "Sit down, and I will explain the case clearly to you. Formerly, if the duke Muh had not kept a person by the side of Tszesze, he could not have induced Tsze-sze to remain with him. If See Lew and Shin Ts'eang had not had a remembrancer by the side of the duke Muh, he would not have been able to make them feel at home and remain with him.

4. "You anxiously form plans with reference to me, but you do not treat me as Tsze-sze was treated. Is it you, Sir, who cut me? Or is it I, who cut you?"

XII. 1. When Mencius had left Ts'e, Yin Sze spake about him to others, saying, "If he did not know that the king could not be made a Tang or a Woo, that showed his want of intelligence. If he knew that he could not be made such, and came notwithstanding, that ·

shows he was seeking his own benefit. He came a thousand le to wait on the king; because he did not find in him a ruler to suit him, he took his leave, but how dilatory and lingering was his departure, stopping three nights before he quitted Chow! I am dissatisfied on account of this."

2. The disciple Kaou informed Mencius of these re marks.

3. Mencius said, "How should Yin Sze know me! When I came a thousand le to wait on the king, it was what I desired to do. When I went away because I did not find in him a ruler to suit me, was that what I desired to do? I felt myself constrained to do it.

4. "When I stopped three nights before I quitted Chow, in my own mind I still considered my departure speedy. I was hoping that the king might change. If the king had changed, he would certainly have recalled

me.

5. "When I quitted Chow, and the king had not sent after me, then, and only till then, was my mind resolutely bent on returning to Tsow. But, notwithstanding that, how can it be said that I give up the king? The king, after all, is one who may be made to do what is good. If he were to use me, would it be for the happiness of the people of Ts'e only? It would be for the happiness of the people of the whole empire. I am hoping that the king will change. I am daily hoping for this.

6. "Am I like one of your little-minded people? They will remonstrate with their prince, and on their remonstrance not being accepted, they get angry, and, with their passion displayed in their countenance, they take their leave, and travel with all their strength for a whole day, before they will stop for the night."

7. When Yin Sze heard this explanation, he said, “I am indeed a small man.'

XIII. 1. When Mencius left Ts'e, Ch'ung Yu ques tioned him upon the way, saying, "Master, you look like one who carries an air of dissatisfaction in his countenance. But formerly I heard you say-The superior man does not murmur against IIeaven, nor grudge against men.

2. Mencius said, "That was one time, and this is another.

3. "It is a rule that a true Imperial sovereign should arise in the course of five hundred years, and that during that time there should be men illustrious in their generation.

4. "From the commencement of the Chow dynasty till now, more than 700 years have elapsed. Judging numerically, the date is past. Examining the character of the present time, we might expect the rise of such indi

viduals in it.

5. "But Heaven does not yet wish that the empire should enjoy tranquillity and good order. If it wished this, who is there besides me to bring it about? How should I be otherwise than dissatisfied?"

XIV. 1. When Mencius left Ts'e, he dwelt in Hew. There Kung-sun Ch'ow asked him, saying, "Was it the way of the ancients to hold office without receiving salary?”

2. Mencius replied, "No; when I first saw the king in Tsung, it was my intention, on retiring from the interview, to go away. Because I did not wish to change this intention, I declined to receive any salary.

3. "Immediately after, came orders for the collection of troops, when it would have been improper for me to beg permission to leave. But to remain so long in Tse was not my purpose."

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BOOK III.

TANG WAN KUNG. PART I.

CHAPTER I. 1. When the duke Wan of Tang was Crown-prince, having to go to Ts'oo, he went by way of Sung, and visited Mencius.

2. Mencius discoursed to him how the nature of man is good, and, when speaking, always made laudatory reference to Yaou and Shun.

3. When the Crown-prince was returning from Ts'oo, he again visited Mencius. Mencius said to him, "Prince, do you doubt my words? The path The path is one, and only

one.

4. "Shing Kan said to the duke king of Ts'e, 'They were men. I am a man. Why should I stand in awe of them?' Yen Yuen said, 'What kind of man was Shun? What kind of man am I? He who exerts himself will also become such as he was.' Kung-ming E said, 'King Wan is my teacher. How should the duke of Chow deceive me by those words?'

5. "Now, Tang, taking its length with its breadth, will amount, I suppose, to fifty le. It is small, but still sufficient to make a good kingdom. It is said in the Book of History, 'If medicine do not raise a commotion in the patient, his disease will not be cured by it.""

II. 1. When the duke Ting of Tang died, the Crown-prince said to Yen Yew, "Formerly, Mencius spoke with me in Sung, and in my mind I have never forgotten his words. Now, alas! this great duty to my father devolves upon me; I wish to send you to ask the advice of Mencius, and then to proceed to its va rious services."

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2. Yen Yew accordingly proceeded to Tsow, and consulted Mencius. Mencius said, "Is this not good? In discharging the funeral duties to parents, men indeed feel constrained to do their utmost. The philosopher Tsang said, When parents are alive, they should be served according to propriety; when they are dead, they should be buried according to propriety; and they should be sacrificed to according to propriety:-this may be called filial piety.' The ceremonies to be ob served by the princes I have not learned, but I have heard these points:-that the three years' mourning, the garment of coarse cloth with its lower edge even, and the eating of congee, were equally prescribed by three dynasties, and binding on all, from the emperor to the mass of the people."

3. Yen Yew reported the execution of his commission, and the prince determined that the three years' mourning should be observed. His aged relatives, and the body of the officers, did not wish that it should be so, and said, “The former princes of Loo, that kingdom which we honour, have, none of them, observed this practice, neither have any of our own former princes observed it. For you to act contrary to their example is not proper. Moreover, the History says,- In the observances of mourning and sacrifice, ancestors are to be followed,' meaning that they received those things from a proper source to hand them down."

4. The prince said again to Yen Yew, "Hitherto, I have not given myself to the pursuit of learning, but have found my pleasure in horsemanship and swordexercise, and now I don't come up to the wishes of my aged relatives and the officers. I am afraid I may not be able to discharge my duty in the great business that I have entered on; do you again consult Mencius for me." On this, Yen Yew went again to Tsow, and consulted Mencius. Mencius said, "It is so, but he may