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2. He went in accordingly, and said, "What sort of men were Pih-e and Shuh-ts'e?" "They were ancient worthies," said the Master. "Did they have any repinings because of their course?" The Master again replied, "They sought to act virtuously, and they did so; and what was there for them to repine about?" On this, Tsze-kung went out and said, "Our Master is not for him."

XV. The Master said, "With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow ;-I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honours acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud."

XVI. The Master said, "If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the YIH, and then I might come to be without great faults."

XVII. The Master's frequent themes of discourse were the Odes, the History, and the maintenance of the Rules of propriety. On all these he frequently discoursed.

XVIII. 1. The duke of She asked Tsze-loo about Confucius, and Tsze-loo did not answer him.

2. The Master said, "Why did you not say to him,— He is simply a man, who in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the joy of its attainment forgets his sorrows, and who does not perceive that old age is coming on?"

XIX. The Master said, "I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there."

XX. The subjects on which the Master did not talk, were-extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings.

XXI. The Master said, "When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them."

XXII. The Master said, "Heaven produced the virtue that is in me. Hwan Tuy-what can he do to

me?"

XXIII. The Master said, "Do you think, my disciples, that I have any concealments? I conceal nothing from you. There is nothing which I do that is not shown to you, my disciples;-that is my way."

XXIV. There were four things which the Master taught, letters, ethics, devotion of soul, and truthful

ness.

XXV. 1. The Master said, "A sage it is not mine to see; could I see a man of real talent and virtue, that would satisfy me."

2. The Master said, "A good man it is not mine to see; could I see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me.

3. "Having not and yet affecting to have, empty and yet affecting to be full, straightened and yet affecting to be at ease:-it is difficult with such characteristics to have constancy."

XXVI. The Master angled,-but did not use a net. He shot, but not at birds perching.

XXVII. The Master said, "There may be those who act without knowing why. I do not do so. Hearing much and selecting what is good and following it, seeing much and keeping it in memory; this is the second style of knowledge."

XXVIII. 1. It was difficult to talk with people of Hoo-heang, and a lad of that place having had an interview with the Master, the disciples doubted.

2. The Master said, "I admit people's approach to me without committing myself as to what they may do when they have retired. Why must one be so severe ? If a man purify himself to wait upon me, I receive him so purified, without guaranteeing his past conduct."

XXIX. The Master said, "Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! virtue is at hand.”

XXX. 1. The minister of crime of Ch'in asked whether the duke Ch'aou knew propriety, and Confucius said, "He knew propriety."

2. Confucius having retired, the minister bowed to Woo-ma K'e to come forward, and said, "I have heard that the superior man is not a partizan. May the superior man be a partizan also? The prince married a daughter of the house of Woo, of the same surname with himself, and called her, The elder lady Tsze of Woo'. If the prince knew propriety, who does not know it?"

3. Woo-ma K'e reported these remarks, and the Master said, "I am fortunate! If I have any errors, people are sure to know them."

XXXI. When the Master was in company with a person who was singing, if he sang well, he would make him repeat the song, while he accompanied it with his

own voice.

XXXII. The Master said, "In letters I am perhaps equal to other men, but the character of the superior man, carrying out in his conduct what he professes, is what I have not yet attained to."

XXXIII. The Master said, "The sage and the man of perfect virtue;-how dare I rank myself with them? It may simply be said of me, that I strive to become such without satiety, and teach others without weariness." Kung-se Hwa said, "This is just what we, the disciples, cannot imitate you in."

XXXIV. The Master being very sick, Tsze-loo asked leave to pray for him. He said, "May such a thing be done?" Tsze-loo replied, "It may. In the Prayers it is said, 'Prayer has been made to the spirits of the upper and lower worlds.'" The Master said," My praying has been for a long time."

XXXV. The Master said, "Extravagance leads to insubordination, and parsimony to meanness. It is better to be mean than to be insubordinate."

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XXXVI. The Master said, "The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress."

XXXVII. Tue Master was mild, and yet dignified; majestic, and yet not fierce; respectful, and yet easy.

BOOK VIII. TAE-PIH.

CHAPTER I. The Master said, "Tae-pih may be said to have reached the highest point of virtuous action. Thrice he declined the empire, and the people in ignorance of his motives could not express their approbation of his conduct."

II. 1. The Master said, "Respectfulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.

2. "When those who are in high stations perform well all their duties to their relations, the people are aroused to virtue. When old friends are not neglected by them, the people are preserved from meanness."

III. The philosopher Tsang being sick, he called to him the disciples of his school, and said, "Uncover my feet, uncover my hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry,' We should be apprehensive and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin ice,' and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my es

cape from all injury to my person, O ye, my little children."

IV. 1. The philosopher Tsang being sick, Mang King went to ask how he was.

2. Tsang said to him, " When a bird is about to die, its notes are mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are good.

3. "There are three principles of conduct which the man of high rank should consider specially important: -that in his deportment and manner he keep from violence and heedlessness; that in regulating his countenance he keep near to sincerity; and that in his words and tones he keep far from lowness and impropriety. As to such matters as attending to the sacrificial vessels, there are the proper officers for them."

V. The philosopher Tsang said," Gifted with ability, and yet putting questions to those who were not so; possessed of much, and yet putting questions to those possessed of little; having, as though he had not; full, and yet counting himself as empty; offended against, and yet entering into no altercation:-formerly I had a friend who pursued this style of conduct."

VI. The philosopher Tsang said, "Suppose that there is an individual who can be entrusted with the charge of a young orphan prince, and can be commissioned with authority over a state of a hundred le, and whom no emergency however great can drive from his principles; is such a man a superior man? He is a superior man indeed."

VII. 1. The philosopher Tsang said, “The scholar may not be without breadth of mind and vigorous endurance. His burden is heavy and his course is long.

2. "Perfect virtue is the burden which he considers it is his to sustain ;-is it not heavy? Only with death does his course stop ;-is it not long?"

VIII. 1. The Master said, "It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused.

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