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XVIII. 1. The Master said, "There is Hwuy! He has nearly attained to perfect virtue.

want."

He is often in

Yet his

2. "Tsze does not acquiesce in the appointments of Heaven, and his goods are increased by him. judgments are often correct."

XIX. Tsze-chang asked what were the characteristics of the GOOD man. The Master said, "He does not tread in the footsteps of others, but, moreover, he does not enter the chamber of the sage."

XX. The Master said, "If, because a man's discourse appears solid and sincere, we allow him to be a good man, is he really a superior man? or is his gravity only in appearance?"

XXI. Tsze-loo asked whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard. The Master said, "There are your father and elder brothers to be consulted;-why should you act on that principle of immediately carrying into practice what you hear?" Yen Yew asked the same, whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard, and the Master answered, "Immediately carry into practice what you hear." Kung-se Hwa said, "Yew asked whether he should carry immediately into practice what he heard, and you said, 'There are your father and elder brothers to be consulted. K'ew asked whether he should immediately carry into practice what he heard, and you said, 'Carry it immediately into practice.' I, Ch'ih, am perplexed, and venture to ask you for an explanation.” The Master said, "K'ew is retiring and slow; therefore I urged him forward. Yew has more than his own share of energy; therefore I kept him back."

XXII. The Master was put in fear in K'wang and Yen Yuen fell behind. The Master, on his rejoining him, said, “I thought you had died.” Hwuy replied, "While you were alive, how should I presume to die?"

XXIII. 1. Ke Tsze-jen asked whether Chung-yew and Yen K'ew could be called great ministers.

2. The Master said, “I thought you would ask about · some extraordinary individuals, and you only ask about Yew and K'ew!

3. "What is called a great minister, is one who serves his prince according to what is right, and when he finds he cannot do so, retires."

4. "Now, as to Yew and K'ew, they may be called ordinary ministers."

5. Tsze-jen said, "Then they will always follow their chief; will they?"

6. The Master said, "In an act of parricide or regicide, they would not follow him."

XXIV. 1. Tsze-loo got Tsze-kaou appointed governor of Pe.

2. The Master said, "You are injuring a man's son." 3. Tsze-loo said, "There are (there) common people and officers; there are the altars of the spirits of the land and grain. Why must one read books before he can be considered to have learned?"

4. The Master said, "It is on this account that I hate your glib-tongued people."

XXV. 1. Tsze-loo, Tsang Sih, Yen Yew, and Kung se Hwa, were sitting by the Master.

2. He said to them," Though I am a day or so older than you, don't think of that.

3. "From day to day you are saying, ' We are not known.' If some prince were to know you, what would

you do?"

4. Tsze-loo hastily and lightly replied, "Suppose the case of a state of ten thousand chariots; let it be straightened between other large states; let it be suffering from invading armies; and to this let there be added a famine in corn and in all vegetables;-If I were intrusted with the government of it, in three

years' time I could make the people to be bold, and to recognize the rules of righteous conduct." The Master smiled at him.

5. Turning to Yen Yew, he said, "K'ew, what are your wishes?" Kew replied, "Suppose a state of sixty or seventy le square, or one of fifty or sixty, and let me have the government of it;-in three years' time, I could make plenty to abound among the people. As to teaching them the principles of propriety, and music, I must wait for the rise of a superior man to do that." 6. "What are your wishes, Chih," said the Master next to Kung-se Hwa. Chih replied, "I do not say that my ability extends to these things, but I should wish to learn them. At the services of the ancestral temple, and at the audiences of the Princes with the Emperor, I should like, dressed in the dark squaremade robe and the black linen cap, to act as a small assistant."

7. Last of all, the Master asked Tsang Sih, "Teen, what are your wishes?" Teen, pausing as he was playing on his harpsichord, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose. "My wishes," he said, "are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen." "What harm is there in that?" said the Master; "do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes." Teen then said, "In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the E, enjoy the breeze among the rain-altars, and return home singing." The Master heaved a sigh and said, "I give my approval to Teen."

8. The three others having gone out, Tsang Sih remained behind, and said, "What do you think of the words of these three friends?" The Master replied, "They simply told each one his wishes."

9. Teen pursued, "Master, why did you smile at Yew?"

10. He was answered, "The management of a state demands the rules of propriety. His words were not humble; therefore I smiled at him."

11. Teen again said, "But was it not a state which K'ew proposed for himself?" The reply was, "Yes; did you ever see a territory of sixty or seventy le, or one of fifty or sixty, which was not a state?"

12. Once more, Teen inquired, " And was it not a state which Ch'ih proposed for himself?" The Master again replied," Yes; who but princes have to do with ancestral temples, and audiences with the Emperor? If Ch'ih were to be a small assistant in these services, who could be a great one?"

BOOK XII. YEN YUEN.

CHAPTER I. 1. Yen Yuen asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "To subdue one's-self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?"

2. Yen Yuen said, "I beg to ask the steps of that process." The Master replied, "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety." Yen Yuen then said, "Though I am deficient in intelli

gence and vigour, I will make it my business to practice this lesson."

II. Chung-kung asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "It is, when you go abroad, to behave to every one as if you were receiving a great guest; to employ the people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice; not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself; to have no murmuring against you in the country, and none in the family." Chung-kung said, "Though I am deficient in intelligence and vigour, I will make it my business to practice this lesson."

III. 1. Sze-ma New asked about perfect virtue.

2. The Master said, "The man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in his speech."

3. "Cautious and slow in his speech!" said New;— "is this what is meant by perfect virtue?" The Master said, "When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?"

IV. 1. Sze-ma New asked about the superior man. The Master said, "The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear."

2. "Being without anxiety or fear!" said New ;does this constitute what we call the superior man?"

3. The Master said, "When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?"

V. 1. Sze-ma New, full of anxiety, said, " Other men all have their brothers, I only have not."

2. Tsze-hea said to him, "There is the following saying which I have heard :

3. "Death and life have their determined appointment; riches and honours depend upon Heaven.'

4. "Let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, and let him be respectful to others and observant of propriety:-then all within the four seas will be his brothers. What has the supe

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