VI
［1］ THE MASTER said: “Yung〖The disciple Chung-kung.〗 might fill the seat of a prince.”“And might Tzu-sang Po-tzu?” asked Chung-kung.
“Yes,” said the Master: “but he is lax.”
“To be lax in his claims on the people might be right,” said Chung-kung, “were he stern to self; but to be lax to self and lax to others must surely be over-lax.”
The Master said: “What Yung says is true.”
［2］ Duke Ai asked which disciples were fond of learning.
Confucius answered: “Yen Hui〖The disciple Yen Yüan.〗 loved learning. His anger fell not astray; he made no mistake twice. By ill-luck his life was cut short. Now that he is gone, I hear of no one who is fond of learning.”
［3］ Tzu-hua〖The disciple Kung-hsi Hua, or Kung-hsi Ch＇ih.〗 having been sent to Ch＇i, the disciple Jan asked for grain to give to his mother.
The Master said: “Give her a bushel.”
He asked for more.
The Master said: “Give her half a quarter.”
Jan gave her twenty-five quarters.
The Master said: “On his way to Ch＇, Ch＇h〖The disciple Kung-hsi Hua, or Kung-hsi Ch＇h.〗 was drawn by sleek horses, clad in fine furs. A gentleman, I have heard, helps the needy: he does not swell riches.”
When Yüan Ssu〖A disciple.〗 was governor his pay was nine hundred measures of grain. On his refusing it, the Master said: “Not so. Why not take it and give it to thy neighbours and country-folk.”
［4］ Of Chung-kung the Master said: “If the calf of a brindled cow be red and horned, though men be shy to offer him, will the hills and streams disdain him?”
［5］ The Master said: “For three months together Hui’s〖The disciple Yen Yüan.〗 heart never sinned against love. The others may hold out for a day, or a month; but no more.”
［6］ Chi K＇ang〖Head of the Chi clan after the death of Chi Huan.〗 asked whether Chung-yu〖The disciple Tzu-lu.〗 were fit for power. The Master said: “Yu〖The disciple Tzu-lu.〗 has character; what would governing be to him?”
“And Tz＇u,〖The disciple Tzu-kung.〗 is he fit for power?”
“Tz＇u is intelligent; what would governing be to him?
“And Ch＇u,〖The disciple Jan Yu.〗 is he fit for power?”
“Ch＇u has ability; what would governing be to him?”
［7］ The Chi sent to make Min Tzu-ch＇en〖A disciple.〗 governor of Pi.
Min Tzu-ch＇en said: “Make some good excuse for me. If he send again, I must be across the Wen.”
［8］ When Po-niu〖A disciple.〗 was ill the Master went to ask after him. Grasping his hand through the window, he said: “He is dying. It is our lot. But why this man of such an illness? why this man of such an illness?”
［9］ The Master said: “What a man was Hui!〖The disciple of Yen Yüan.〗 A dish of rice, a gourd of water, in a low alleyway; no man can bear such misery! Yet Hui never fell from mirth. What a man he was!”
［10］ Jan Ch＇u〖The disciple Jan Yu.〗 said: “Pleasure in the Master’s path I do not lack: I lack strength.”
The Master said: “Who lacks strength faints by the way; thou puttest a curb upon thee.”
［11］ The Master said to Tzu-hsia: “Read to become a gentleman; do not read as the vulgar do.”
［12］ When Tzu-yu was governor of Wu-ch＇eng,〖A town in Lu, belonging to the Chi.〗 the Master said: “Hast thou gotten any men?”
He answered: “I have Tan-t＇ai Mieh-ming. When walking he will not take a short-cut; he has never come to my house except on business.”
［13］ The Master said: “Meng Chih-fan never bragged. He was covering the rear in a rout; but when the gate was reached, he whipped up his horse and cried; ‘Not courage kept me behind; my horse won’t go!’”
［14］ The Master said: “Unless glib as the reader T＇o, and handsome as Chao of Sung, escape is hard in the times that be!”
［15］ The Master said: “Who can go out except by the door? Why is it no one keeps to the way?”
［16］ The Master said: “Nature outweighing art begets roughness; art outweighing nature begets pedantry. Art and nature well blent make a gentleman.”
［17］ The Master said: “Man is born upright. If he cease to be so and live, he is lucky to escape!”
［18］ The Master said: “Who knows does not rank with him who likes, nor he who likes with him who is glad therein.”
［19］ The Master said: “To men above the common we may speak of things above the common. To men below the common we must not speak of things above the common.”
［20］ Fan Ch＇h〖A disciple〗 asked, What is wisdom?
The Master said: “To foster right amongst the people; to honour the ghosts of the dead, whilst keeping aloof from them, may be called wisdom.”
He asked, What is love?
The Master said: “To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.”
［21］ The Master said: “Wisdom delights in water; love delights in hills. Wisdom is stirring; love is quiet. Wisdom enjoys life; love grows old.”
［22］ The Master said: “By one revolution Ch＇ might grown as Lu: by one revolution Lu might win to truth.”
［23］ The Master said: “A drinking horn that is no horn! What a horn! What a drinking horn!”
［24］ Tsai Wo〖A disciple.〗 said: “Were a man who loves told that there is a man in a well, would he go in after him?”
The Master said: “Why should he? A gentleman might be brought to the well, but not entrapped into it. He may be cheated; he is not to be fooled.”
［25］ The Master said: “By breadth of reading and the ties of courtesy a gentleman will also keep from error’s path.”
［26］ The Master saw Nan-tzu.〖The dissolute wife of Duke Ling of Wei.〗 Tzu-lu was displeased. The Master took an oath, saying: “If there were sin in me may Heaven forsake me, may Heaven forsake me!”
［27］ The Master said: “The highest goodness is to hold fast the golden mean. Amongst the people it has long been rare.”
［28］ Tzu-kung said: “To treat the people with bounty and help the many, how were that? Could it be called love?”
The Master said: “What has this to do with love? Would it not be holiness? Both Yao and Shun〖Two emperors of the golden age.〗 still yearned for this. In seeking a foothold for self, love finds a foothold for others; seeking light for itself, it enlightens others also. To learn from the near at hand may be called the key to love.”