الفصل الفصل 5 · _A Disciple and the Golden Rule--Miscellaneous_

The Master pronounced Kung-ye Ch[']ang, a disciple, to be a

marriageable person; for although lying bound in criminal fetters he

had committed no crime. And he gave him his own daughter to wife.

Of Nan Yung, a disciple, he observed, that in a State where the

government was well conducted he would not be passed over in its

appointments, and in one where the government was ill conducted he

would evade punishment and disgrace. And he caused his elder brother's

daughter to be given in marriage to him.

Of Tsz-tsien, a disciple, he remarked, "A superior man indeed is the

like of him! But had there been none of superior quality in Lu, how

should this man have attained to this excellence?"

Tsz-kung asked, "What of me, then?" "You," replied the Master--"You

are a receptacle." "Of what sort?" said he. "One for high and sacred

use," was the answer.

Some one having observed of Yen Yung that he was good-natured towards

others, but that he lacked the gift of ready speech, the Master said,

"What need of that gift? To stand up before men and pour forth a stream

of glib words is generally to make yourself obnoxious to them. I know

not about his good-naturedness; but at any rate what need of that gift?"

When the Master proposed that Tsi-tiau K[']ai should enter the

government service, the latter replied, "I can scarcely credit it."

The Master was gratified.

"Good principles are making no progress," once exclaimed the Master.

"If I were to take a raft, and drift about on the sea, would Tsz-lu, I

wonder, be my follower there?" That disciple was delighted at hearing

the suggestion; whereupon the Master continued, "He surpasses me in

his love of deeds of daring. But he does not in the least grasp the

pith of my remark."

In reply to a question put to him by Mang Wu respecting Tsz-lu--as to

whether he might be called good-natured towards others, the Master

said, "I cannot tell"; but, on the question being put again, he

answered, "Well, in an important State[10] he might be intrusted with

the management of the military levies; but I cannot answer for his

good nature."

"What say you then of Yen Yu?"

"As for Yen," he replied, "in a city of a thousand families, or in a

secondary fief,[11] he might be charged with the governorship; but I

cannot answer for his good-naturedness."

"Take Tsz-hwa, then; what of him?"

"Tsz-hwa," said he, "with a cincture girt upon him, standing as

attendant at Court, might be charged with the addressing of visitors

and guests; but as to his good-naturedness I cannot answer."

Addressing Tsz-kung, the Master said, "Which of the two is ahead of

the other--yourself or Hwui?" "How shall I dare," he replied, "even to

look at Hwui? Only let him hear one particular, and from that he knows

ten; whereas I, if I hear one, may from it know two."

"You are not a match for him, I grant you," said the Master. "You are

not his match."

Tsai Yu, a disciple, used to sleep in the daytime. Said the Master,

"One may hardly carve rotten wood, or use a trowel to the wall of a

manure-yard! In his case, what is the use of reprimand?

"My attitude towards a man in my first dealings with him," he added,

"was to listen to his professions and to trust to his conduct. My

attitude now is to listen to his professions, and to watch his

conduct. My experience with Tsai Yu has led to this change.

"I have never seen," said the Master, "a man of inflexible firmness."

Some one thereupon mentioned Shin Ch[']ang, a disciple. "Ch[']ang,"

said he, "is wanton; where do you get at his inflexibleness?"

Tsz-kung made the remark: "That which I do not wish others to put upon

me, I also wish not to put upon others." "Nay," said the Master, "you

have not got so far as that."

The same disciple once remarked, "There may be access so as to hear

the Master's literary discourses, but when he is treating of human

nature and the way of Heaven, there may not be such success."

Tsz-lu, after once hearing him upon some subject, and feeling himself

as yet incompetent to carry into practice what he had heard, used to

be apprehensive only lest he should hear the subject revived.

Tsz-kung asked how it was that Kung Wan had come to be so styled Wan

(the talented). The Master's answer was, "Because, though a man of an

active nature, he was yet fond of study, and he was not ashamed to

stoop to put questions to his inferiors."

Respecting Tsz-ch[']an,[12] the Master said that he had four of the

essential qualities of the 'superior man':--in his own private walk he

was humble-minded; in serving his superiors he was deferential; in his

looking after the material welfare of the people he was generously

kind; and in his exaction of public service from the latter he was just.

Speaking of Yen Ping, he said, "He was one who was happy in his mode

of attaching men to him. However long the intercourse, he was always

deferential to them."

Referring to Tsang Wan, he asked, "What is to be said of this man's

discernment?--this man with his tortoise-house, with the pillar-heads

and posts bedizened with scenes of hill and mere!"

Tsz-chang put a question relative to the chief Minister of Tsu,

Tsz-wan. He said, "Three times he became chief Minister, and on none

of these occasions did he betray any sign of exultation. Three times

his ministry came to an end, and he showed no sign of chagrin. He used

without fail to inform the new Minister as to the old mode of

administration. What say you of him?"

"That he was a loyal man," said the Master.

"But was he a man of fellow-feeling?" said the disciple.

"Of that I am not sure," he answered; "how am I to get at that?"

The disciple went on to say:--"After the assassination of the prince

of Ts[']i by the officer Ts[']ui, the latter's fellow-official Ch[']in

Wan, who had half a score teams of horses, gave up all, and turned his

back upon him. On coming to another State, he observed, 'There are

here characters somewhat like that of our minister Ts[']ui,' and he

turned his back upon them. Proceeding to a certain other State, he had

occasion to make the same remark, and left. What say you of him?"

"That he was a pure-minded man," answered the Master.

"But was he a man of fellow-feeling?" urged the disciple.

"Of that I am not sure," he replied; "how am I to get at that?"

Ki Wan was one who thought three times over a thing before he acted.

The Master hearing this of him, observed, "Twice would have been

enough."

Of Ning Wu, the Master said that when matters went well in the State

he used to have his wits about him: but when they went wrong, he lost

them. His intelligence might be equalled, but not his witlessness!

Once, when the Master lived in the State of Ch[']in, he exclaimed,

"Let me get home again! Let me get home! My school-children[13] are

wild and impetuous! Though they are somewhat accomplished, and perfect

in one sense in their attainments, yet they know not how to make nice

discriminations."

Of Peh-I and Shuh Ts[']i he said, "By the fact of their not

remembering old grievances, they gradually did away with resentment."

Of Wei-shang Kau he said, "Who calls him straightforward? A person

once begged some vinegar of him, and he begged it from a neighbor, and

then presented him with it!"

"Fine speech," said he, "and studied mien, and superfluous show of

deference--of such things Tso-k[']iu Ming was ashamed. I too am

ashamed of such things. Also of hiding resentment felt towards an

opponent and treating him as a friend--of this kind of thing he was

ashamed, and so too am I."

Attended once by the two disciples Yen Yuen and Tsz-lu, he said, "Come

now, why not tell me, each of you, what in your hearts you are really

after?"

"I should like," said Tsz-lu, "for myself and my friends and

associates, carriages and horses, and to be clad in light furs! nor

would I mind much if they should become the worse for wear."

"And I should like," said Yen Yuen, "to live without boasting of my

abilities, and without display of meritorious deeds."

Tsz-lu then said, "I should like, sir, to hear what your heart is set

upon."

The Master replied, "It is this:--in regard to old people, to give

them quiet and comfort; in regard to friends and associates, to be

faithful to them; in regard to the young, to treat them with fostering

affection and kindness."

On one occasion the Master exclaimed, "Ah, 'tis hopeless! I have not

yet seen the man who can see his errors, so as inwardly to accuse

himself."

"In a small cluster of houses there may well be," said he, "some whose

integrity and sincerity may compare with mine; but I yield to none in

point of love of learning."

[Footnote 10: Lit., a State of 1,000 war chariots.]

[Footnote 11: Lit., a House of 100 war chariots.]

[Footnote 12: A great statesman of Confucius's time.]

[Footnote 13: A familiar way of speaking of his disciples in their

hearing.]

BOOK 6.