The Sayings Of Confucius Part 13

Nor would they follow, said the Master, if told to kill their lord or father.

24. Tzu-lu made Tzu-kao governor of Pi.

The Master said, Thou art undoing a man's son.

Tzu-lu said, What with the people and the spirits of earth and corn, must a man read books to become learned?

The Master said, This is why I hate a glib tongue.

25. The Master said to Tzu-lu, Tseng Hsi,[111] Jan Yu and Kung-hsi Hua as they sat beside him, I may be a day older than you, but forget that. Ye are wont to say, I am unknown. Well, if ye were known, what would ye do?

[Footnote 108: The younger brother of Chi Huan, the head of the Chi clan.]

[Footnote 109: Tzu-lu. He and Jan Yu had taken office under the Chi.]

[Footnote 110: Jan Yu.]

[Footnote 111: A disciple: the father of Tseng-tzu.]

Tzu-lu answered lightly. Give me a land of a thousand chariots, crushed between great neighbours, overrun by soldiers and searched by famine, and within three years I could put courage into it and high purpose.

The Master smiled.

What wouldst thou do, Ch'iu[112]? he said.

He answered, Give me a land of sixty or seventy, or fifty or sixty square miles, and within three years I could give the people plenty.

As for courtesy and music, they would wait the coming of a gentleman.

And what wouldst thou do, Ch'ih[113]?

He answered, I do not speak of what I can do, but of what I should like to learn. At services in the Ancestral Temple, or at the Grand Audience, I should like to fill a small part.

And what wouldst thou do, Tien[114]?

Tien stopped playing, pushed his still sounding lute aside, rose and answered, My choice would be unlike those of the other three.

What harm in that? said the Master. Each but spake his mind.

In the last days of spring, all clad for the springtime, with five or six young men and six or seven lads, I would bathe in the Yi, be fanned by the wind in the Rain G.o.d's glade, and go back home singing.

The Master said with a sigh, I side with Tien.

Tseng Hsi stayed after the other three had left, and said, What did ye think, Sir, of what the three disciples said?

[Footnote 112: Jan Yu.]

[Footnote 113: Kung-hsi Hua.]

[Footnote 114: Tseng Hsi.]

Each but spake his mind, said the Master.

Why did ye smile at Yu,[115] Sir?

Lands are swayed by courtesy, but what he said was not modest. That was why I smiled. Yet did not Ch'iu speak of a state? Where would sixty or seventy, or fifty or sixty, square miles be found that are not a state? And did not Ch'ih too speak of a state? Who but great va.s.sals are there in the Ancestral Temple, or at the Grand Audience?

But if Ch'ih were to take a small part, who could fill a big one?

[Footnote 115: Tzu-lu.]

BOOK XII

1. Yen Yuan asked, What is love?

The Master said, Love is to conquer self and turn to courtesy. If we could conquer self and turn to courtesy for one day, all below heaven would turn to love. Does love flow from within, or does it flow from others?

Yen Yuan said, May I ask what are its signs?

The Master said, To be always courteous of eye and courteous of ear; to be always courteous in word and courteous in deed.

Yen Yuan said, Though I am not clever, I hope to live by these words.

2. Chung-kung asked, What is love?

The Master said, Without the door to behave as though a great guest were come; to treat the people as though we tendered the great sacrifice; not to do unto others what we would not they should do unto us; to breed no wrongs in the state and breed no wrongs in the home.

Chung-kung said, Though I am not clever, I hope to live by these words.

3. Ssu-ma Niu[116] asked, What is love?

The Master said, Love is slow to speak.

To be slow to speak! Can that be called love?

The Master said, Can that which is hard to do be lightly spoken?

[Footnote 116: A disciple.]

4. Ssu-ma Niu asked, What is a gentleman?

The Master said, A gentleman knows neither sorrow nor fear.

No sorrow and no fear! Can that be called a gentleman?

The Master said. He searches his heart: it is blameless; so why should he sorrow, what should he fear?