The faculties of mind and body in both mother and son sprang originally from the same source, and are alike; but in common men this connection is broken and interrupted, and they are dull and stupid. Those sages whose nature is heavenly differ from the rest of mankind; and virtue, as in a breath, permeates their whole souls. At a certain time, when Tsêng was absent to collect faggots, visitors came and knocked at his door in great haste; and as there was no man at home ready to receive them, his mother was much grieved. He had entered the dense fog on the hills and did not know where he was, when his mother leaned against the door-post and gnawed her fingers as if she would go in quest of him. Her son in the hills is suddenly seized with a pain in his heart, and quickly takes up his bundle of faggots to return; although distant, he sympathises with his mother’s grief and complaint. The hearts of mother and son are mutually affected, one influencing the other, in the same manner as the amber draws small straws and the loadstone attracts the slender needle. From the remotest period sages have been able to control their dispositions, and in the deepest silence have revolved their actions as in a breath. The moving influence that such minds have on each other the generality of men cannot understand. The devotedness with which they serve their parents and the respect with which they cherish them—who can comprehend. No. IV _Clad in a Single Garment, he was obedient to his Mother_ During the Chou dynasty lived Min Sun, a disciple of Confucius, who in early life lost his mother. His father subsequently married another wife, who bore him two children, but disliked Sun. In winter she clothed him in garments made of rushes, while her own children wore cotton clothes. Min was employed in driving his father’s chariot, and his body was so cold that the reins dropped from his hands, for which carelessness his father chastised him; yet he did not vindicate himself. When his father knew the circumstances, he determined to divorce his second wife; but Sun said, “Whilst mother remains, one son is cold; if mother departs, three sons will be destitute.” The father desisted from his purpose; and after this the mother was led to repentance, and became a good and virtuous parent.