Tsai Wo answered, The Emperors of the house of Hsia grew firs round
them; the men of Yin grew cypress; the men of Chou grew chestnut,
which was to say, Let the people tremble.[32]
[Footnote 32: _Tremble_ and _chestnut_ have the same sound in
Chinese.]
On hearing this, the Master said, I do not speak of what is ended,
chide what is settled, or find fault with what is past.[33]
[Footnote 33: In old times men had been sacrificed at the
earth-altars, and Tsai Wo's answer might seem to approve the
practice.]
22. The Master said, How shallow was Kuan Chung!
But, said one, was not Kuan Chung thrifty?
The Kuan, said the Master, owned San Kuei, and no one of his household
held two posts: was that thrift?
At least Kuan Chung knew good form.
The Master said, Kings screen their gates with trees; the Kuan, too,
had trees to screen his gate. When two kings are carousing, they have
a stand for the turned-down cups; the Kuan had a turned-down
cup-stand, too! If the Kuan knew good form, who does not know good
form?[34]
[Footnote 34: Kuan Chung (+ 645 B.C.), a famous man in his day, was
chief minister to the Duke of Ch'i, whom he raised to such wealth and
power that he became the leading prince of the empire. His chief merit
lay in taming the barbarous frontier tribes. The rest of his work was
built upon sand and died with him.]
23. The Master said to the Great Master[35] of Lu, We can learn how to
play music; at first each part in unison; then a swell of harmony,
each part distinct, rolling on to the finish.
[Footnote 35: Of music.]
24. The warden of Yi asked to see Confucius, saying, No gentleman has
ever come here whom I have failed to see.
The followers took him in.
On leaving he said, My two-three boys, why lament your fall? The Way
has long been lost below heaven! Now Heaven shall make the Master into
a warning bell.
25. The Master said of the music of Shao, It is thoroughly beautiful,
and thoroughly good, too. Of the music of Wu, he said, It is
thoroughly beautiful, but not thoroughly good.
26. The Master said, Rank without beauty; ceremony without reverence;
mourning without grief, why should I cast them a glance?
BOOK IV
1. The Master said, Love makes a spot beautiful: who chooses not to
dwell in love, has he got wisdom?
2. The Master said, Loveless men cannot bear need long, they cannot
bear fortune long. Loving men find peace in love, the wise find profit
in it.
3. The Master said, Love alone can love others, or hate others.
4. The Master said, A will set on love is free from evil.
5. The Master said, Wealth and honours are what men desire; but do not
go from the Way, to keep them. Lowliness and want are hated by men;
but do not go from the Way, to escape them.
Shorn of love, is a gentleman worthy of the name? Not for one moment
may a gentleman sin against love; he must not do so in flurry and
haste, nor do so in utter overthrow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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