12. The Master said, A man to whom three years of learning have borne no fruit would be hard to find. 13. The Master said, A man of simple faith, who loves learning, who guards and betters his way unto death, will not enter a tottering kingdom, nor stay in a lawless land. When all below heaven follows the Way, he is seen; when it loses the Way, he is unseen. While his land keeps the Way, he is ashamed to be poor and lowly; but when his land has lost the Way, wealth and honours shame him. 14. The Master said, When out of place, discuss not policy. 15. The Master said, In the first days of the music-master Chih how the hubbub[78] of the Kuan-chue rose sea beyond sea! How it filled the ear! 16. The Master said, Of men that are zealous, but not straight; dull, but not simple; helpless, but not truthful, I will know nothing. 17. The Master said, Learn as though the time were short, like one that fears to lose. 18. The Master said, How wonderful were Shun[2] and Yue[2]! To have all below heaven was nothing to them! 19. The Master said, How great a lord was Yao[79]! Wonderful! Heaven alone is great; Yao alone was patterned on it. Vast, boundless! Men's words failed them. The wonder of the work done by him! The flame of his art and precepts! [Footnote 78: The last part of the music, when all the instruments were played together.] [Footnote 79: See Introduction.] 20. Shun had five ministers, and there was order below heaven. King Wu[80] said, I have ten uncommon ministers. Confucius said, 'The dearth of talent,' is not that the truth? When Yue[81] followed T'ang[82] the times were rich in talent; yet there were but nine men in all, and one woman. In greatness of soul we may say that Chou[83] was highest: he had two-thirds of all below heaven and bent it to the service of Yin. 21. The Master said, I see no flaw in Yue. He ate and drank little, yet he was lavish in piety to the ghosts and spirits. His clothes were bad, but in his cap and gown he was fair indeed. His palace buildings were poor, yet he gave his whole strength to dykes and ditches. No kind of flaw can I see in Yue. [Footnote 80: See Introduction.] [Footnote 81: Shun.] [Footnote 82: Yao.] [Footnote 83: King Wen, Duke of Chou.] BOOK IX 1. The Master seldom spake of gain, or love, or the Bidding. 2. A man of the village of Ta-hsiang said, The great Confucius, with his vast learning, has made no name in anything. When the Master heard this, he said to his disciples, What shall I take up? Shall I take up driving, or shall I take up shooting? I shall take up driving. 3. The Master said, A linen cap is good form; now silk is worn. It is cheap, so I follow the many. To bow below is good form; now it is done above. This is arrogance, so, breaking with the many, I still bow below. 4. From four things the Master was quite free: by-ends and 'must' and 'shall' and 'I.'