12. The Master said, Fierce looks and weakness within are like the small man, like the thief that breaks through or clambers over a wall. [Footnote 156: Tzu-lu.] [Footnote 157: His son.] [Footnote 158: The first two books of _The Book of Poetry_.] 13. The Master said, The plain townsman is the bane of mind. 14. The Master said, To tell unto the dust all that we hear upon the way is to lay waste the mind. 15. The Master said, How can we serve the king with a low fellow, who is itching to get what he wants and trembling to lose what he has? This trembling to lose what he has may lead him anywhere. 16. The Master said, Men of old had three failings, which have, perhaps, died out to-day. Ambitious men of old were not nice; now they are unprincipled. Stern men of old were hard; now they are quarrelsome. Ignorant men of old were straight; now they are false. That is all. 17. The Master said, Smooth words and fawning looks are seldom found with love. 18. The Master said, I hate the ousting of scarlet by purple. I hate the strains of Cheng, confounders of sweet music. I hate a sharp tongue, the ruin of kingdom and home. 19. The Master said, I wish no word were spoken! Tzu-kung said, Sir, if ye said no word, what could your little children write? The Master said, What are the words of Heaven? The four seasons pass, the hundred things bear life. What are the words of Heaven? 20. Ju Pei wished to see Confucius. Confucius pleaded sickness; but, as the messenger left his door, he took a lute and sang, so the messenger should hear. 21. Tsai Wo[159] asked about mourning for three years. He thought that one was enough. If for three years gentlemen forsake courtesy, courtesy must suffer. If for three years they forsake music, music must decay. The old grain passes, the new grain sprouts, the round of woods for the fire-drill is ended in one year. The Master said, Feeding on rice, clad in brocade, couldst thou be at rest? I could, he answered. Then do what gives thee rest. But a gentleman, when he is mourning, has no taste for sweets and no ear for music; he cannot rest in his home. So he gives these up. Now, they give thee rest; then keep them. After Tsai Wo had gone, the Master said, Yue's[160] want of love! At the age of three a child first leaves the arms of his father and mother, and mourning lasts for three years everywhere below heaven. But did Yue have for three years the love of his father and mother? 22. The Master said, It is hard indeed when a man eats his fill all day, and has nothing to task the mind! Could he not play at chequers? Even that were better. 23. Tzu-lu said, Do gentlemen honour daring? They put right higher, said the Master. With daring and no sense of right gentlemen turn rebels and small men turn robbers. 24. Tzu-kung said, Do gentlemen hate too? [Footnote 159: A disciple.] [Footnote 160: Tsai Wo.]