1. Peih Heih inviting him to visit him, the Master was inclined to go.

2. Tsze-loo said, "Master, formerly I have heard you say, 'When a man in his own person is guilty of doing evil, a superior man will not associate with him.' Peih Heih is in rebellion, holding possession of Chungmow; if you go to him, what shall be said?"

3. The Master said, "Yes, I did use these words. But is it not said, that, if a thing be really hard, it may be ground without being made thin? Is it not said, that, if a thing be really white, it may be steeped in a dark fluid without being made black?

4. "Am I a bitter gourd! How can I be hung up out of the way of being eaten?"

7. CONFUCIUS, INCLINED TO RESPOND TO THE ADVANCES OF AN UNWORTHY MAN, PROTESTS AGAINST HIS CONDUCT BEING JUDGED BY ORDINARY RULES. Comp. ch. V; but the invitation of Peih Heih was subsequent to that of Kung-shan Fuh-jaou, and after Conf. had given up office in Loo. 1. 佛(read Peih) Heih was commandant of Chung-mow, for the chief of the Chaou family, in the state of Tsin. 2. 亲于其身为不善者,—'he who himself, in his own person, does what is not good'.不入,—acc. to K'ung Gan-kwo?,=不入其国, 'does not enter his state'; acc. to Choo He, it=不入其党, 'does not enter his party'. There were two places of the name of Chung-mow, one belonging to the state of Ch'ing, and the other to the state of Tsin(晋),which is that intended here, and is referred to the present district of 汤阴, dep. of 彰德, in Ho-nan province. 3. 不曰 is to be taken interrogatively, as in the translation. Ping's paraphrase is—人岂不曰, 'do not men say?' 坚乎云云,—'Is a thing hard, then', &c. 涅 is explained—'black earth in water, which may be used to dye a black colour'. The application of these strange proverbial sayings is to Conf. himself, as, from his superiority, incapable of being affected by evil communications. 4. This par. is variously explained. By some, 匏瓜 is taken as the name of a star; so that the meaning is—'Am I, like such and such a star, to be hung up, &c?' But we need not depart from the proper meaning of the characters. Choo He, with Ho An, takes 不食 actively:—'A gourd can be hung up, because it does not need to eat. But I must go about, north, south, east, and west, to get food.' This seems to me very unnatural. The expression is taken passively, as in the translation, in the 日讲, and other works.