1. Ch'in Shing murdered the duke Kёen of Ts'e.

2. Confucius bathed, went to court, and informed the duke Gae, saying,"Ch'in Ha?ng has slain his sovereign. I beg that you will undertake to punish him."

3. The duke said, "Inform the chiefs of the three families of it."

4. Confucius retired, and said, "Following in the rear of the great officers, I did not dare not to represent such a matter, and my prince says, "Inform the chiefs of the three families of it."

21. EXTRAVAGANT SPEECH HARD TO BE MADE GOOD. Comp. IV. 22.

22. HOW CONFUCIUS WISHED TO AVENGE THE MURDER OF THE DUKE OF TS'E:—HIS RIGHTEOUS AND PUBLIC SPIRIT. 1. K?en,—'indolent in not a single virtue', and 'tranquil, not speaking unadvisedly', are the meanings attached to 简, as an hon. epithet, while 成 indicates, 'tranquillizer of the people, and establisher of government'. The murder of the duke K?en by his officer, Ch'in Hǎng(恒), took place, B.C.480, barely two years before Conf. death. 2. 沐浴 implies all the fasting and all the solemn preparation, as for a sacrifice or other great occasion. Properly, 沐 is to wash the hair with the water in which rice has been washed, and 浴 is to wash the body with hot water. 请讨之,—acc. to the account of this matter in the 左传, Conf. meant that the duke Gae should himself, with the forces of Loo, undertake the punish. of the regicide. Some mod. comm. cry out against this. The sage's advice, they say, would have been that the duke should report the thing to the emperor, and with his authority associate other princes with himself to do justice on the offender. 3. 告夫三子,—this is the use of夫in XI. 24, et al. 4. This is taken as the remark of Confucius, or his colloquy with himself, when he had gone out from the duke. 以吾从大夫之后,—see XI. 7. The 者 leaves the sentence incomplete;—'my prince says, Inform the three chiefs of it;—this circumstance.' The paraphrasts complete the sentence by 何耶,—'How is it that the prince, &c.,?' 5. 之三子,—之is the verb—'to go to'. 孔子曰, 云云,—This was spoken to the chiefs, to reprove them for their disregard of a crime, which concerned every public man.

5. He went to the chiefs, and informed them, but they would not act. Confucius then said, "Following in the rear of the great officers, I did not dare not to represent such a matter."