1. We-shang Mow said to Confucius, "K'ew, how is it that you keep roosting about? Is it not that you are an insinuating talker?"

2. Confucius said, "I do not dare to play the part of such a talker, but I hate obstinacy."

31. ONE'S WORK IS WITH ONE'S-SELF:—AGAINST MAKING COMPARISONS. 贤乎哉= 'Ha! Is he not superior?' The remark is ironical.

32. CONCERN SHOULD BE ABOUT OUR PERSONAL ATTAINMENT, AND NOT ABOUT THE ESTIMATION OF OTHERS. See I. 16, et al. A critical canon is laid down here by Choo He:—'All passages, the same in meaning and in words, are to be understood as having been spoken only once, and their recurrence is the work of the compilers. Where the meaning is the same and the language a little different, they are to be taken as having been repeated by Confucius himself, with the variations.' According to this rule, the sentiment in this chapter was repeated by the master in four different utterances.

33. QUICK DISCRIMINATION WITHOUT SUSPICIOUSNESS IS HIGHTLY MERITORIOUS. 逆, 'to be disobedient', 'to rebel'; also, 'to meet', and here 'to anticipate', i.e., in judgment. 抑亦 see XIII. 19, but the meaning is there 'perhaps', while here the 抑 is adversative, and= 'but'. 先觉者 is used in opposition to 后觉者, and= 'a quick apprehender, one who understands things before others'. So, Choo He. K'ung Gan-kwǒ, however, takes 抑 as conjunctive, and 先觉 in apposition with the two preceding characteristics, and interprets the conclusion—'Is such a man of superior worth?' On Choo He's view, the 乎is exclamatory.

34. CONFUCIUS NOT SELF-WILLED, AND YET NO GLIB-TONGUED TALKER:—DEFENCE OF HIMSELF FROM THE CHARGE OF AN AGED REPROVER. 1. From We-shang's addressing Conf. by his name, it is presumed that he was an old man. Such a liberty in a young man would have been impudence. It is presumed also, that he was one of those men who kept themselves retired from the world in disgust. 栖, 'to perch or roost', as a bird, used contemptuously with ref. to Conf. going about among the princes and wishing to be called to office. 2. 固=执—不通, 'holding to one idea without intelligence'.