1. Tsze-loo, Tsa?ng Sih, Yen Yew, and Kung-se Hwa were sitting by the Master.

2. He said to them, "Though I am a day or so older than you, don't think of that.

24. HOW PRELIMINARY STUDY IS NECESSARY TO THE EXERCISE OF GOVERNMENT:—A REPROOF OF TSZE-LOO. 1. 费,—see VI. 7. This commandantship is probably what Min Sun there refused. Tsze-loo had entered into the service of the Ke family (see last ch.), and recommended (使) Tsze-kaou as likely to keep the turbulent Pe in order, thereby withdrawing him from his studies with the Master. 2. 贼, in the sense of 害, 'to injure'. 夫 as in ch. 9, 3. It qualifies the whole phrase 人之子, and is not to be joined only with 人. By denominating Tszekaou—'a man's son', Conf. intimates, I suppose, that the father was injured as well. His son ought not to be so dealt with. 3. The absurd defence of Tsze-loo. It is to this effect:—'The whole duty of man is in treating other men right, and rendering what is due to spiritual beings, and it may be learned practically without the study you require.' 4. 是故, 'on this accounts', with reference to Tsze-loo's reply.

3. "From day to day you are saying, 'We are not known.' If some prince were to know you, what would you do?"

4. Tsze-loo hastily and lightly replied, "Suppose the case of a state of ten thousand chariots; let it be straitened between other large states; let it be suffering from invading armies; and to this let there be added a famine in corn and in all vegetables:—if I were intrusted with the government of it, in three years' time I could make the people to be bold, and to recognize the rules of righteous conduct." The Master smiled at him.

5. Turning to Yen Yew, he said, "K'ew, what are your wishes?" K'ew replied, "Suppose a state of sixty or seventy le square, or one of fifty or sixty, and let me have the government of it;—in three years' time, I could make plenty to abound among the people. As to teaching them the principles of propriety, and music, I must wait for the rise of a superior man to do that."

25. THE AIMS OF TSZE-LOO, TSANG SIH, YEN YEW, AND KUNG-SE HWA, AND CONFUCIUS REMARKS ABOUT THEM. Comp. V. 7. 25. 1. The disciples mentioned here are all familiar to us excepting Tsa?ng Sih. He was the father of the more celebrated Tsa?ng Sih, and himself by name Teen (点). The four are mentioned in the order of their age, and Teen would have answered immediately after Tszeloo, but that Conf. passed him by, as he was occupied with his harpsichord. 2. 长, up 2d tone, 'senior'. Many understand 尔辈, 'ye', as nom. to the first以, but it is better with Choo He to take 以=虽, 'althought'. 一日, 'one day', would seem to indicate the importance which the disciples attached to the seniority of their Master, and his wish that they should attach no importance to it. In 毋吾以也 we have a not uncommon inversion. It =勿以吾为长, 'don't consider me to be your senior'. 3. 居=平居之时, 'the level, ordinary, course of your lives'. 何以哉=何以为用哉, 'what would you consider to be your use?' i.e., what course of action would you pursue?

6. "What are your wishes, Ch'ih," said the Master next to Kung-se Hwa. Ch'ih replied, "I do not say that my ability extends to these things, but I should wish to learn them. At the services of the ancestral temple, and at the audiences of the Princes with the Emperor, I should like, dressed in the squaremade robe and the black linen cap, to act as a small assistant."

7. Last of all, the Master asked T'sang Sih, "Teen, what are your wishes?" Teen, pausing as he was playing on his harpsichord, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose, "My wishes," he said, "are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen." "What harm is there in that?" said the Master; "do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes." Teen then said, "In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the E, enjoy the breeze among the rain-altars, and return home singing." The Master heaved a sigh and said, "I give my approval to Teen."

4. 率尔, an adv., = 'hastily'. 摄, acc. to Choo He, =管束, acc. to Peau Heen, =迫, 'straitened', 'urged'. In the Chow Le, 500 men make a 旅, and 5 旅, or 2500 men, make a 师. The two terms together have here the meaning given in the transl. 为之, 'managed it'. 比, lower 3d tone, blends its force with the foll. 及. 方= 向, 'towards'. 知方, 'know the quarter to which to turn, the way in which to go'. 5. At the beginning of this paragraph and the two following, we must supply子曰. 如=或, 'or'. 6. 能之,—之refers to the 礼乐, in p. 5. 曾 is the name for occasional of incidental interviews of the princes with the emperor, what are called时见. 同belongs to occasions when they all presented themselves together at court. The 端, (and from its colour called 元端), was a robe of ceremony, so called from its straight make, its component parts having no gathers nor slanting cuttings. 章甫 was the name of a cap of ceremony. It had different names under different dynasties. 甫 means a MAN. The cap was so named, as 'displaying the MAN'.

8. The three others having gone out, Tsa?ng Sih remained behind, and said, "What do you think of the words of these three friends?" The Master replied, "They simply told each one his wishes."

9. Teen pursued, "Master, why did you smile at Yew?"

10. He was answered, "The management of a state demands the rules of propriety. His words were not humble; therefore I smiled at him."

11. Teen again said, "But was it not a state which K'ew proposed for himself?" The reply was, "Yes; did you ever see a territory of sixty or seventy le, or one of fifty or sixty, which was not a state?"

12. Once more, Teen inquired, "And was it not a state which Ch'ih proposed for himself?" The Master again replied, "Yes; who but princes have to do with ancestral temples, and audiences with the Emperor? If Ch'ih were to be a small assistant in these services, who could be a great one?

7. 希=止, 'pausing', 'stopping'. So, in the dict. 铿, an adv., expressing the twanging sound of the instrument. 莫, read moo, low. 3d tone, the same as 暮, 'sunset', 'the close of a period of time'. 冠(up. 3d tone) 者, 'capped men'. Capping was in China a custom similar to the assuming the toga virllis among the Romans. It took place at 20. 浴 is not 'to bathe', but is used with reference to some custom of washing the hands and clothes at some stream in the 3d month, to put away evil influences. 雩 was the name of a sacrifice, accompanied with prayer, for rain. Dancing improvements were employed at it, hence the name—舞雩. 11. 曾皙曰 is to be supplied before 唯, and 子曰before 安. Similar supplements must be made in the next paragraph.—It does not appear whether Teen, even at the last, understood why Conf. had laughed at Tsze-loo, and not at the others. 'It was not', say the comm., 'because Tsze-loo was extravagant in his aims. They were all thinking of great things, yet not greater than they were able for. Tsze-loo's fault was in the levity with which he had proclaimed his wishes. That was his offence against propriety'.