1. A man of the village of Ta?-heang said, "Great indeed is thephilosopher K'ung! His learning is extensive, and yet he does not render his name famous by any particular thing."

2. The Master heard the observation, and said to his disciples, "What shall I practise? Shall I practice charioteering, or shall I practise archery? I will practise charioteering."

HEADING OF THIS BOOK.—子罕第九. 'The Master seldom, No.9.' The thirty chapters of this Book are much skin to those of the seventh. They are mostly occupied with the doctrine, character, and ways of Confucius himself.

1. SUBJECTS SELDOM SPOKEN OF BY CONFUCIUS. 利 is mostly taken here in a good sense, not as selfish gain, but as it is defined under the first of the diagrams in the Yih-king,—义之和, 'the harmoniousness of all that is righteous'; that is, how what is right is really what is truly profitable. Comp. Mencius, I.i.1. Yet even in this sense Conf. seldom spoke of it, as he would not have the consideration of the profitable introduced into conduct at all. With his not speaking of仁there is a difficulty which I know not how to solve. The IVth book is nearly all occupied with it, and no doubt it was a prominent topic in Conf. teachings. 命 is not=our fate, unless in the primary meaning of that term,—'Fatum est quod dii fantur.' Nor is it decree, or antecedent purpose and determination, but the decree embodied and realized in its object.

2. AMUSEMENT OF CONFUCIUS AT THE REMARK OF AN IGNORANT MAN ABOUT HIM. Comm., old and new, say that the ch. shows the exceeding humility of the sage, educed by his being praised, but his observation on the man's remark was evidently ironical. 1. For want of another word, I render 党 'by village'. According to the statutes of Chow, 'five families made a 比, four pe a 闾, and five leu or 500 families a tang'. Who the villager was is not recorded, though some would have him to be the same with 项橐, the boy of whom it is said in the 三字经, 昔仲尼师项橐, 'of old Confucius was a scholar to Heang T'o?'. The man was able to see that Confucius was very extensively learned, but his idea of fame, common to the sage, was that it must be acquired by excellence in some one particular art. In his lips, 孔子 was not more than our 'Mr. K'ung'.