1. The Master said, "Anciently, men had three failings, which now perhaps are not to be found.

2. "The high-mindedness of antiquity showed itself in a disregard of small things; the high-mindedness of the present day shows itself in wild license. The stern dignity of antiquity showed itself in grave reserve; the stern dignity of the present day shows itself in quarrelsome perverseness. The stupidity of antiquity showed itself in straightforwardness; the stupidity of the present day shows itself in sheer deceit."

15.THE CASE OF MERCANNARY OFFICERS, AND HOW IT IS IMPOSSIBILE TO SERVE ONE'S PRINCE ALONG WITH THEM. 1.与字作共字看, ' 与=共，'i.e., 'together with.' 与哉是深慨其不可与意，'与哉=a deep-felt lamentation on the unfitness of such persons to be associated with.' So, the 备旨. But as the remaining paragraphs are all occupied with describing the mercenaries, we must understand Confucius' object as being to condemn the employment of such creatures, rather than to set forth the impossibility of serving with them. 2. The 之 here, and in p.3, are all to be understood of place and emolument.

16. THE DEFECTS OF FORMER TIMES BECOME IN THE TIME OF CONFUCIUS. 1. 疾, 'bodily sickness', here used metaphorically for 'errors' , 'vices'. 或是之亡(woo),—'perhaps there is the absence of them.' The next par. shows that worse things had taken their place. 2.That 肆 is only 'a disregard of smaller matters', or conventionalisms, appears from its opposition to 荡, which has a more intense signification than in ch.8. 矜, as in XV.21, also with an intenser meaning. 廉, 'an angular corner', which cannot be impinged against without causing pain. It is used for 'purity' , 'modesty', but the meaning here appears to be that given in the translation.