Chinese and Arabian Literature - E. Wilson - The Search For Mecca

—
THE ANALECTS 37
There are three points which a man of rank in the management
of his duties should set store upon :—A Hvely manner
and deportment, banishing both severity and laxity ; a frank
and open expression of countenance, allied closely with sin-
cerity; and a tone in his utterances utterly free from any approach
to vulgarity and impropriety. As to matters of bowls
and dishes, leave such things to those who are charged with the
care of them."
Another saying of the Scholar Tsang : " I once had a friend
who, though he possessed ability, would go questioning men of
none, and, though surrounded by numbers, would go with his
questions to isolated individuals ; who also, whatever he might
have, appeared as if he were without it, and, with all his substantial
acquirements, made as though his mind were a mere
blank ; and when insulted would not retaliate ;—this was ever
his way."
Again he said : " The man that is capable of being intrusted
with the charge of a minor on the throne, and given authority
over a large territory, and who, during the important term of
his superintendence cannot be forced out of his position, is
not such a ' '
superior man ? That he is, indeed."
Again :— " The learned official must not be without breadth
and power of endurance : the burden is heavy, and the way is
long.
" Suppose that he take his duty to his fellow-men as his
peculiar burden, is that not indeed a heavy one? And since
only with death it is done with, is not the way long? "
Sentences of the Master :
" From the 'Book of Odes ' we receive impulses ; from the
' Book of the Rules,' stability ; from the ' Book on Music,' re-
finement.^**
" The people may be put into the way they should go, though
they may not be put into the way of understanding it.
" The man who likes bravery, and yet groans under poverty,
has mischief in him. So, too, has the misanthrope, groaning
at any severity shown towards him.
" Even if a person were adorned with the gifts of the Duke of
Chow, yet if he were proud and avaricious, all the rest of his
qualities would not indeed be worth looking at.
^ Comparison of three of the Classics: the " Shi- King," the " Li Ki," and the
" Yoh." The last is lost.