Confucius had gone on a journey[2]
when Chien-tzŭ was about
to kill Yang Hu. Confucius resembled the latter, and [Chien-tzŭ]
surrounded Confucius' dwelling with troops.
[3]
Tzŭ-lu was angry,
and, brandishing a lance, was about to strike when Confucius
stopped him, saying, "Yu, how is it you are so lacking in an
abundance of
jên and
i? If the
Shih and the
Shu are not studied,
if rites (
li) and music are not explained, that is my fault. If when
I am not Yang Hu, they take me for Yang Hu, that is not my
fault; it is fate. You sing and I will accompany you."
[4]
Tzŭ-lu sang and Confucius accompanied him. When they had
finished three strophes, the soldiers had left off surrounding them.
The Ode says,[5]
This is how through a display of the harmony of flourishing virtue
noninterference is practiced.
