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26

Tzŭ-lu was gathering firewood with Wu-ma Ch`i at the foot of
Mt. Yün. Among the rich men of Ch`ên there was one named


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Ch`u-shih with a hundred decorated chariots, who gave himself up
to feasting on [Mt.] Yün.[1]

Tzŭ-lu said to Wu-ma Ch`i, "If, without forgetting what you
[now] know, but also without advancing any in what you [now]
are capable of, you attained to such wealth as this, provided you
would never get to go back and see the Master again, would you
do it?"

Wu-ma Ch`i, looking toward Heaven with a deep sigh, stopped[2]
and threw his sickle to the ground saying, "I have heard from
the Master that a brave gentleman never forgets that he may lose
his head, while the determined gentleman or the man endowed
with jên never forgets [that his end may be] in a ditch or a stream.[3]
Is it that you do not know me? Or are you trying me? Or is it
perhaps your own intention?"

Tzŭ-lu was mortally ashamed and,[4] shouldering his firewood,
went home first.

Confucius said, "Well, Yu,[5] why do you come back first when
you went out in company?"

Tzŭ-lu said, "A while ago I was gathering firewood with Wu-ma
Ch`i at the foot of Mt. Yün. Among the rich men of Ch`ên
there is one named Ch`u-shih with a hundred decorated chariots,
who has given himself up to feasting on Mt. Yün. I said to Wu-ma
Ch`i, `If, without forgetting what you [now] know, but also without
advancing any in what you [now] are capable of, you attained
to such wealth as this, provided you would never get to go back
and see the Master again, would you do it?' And Wu-ma Ch`i,
looking toward Heaven with a deep sigh, stopped and threw his
sickle to the ground, saying, `I have heard from the Master that
a brave gentleman never forgets that he may lose his head, while


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the determined gentleman or the man endowed with jên never
forgets [that his end may be] in a ditch or a stream. Is it that
you do not know me? Or are you trying me? Or is it perhaps
your own intention?' I was mortally ashamed, and so it was
that I shouldered my firewood and came back first."

Confucius took up his lute and played on it, singing the Ode,[6]

Su-su go the feathers of the wild geese,
As they settle on the bushy oaks.
The king's affairs must not be slackly discharged,
And [so] we cannot plant our millets;
What will our parents have to rely on?
O thou distant and azure[7] Heaven!
When shall we be in our places again?
Shall my way not be practiced? If you are willing. . . ."[8]

 
[1]

For [OMITTED] TPYL 472.6a writes [OMITTED]. Mr. Wang Li-ch`i has collected many
examples of [OMITTED] "ornamented chariots" (as Ch`ien-fu lun 3.7b, Fo kuo chi
[OMITTED], passim), and it is best to accept that reading here in preference to the
rather far fetched explanation advanced by Yüeh (CYTT 17.4b-5a).

[2]

[OMITTED]: Chou defines it as in my translation: [OMITTED].

[3]

Mencius 261-2 (3B/1.2), where the order is slightly different and [OMITTED] is lacking.
The remark is there also attributed to Confucius.

[4]

CHy correctly expunges [OMITTED], which probably was inserted here from its legitimate
occurrence in the same phrase below.

[5]

[OMITTED] as a form of address in familiar discourse also occurs in HSWC 7/6.

[6]

Shih 183 No. 121/1.

[7]

For [OMITTED] as in Mao shih, CHy writes [OMITTED]. Chou Ts`ung-yüan (CCSI 3b) thinks [OMITTED] is the Han shih reading, as Shih k`ao quotes it as a variant.

[8]

[OMITTED]: the text is defective. (Chou.)