4. Yû-jze asked Зǎng-jze if he had ever questioned
the Master about (an officer's) losing his place. "I
heard from him," was the reply, "that the officer in
such a case should wish to become poor quickly,
(just as) we should wish to decay away quickly
when we have died." Yû-jze said, "These are not
the words of a superior man." "I heard them
from the Master," returned Зǎng-jze. Yû-jze
repeated that they were not the words of a superior
man, and the other affirmed that both he and
Зze-yû had heard them. "Yes, yes," said Yû-jze,
"but the Master must have spoken them with a
special reference." Зǎng-jze reported Yû-jze's words
to Зze-yû, who said, 'How very like his words are
to those of the Master! Formerly, when the Master
was staying in Sung, he saw that Hwan, the
minister of War, had been for three years having
a stone coffin made for himself without its being
finished, and said, "What extravagance! It would
be better that when dead he should quickly decay
away." It was with reference to Hwan, the
minister of War, that he said, "We should wish to
decay away quickly when we die." When Nan-kung
King-shû returned (to the state), he made
it a point to carry his treasures with him in his
carriage when he went to court, on which the
Master said, "Such an amount of property! It
would have been better for him, when he lost his
office, to make haste to become poor." It was with
reference to Nan-kung King-shû that he said that
Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/167
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
SECT. I. PT. III.
THE THAN KUNG.
149