2. King Wû acted according to the example (of
Wǎn), not presuming to go (in anything) beyond it.
When king Wǎn was ill, Wû nursed him without
taking off his cap or girdle. When king Win took
a meal, he also took a meal; and when king Wǎn
took a second, he did the same. It was not till after
twelve days that he intermitted his attentions.
King Wǎn said to Wû, "What have you been dreaming?" "I dreamt," was the reply, "that God gave me nine ling?" "And what do you think was the meaning?" King Wû said, "There are nine states in the west;—may it not mean that you will yet bring them all under your happy sway?" Wǎn said, "That was not the meaning. Anciently they called a year ling. The age is also called ling. I am 100; and you are 90. I give you three years." King Wǎn was 97 when he died, and king Wû was 93[1].
3. King Khǎng, being quite young, could not perform his part at the eastern steps[2]. The duke of Kâu acted as regent, trod those steps, and
- ↑ It is difficult to understand and interpret the latter half of this paragraph. The Khien-lung editors say that, according to the ordinary accounts, king Wû was born when Wǎn was fifteen years old, and there was an elder son, Yî-khâo, who died prematurely; whereas king Wû died at 93, leaving his son Sung (king Khǎng) only seven years old. "Wǎn," they said, "must have married very early, and Wû very late." They say also that they cannot understand the text that Wǎn gave to his son "three years," &c., and suppose that some erroneous tradition has here been introduced.
- ↑ The king received his nobles at the top of the eastern steps. The phrase="in the government of the kingdom."
Wǎn was born in B.C. 1258, and named Khang (昌). King Kî died in 1185, when he was in his seventy-fourth year.
