loving; his friends who are fellow-officers will proclaim him virtuous; and his friends who are his associates will proclaim him true[1].
4. 4. When he sees an intimate friend of his father, not to presume to go forward to him without being told to do so; nor to retire without being told; nor to address him without being questioned:—this is the conduct of a filial son. 5. A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he is going); when he returns, he must present himself before them. Where he travels must be in some fixed (region); what he engages in must be some (reputable) occupation. 6. In ordinary conversation (with his parents), he does not use the term "old" (with reference to them)[2]. 7. He should serve one twice as old as himself as he serves his father, one ten years older than himself as an elder brother; with one five years older he should walk shoulder to shoulder, but (a little) behind him. 8. When five are sitting together, the eldest must have a different mat (by himself)[3]. 9. A son should not occupy the
south-west corner of the apartment, nor sit in the
- ↑ The gifts of distinction, conferred by the sovereign on officers, ministers, and feudal princes, were nine in all; and the enumerations of them are not always the same. The three intended here are the appointment to office, or rank; the robes belonging to it; and the chariot and horses. We must suppose that the rank placed the son higher than the father in social position, and that he declines the third gift from humility,—not to parade himself as superior to his father and others in his circle.
- ↑ Some understand the rule to be that the son is not to speak of himself as old; but the meaning in the translation is the more approved.
- ↑ Four men were the proper complement for a mat; the eldest of the five therefore was honoured with another mat for himself.
