! A good man I shall not live to see; enough could I
find a steadfast one! But when nothing poses as something, cloud as
substance and want as riches, it is hard indeed to be steadfast!

26. The Master angled, but he did not fish with a net; he shot, but
not at birds sitting.

27. The Master said, There may be men that do things without knowing
why. I do not. To hear much, pick out the good and follow it; to see
much and think it over; this comes next to wisdom.

28. To talk to the Hu village was hard. When a lad was seen by the
Master, the disciples doubted.

The Master said, I allow his coming, not what he does later. Why be so
harsh? If a man cleans himself to come in, I admit his cleanness, but
do not warrant his past.

[Footnote 69: In 495 B.C., during Confucius's wanderings, Huan T'ui
sent a band of men to kill him; but why he did so is not known.]

29. The Master said, Is love so far a thing? I long for love, and lo!
love is come.

30. A judge of Ch'en asked whether Duke Chao[70] knew good form.

Confucius answered, He knew good form.

After Confucius had left, the judge beckoned Wu-ma Ch'i[71] to him,
and said, I had heard that gentlemen are of no party, but do they,
too, take sides? This lord married a Wu, whose name was the same as
his, and called her Miss Tzu of Wu: if he knew good form, who does not
know good form?

When Wu-ma Ch'i told the Master this he said, How lucky I am! If I go
wrong, men are sure to know it!

31. When anyone sang to the Master, and sang well, he made him sing it
again and joined in.

32. The Master said, I have no more reading than others; to live as a
gentleman is not yet mine.

33. The Master said, How dare I lay claim to holiness or love? A man
of endless craving, who never tires of teaching, I might be called,
but that is all.

That is just what we disciples cannot learn, said Kung-hsi Hua.

34. When the Master was very ill, Tzu-lu asked leave to pray.

Is it done? said the Master.

[Footnote 70: Duke Chao of Lu (+ 510 B.C.) was the duke that first
employed Confucius. It is against Chinese custom for a man to marry a
girl whose surname is the same as his.]

[Footnote 71: A disciple of Confucius.]

It is, answered Tzu-lu. The Memorials say, Pray to the spirits above
and to the Earth below.

The Master said, Long-lasting has my prayer been.

35. The Master said, Waste makes men unruly, thrift makes them mean;
but they are better mean than unruly.

36.