"No use doing that," said Tsz-kung; "he is irreproachable. The wisdom
and worth of other men are little hills and mounds of earth:
traversible. He is the sun, or the moon, impossible to reach and pass.
And what harm, I ask, can a man do to the sun or the moon, by wishing to
intercept himself from either? It all shows that he knows not how to
gauge capacity."

Tsz-k'in, addressing Tsz-kung, said, "You depreciate yourself. Confucius
is surely not a greater worthy than yourself."

Tsz-kung replied, "In the use of words one ought never to be
incautious; because a gentleman for one single utterance of his is apt
to be considered a wise man, and for a single utterance may be accounted
unwise. No more might one think of attaining to the Master's perfections
than think of going upstairs to Heaven! Were it ever his fortune to be
at the head of the government of a country, then that which is spoken of
as 'establishing the country' would be establishment indeed; he would be
its guide and it would follow him, he would tranquillize it and it would
render its willing homage: he would give forward impulses to it to which
it would harmoniously respond. In his life he would be its glory, at his
death there would be great lamentation. How indeed could such as he be
equalled?"



BOOK XX

Extracts from the Book of History