1841.
Illustrations of Men and Things in China.
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filled up, the fishes and turtles will have nowhere to go; do away with kings and nobles, and the common people will have much dispute about right and wrong; obliterate slaves and servants, and who will there be to serve the prince? If the empire be so vast and unsettled, how can it be equalized ?” Confucius again asked, “Can you tell, under the whole sky, what fire has no smoke, what water no fish; what hill has no stones, what tree no branch- es; what man has no wife, what woman no husband; what cow has no calf, what mare no colt; what cock has no hen, what hen no cock; what consti- tutes an excellent man, and what an inferior man ; what is that which has not enough, and what that has an overplus; what city is without a market, and who is the man without a style?"
The boy replied, "A glowworm's fire has no smoke, and well-water no fish ; a mound of earth has no stones, and a rotten tree no branches; genii have no wives, and fairies no husbands; earthen cows have no calves, nor wooden mares any colts; lonely cocks have no hens, and widowed hens no cocks; he who is worthy is an excellent man, and a fool is an inferior man ; a winter's day is not long enough, and a summer's day is too long; the imperial city has no market, and little folks have no style.'
Confucius inquiring said, "Do you know what are the connecting bonds between heaven and earth, and what is the beginning and ending of the dual powers? What is left, and what is right; what is out, and what in; who is father, and who is mother; who is husband and who is wife? [Do_you know] where the wind comes from, and from whence the. rain? From whence the clouds issue, and the dew arises? And for how many tens of thousands of miles the sky and earth go parallel?"
The youth answering said, "Nine multiplied nine times makes eighty-one, which is the controlling bond of heaven and earth; eight multiplied into nine makes seventy-two, the beginning and end of the dual powers. Heaven is father, and earth is mother; the sun is husband, and the moon wife; east is left, and west is right; without is out, and inside is in; the winds come from Tsang-woo, and the rains proceed from wastes and wilds; the clouds issue from the hills, and the dew rises from the ground. Sky and earth go parallel for ten thousand times ten thousand miles, and the four points of compass have each their stations.'
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Confucius asking, said, "Which do you say is the nearest relation, father and mother, or husband and wife?" The boy responded, “ One's parents are near; husband and wife are not [so] near.'
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Confucius rejoined, "While husband and wife are alive, they sleep under the same coverlet; when they are dead, they lie in the same grave: how then can you say they are not near?" The boy replied, "A man without a wife is like a carriage without a wheel: if there be no wheel, another one is made, for he can doubtless get a new one: so, if one's wife die, he seeks again, for he also can obtain a new one. The daughter of a worthy family must certainly marry an honorable husband: a house having ten rooms always has a plate and a ridge-pole: three windows and six lattices do not give the light of a single door: the whole host of stars with all their sparkling brilliance do not equal the splendor of the solitary moon: the affection of a father and mother-alas, if it be once lost !”
Confucius sighing, said, "How clever! how worthy!" The boy asking the sage said, "You have just now been giving me questions, which I have answered one by one; I now wish to seek instruction; will the teacher in one sentence, afford me some plain instruction? I shall be much gratified, if my request be not rejected." He then said, "Why is it that mal- lards and ducks are able to swin; how is it that wild geese and cranes can sing; and why are firs and pines green through the winter?" Confucius re-