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BK. XLIV.
YEN 1.
457
concubines ? (also) took their places below in their regular order. The cup being presented to the ruler, he begins the general pledging, and offers the cup to the high dignitaries. They continue the ceremony, and offer the cup to the Great officers, who offer it in turn to the (other) officers, and these finally offer it to the sons of concubines. The stands and dishes, with the flesh of the animals 3, and the savoury viands, were all proportioned to the differences of rank in the guests :--and thus the distinction was shown between the noble and the mean.
· This is a common meaning of the phrase shQ-zze. We cannot suppose that there is a reference to the officer so called in paragraph 1. He was of too high a rank to be placed after the officers, who ranked below the Great officers. Nor can we suppose that it denotes here 'the sons of the state' under his charge.
The ruler did this by his deputy, the chief cook, who officiated for him on the occasion. All the different offerings are said to have been made by him indeed; but that is not the natural interpretation of the text.
• Khăn Hảo says these were dogs; see above, page 443, para- graph 17.
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