________________
PIÃO KI.
335
the superior man measures men with the scale of righteousness, he finds it difficult to discover the men (whom he seeks); when he looks at men and compares them with one another, he knows who among them are the more worthy.'
19. The Master said, 'It is only one man (here and there) under heaven, who with his heart of hearts naturally rests in humanity. It is said in the Tâ Yâ, or Major Odes of the Kingdom (III, iii, ode 6, 6),
BK. XXIX.
"Virtue is very light,
Light as a hair, yet few can bear The burden of its weight.
'Tis so; but Kung Shan, as I think, Needs not from virtue's weight to shrink That other men defies.
Aid from my love his strength rejects. (If the king's measures have defects, What's needed he supplies)."
'In the Hsiao Yâ, or Minor Odes of the Kingdom, it is said (II, vii, ode 4, 5),
"To the high hills I looked; The great way I pursued."'
The Master said, 'So did the poets love (the exhibition of) humanity. (They teach us how) one should pursue the path of it, not giving over in the way, forgetting his age, taking no thought that the years before him will not be sufficient (for his task), urging on his course with earnestness from day to day, and only giving up when he sinks in death.'
20. The Master said, 'Long has the attainment of a perfect humanity been difficult among men! all men err in what they love ;-and hence it is easy to
Digitized by
Google
