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104
THE TEXTS OF TÂOISM.
BK, XXIV.
the men who lose themselves ?; I also pity the men who pity others (for not being known); and I also pity the men who pity the men who pity those that pity others. But since then the time is long gone by; (and so I am in the state in which you have found me)?
10. Kung-nî, having gone to Khở, the king ordered wine to be presented to him. Sun Shd-ao 3 stood, holding the goblet in his hand. I-liâo of Shih-nan , having received (a cup), poured its contents out as a sacrificial libation, and said, 'The men of old, on such an occasion as this, made some speech.' Kung-ni said, 'I have heard of speech without words; but I have never spoken it; I will do so now. I-liâo of Shih-nan kept (quietly) handling his little spheres,
In seeking for worldly honours. • That is, I have abjured all desire for worldly honour, and desire attainment in the Tâo alone.
3 See Mencius VI, ii, 15. Sun Shû-âo was chief minister to king Khwang who died in B. C. 591, and died, probably, before Confucius was born, and l-liâo (p. 28, n. 3) appears in public life only after the death of the sage. The three men could not have appeared together at any time. This account of their doing so was devised by our author as a peg on which to hang his own lessons in the rest of the paragraph. The two historical events referred to I have found it difficult to discover. They are instances of doing nothing, and yet thereby accomplishing what is very great. The action of I-liâo inquietly handling his balls' recalls my seeing the same thing done by a gentleman at Khü-sâu, the city of Confucius, in 1873. Being left there with a companion, and not knowing how to get to the Grand Canal, many gentlemen came to advise with us how we should proceed. Among them was one who, while tendering his advice, kept rolling about two brass balls in one palm with the fingers of the other hand. When I asked the meaning of his action, I was told, To show how he is at his ease and master of the situation.' I mention the circumstance because I have nowhere found the phrase in the text adequately explained.
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