Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/136

 124 CHINESE LITERATURE

Kingdoms, the romantic story of which is told in the famous novel to be mentioned later on. Ts'ao Ts'ao's eldest son became the first Emperor of one of these, the Wei Kingdom, and TS'AO CHIH, the poet, occupied an awkward position at court, an object of suspicion and dislike. At ten years of age he already excelled in com- position, so much so that his father thought he must be a plagiarist ; but he settled the question by producing off-hand poems on any given theme. " If all the talent of the world," said a contemporary poet, "were repre- sented by ten, Ts'ao Chih would have eight, I should have one, and the rest of mankind one between them." There is a story that on one occasion, at the bidding of his elder brother, probably with mischievous intent, he composed an impromptu stanza while walking only seven steps. It has been remembered more for its point than its poetry :

" A fine dish of beans had been placed in the pot With a view to a good mess of pottage all hot. The beanstalks, aflame, a fierce heat were begetting, The beans in the pot were all fuming and fretting. Yet the beans and the stalks were not born to be foes; Oh, why should these hurry to finish off those?"

The following extract from a poem of his contains a very well-known maxim, constantly in use at the present day :

" The superior man lakes precautions, And avoids giving cause for suspicion. He will not pull up his shoes in a melon-field, Nor under a plum-tree straighten his hat. Brothers- and sisters-in-law may not join hands, Elders and youngers may not walk abreast; By toil and humility the handle is grasped; Moderate your brilliancy, and difficulties disappear?

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