Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/124

 before matter existed, and that all such knowledge is beyond the scope of humanity. To the question of the Emperor whether there is any limit to the expanse of the universe, the Minister replies by avowing his entire ignorance; and when the Emperor presses the matter home by saying that "where nothing exists, that is the Infinite, but where there is existence there must be finality," the Minister says plainly that nobody can know anything about the Infinite, as, by the nature of the case, human knowledge is confined to what is limited and finite. Heaven and earth are simply contained in the great whole of the infinite Universe. How, he asks, can we know that there is not a larger Cosmos, over and above the manifestation of Cosmos that we can see? Then the conversation tails off into a mass of mythology, more curious than important, into which we have no space to follow it.

Confucius at Fault.

One day, as Confucius was travelling in an easterly direction, he came upon two small boys quarrelling, and asked what was the matter. The first replied, "I contend that when the sun rises it is near to us, and that at the zenith it is a long way off." "And I," said the other, "say that it is farthest when it rises, and nearest in the middle of the day." "It isn't," protested the first. "When the sun rises it looks as big as the tent of a cart, while in the middle of the day it is only the size of a saucer. Isn't it clear that when it is farthest it looks small, and when nearest it looks big?" Then the second replied, "But when the sun rises it is quite chilly and cold, while at mid-day it is broiling hot; and doesn't it stand to reason that it is hottest when it is near, and coldest when far off?" Confucius confessed himself unable to decide