Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/167

 4. Yû-jze asked Зǎng-jze if he had ever questioned the Master about (an officer's) losing his place. "I heard from him," was the reply, "that the officer in such a case should wish to become poor quickly, (just as) we should wish to decay away quickly when we have died." Yû-jze said, "These are not the words of a superior man." "I heard them from the Master," returned Зǎng-jze. Yû-jze repeated that they were not the words of a superior man, and the other affirmed that both he and Зze-yû had heard them. "Yes, yes," said Yû-jze, "but the Master must have spoken them with a special reference." Зǎng-jze reported Yû-jze's words to Зze-yû, who said, 'How very like his words are to those of the Master! Formerly, when the Master was staying in Sung, he saw that Hwan, the minister of War, had been for three years having a stone coffin made for himself without its being finished, and said, "What extravagance! It would be better that when dead he should quickly decay away." It was with reference to Hwan, the minister of War, that he said, "We should wish to decay away quickly when we die." When Nan-kung King-shû returned (to the state), he made it a point to carry his treasures with him in his carriage when he went to court, on which the Master said, "Such an amount of property! It would have been better for him, when he lost his office, to make haste to become poor." It was with reference to Nan-kung King-shû that he said that