Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/363

 question as to what they were, replied:—"The death of the son of Heaven; the grand ancestral temple taking fire; an eclipse of the sun; the funeral rites of the queen or of the princess of the state; and their robes all unsightly through soaking rain."

3. 𝖅ǎng-𝖟ze said, "At the seasonal sacrifices of the son of Heaven, at those to Heaven and Earth, and at (any of) the five sacrifices of the house, after the vessels, round and square, with their contents have been set forth, if there occur the death of the son of Heaven or mourning rites for the queen, what should be done?"

Confucius said, "The sacrifice should be stopped." The other asked, "If, during the sacrifice, there occur an eclipse of the sun, or the grand ancestral temple take fire, what should be done?" The reply was, "The steps of the sacrifice should be hurried on. If the victim have arrived, but has not yet been slain, the sacrifice should be discontinued."

4. "When the son of Heaven has died and is not yet coffined, the sacrifices of the house are not offered. When he is coffined, they are resumed; but at any one of them the representative of the dead takes (only) three mouthfuls (of the food), and is not urged (to take more). He is then presented with a cup, but does not respond by presenting another, and there is an end (of the ceremony). From the removal of the coffin to the return (from the burial) and the subsequent wailing, those sacrifices (again) cease. After the burial they are offered, but when the officer of prayer has finished the cup presented to him, they stop."

5. 𝖅ǎng-𝖟ze asked, "At the sacrifices to the spirits