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The Duke of Chou said to the Duke of Lu, A gentleman does not forsake kinsmen, nor offend his great lieges by not using them. He will not cast off an old friend unless he have big cause; he does not ask everything of anyone.

微子第十八

BOOK XVIII

7. 子路從而後，遇丈人，以杖荷蓧，子路問曰：「子見夫子乎？」丈人曰：「四體不勤， 五穀不分，孰為夫子！」植其杖而芸。子路拱而立。止子路宿，殺雞為黍而食之，見其二子焉。明日，子路行以告。子曰：「隱者也。」使子路反見之。至，則行矣。子路曰：「不士無義，長幼之節，不可廢也。君臣之義，如之何其廢之？欲潔其身，而亂大倫。君子之仕也，行其義也，道之不行，已知之矣！」

Tzu-lu, who was following behind, met an old man carrying a basket on his staff.
Tzu-lu asked him, Have ye seen the Master, Sir?
The old man answered, Thy four limbs are idle, thou canst not sort the five seeds: who is thy Master?
And he planted his staff, and weeded.
Tzu-lu stood and bowed.
He kept Tzu-lu for the night, killed a fowl, made millet, gave them him to eat, and presented his two sons.
Tzu-lu left the next day, and told the Master.
The Master said, He is in hiding.
He sent Tzu-lu back to see him; but when he arrived he had gone.
Tzu-lu said, Not to take office is not right. If the ties of old and young cannot be thrown off, how can he throw off the liege's duty to his lord? He wishes to keep his life clean, but he is unsettling the bonds between men. To discharge that duty a gentleman takes office, though he knows beforehand that the Way will not be kept.

8. 逸民：伯夷、叔齊、虞仲、夷逸、朱張、柳下惠、少連。子曰：「不降其志，不辱其 身，伯夷叔齊與？」謂柳下惠、少連：「降志辱身矣；言中倫，行中慮，其斯而已矣！」謂虞仲、夷逸：「隱居放言，身中清，廢中權。」「我則異於是，無可無不可。」

Po-yi, Shu-ch'i, Yü-chung, Yi-yi, Chu-chang, Liu-hsia Hui and Shao-lien were men that hid from the world.
The Master said, Po-yi and Shu-ch'i did not bend the will or shame the body.
We must say that Liu-hsia Hui and Shao-lien bent the will and shamed the body. Their words hit man's duty, their deeds hit our hopes. This we can say and no more.
We may say that Yü-chung and Yi-yi lived hidden, but were free of speech. Their lives were clean, their retreat was well weighed.
But I am unlike all of them: there is nothing I must, or must not, do.

9. 大師摯適齊，亞飯干適楚，三飯繚適蔡，四飯缺適秦；鼓方叔，入於河；播武， 入於漢；少師陽，擊磬襄，入於海。

Chih, the Great Music-master, went to Ch'i; Kan, the conductor at the second meal, went to Ch'u; Liao, the conductor at the third meal, went to Ts'ai; Chüeh, the conductor at the fourth meal, went to Ch'in. The drum master Fang-shu crossed the River; the tambourine master Wu crossed the Han; Yang the second bandmaster and Hsiang, who played the sounding stones, crossed the sea.

10. 周公謂魯公曰：「君子不施其親，不使大臣，怨乎不以。故舊無大故，則不棄也。無 求備於一人。」

The Duke of Chou said to the Duke of Lu, A gentleman does not forsake kinsmen, nor offend his great lieges by not using them. He will not cast off an old friend unless he have big cause; he does not ask everything of anyone.

11. 周有八士：伯達、伯适、仲突、仲忽、叔夜、叔夏、季隨、季騧。子張

Chou had eight knights: Po-ta and Po-kuo, Chung-tu and Chung-hu, Shu-yeh and Shu-hsia, Chi-sui and Chi-kua.