not documents enough, nor men
learned enough. If only they had such, I could refer them to them in
support of their usages.

"When I am present at the great quinquennial sacrifice to the _manes_
of the royal ancestors," the Master said, "from the pouring-out of the
oblation onwards, I have no heart to look on."

Some one asked what was the purport of this great sacrifice, and the
Master replied, "I cannot tell. The position in the empire of him who
could tell you is as evident as when you look at this"--pointing to
the palm of his hand.

When he offered sacrifices to his ancestors, he used to act as if they
were present before him. In offering to other spirits it was the same.

He would say, "If I do not myself take part in my offerings, it is all
the same as if I did not offer them."

Wang-sun Kia asked him once, "What says the proverb, 'Better to court
favor in the kitchen than in the drawing-room'?" The Master replied,
"Nay, better say, He who has sinned against Heaven has none other to
whom prayer may be addressed."

Of the Chow dynasty the Master remarked, "It looks back upon two other
dynasties; and what a rich possession it has in its records of those
times! I follow Chow!"

On his first entry into the grand temple, he inquired about every
matter connected with its usages. Some one thereupon remarked, "Who
says that the son of the man of Tsou[8] understands about ceremonial?
On entering the grand temple he inquired about everything." This
remark coming to the Master's ears, he said, "What I did is part of
the ceremonial!"

"In archery," he said, "the great point to be observed is not simply
the perforation of the leather; for men have not all the same
strength. That was the fashion in the olden days."

Once, seeing that his disciple Tsz-kung was desirous that the
ceremonial observance of offering a sheep at the new moon might be
dispensed with, the Master said, "Ah! you grudge the loss of the
sheep; I grudge the loss of the ceremony."

"To serve one's ruler nowadays," he remarked, "fully complying with
the Rules of Propriety, is regarded by others as toadyism!"

When Duke Ting questioned him as to how a prince should deal with his
ministers, and how they in turn should serve their prince, Confucius
said in reply, "In dealing with his ministers a prince should observe
the proprieties; in serving his prince a minister should observe the
duty of loyalty."

Referring to the First of the Odes, he remar