Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/174

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156
THE Lî Kî.
BK. II.

away; and that hiding (of the body) is from a wish that men should not see it. Hence there are the clothes sufficient for an elegant covering; the coffin all round about the clothes; the shell all round about the coffin; and the earth all round about the shell. And shall we farther raise a mound over the grave and plant it with trees?"

26. At the mourning for Confucius, there came a man from Yen to see (what was done), and lodged at Зze-hsiâ's. Зze-hsiâ said to him, 'If it had been for the sage's conducting a burial, (there would have been something worthy to see); but what is there to see in our burying of the sage? Formerly the Master made some remarks to me, saying, "I have seen some mounds made like a raised hall; others like a dyke on a river's bank; others like the roof of a large house; and others in the shape of an axe-head." We have followed the axe-shape, making what is called the horse-mane mound. In one day we thrice shifted the frame-boards, and completed the mound. I hope we have carried out the wish of the Master.'

27. Women (in mourning) do not (change) the girdle made of dolichos fibre.

28. When new offerings (of grain or fruits) are presented (beside the body in the coffin), they should be (abundant), like the offerings on the first day of the moon.

29. When the interment has taken place, everyone should make a change in his mourning dress.

30. The gutters of the tent-like frame over the coffin should be like the double gutters of a house.

31. When a ruler succeeds to his state, he makes