passionate grief, so that those who were with him said: Master, your sorrow is too passionate.—Is it too passionate? he replied. Whose death should be a cause for violent grief, if not this man's?
On one occasion there were standing in attendance on the Master Min Tzǔ, looking gentle and mild; Tzǔ Lu, looking upright and soldierly; Jan Yu and Tzǔ Kung, looking frank and affable. The Master was pleased. " A man like Yu," he remarked, "will not come by a natural death."[1]
The Master said: Why is Yu playing his martial music at my door?—The disciples began to lose their respect for Tzǔ Lu, whereupon the Master said: Yu has ascended the steps of the temple, though he has not yet reached the inner sanctuary.
Tzǔ Kung asked which was the man of greater worth, Shih or Shang. The Master replied: Shih exceeds and Shang falls short.—Then Shih is the better of the two?—The Master said: To exceed is as bad as to fall short.
- ↑ "This prediction was verified. When Confucius returned to Lu from Wei, he left Tzǔ Lu and Tzǔ Kao engaged there in official service. Troubles arose. News came to Lu, B.C. 479, that a revolution was in progress in Wei, and when Confucius heard it, he said, 'Ch'ai will come here, but Yu will die.' So it turned out. When Tzǔ Kao saw that matters were desperate he made his escape, but Tzǔ Lu would not forsake the chief who had treated him well. He threw himself into the mêlée and was slain."—Legge, Life of Confucius.
