"Act at once according to the instruction that is given to you." Now I am puzzled, and beg for an explanation.—The Master replied: Ch'iu is apt to hang back, therefore I press him on. Yu has eagerness enough for two, therefore I hold him back.
Chi Tzǔ-jan[1] asked if Chung Yu and Jan Ch'iu could be termed great ministers. The Master said: I thought you had something extraordinary to ask about, and now it turns out to be a question about Yu and Ch'iu. What men call a great minister is one who serves his prince according to the principles of truth and virtue, and when that is impossible, resigns. Yu and Ch'iu, however, can only be termed ordinary officials.—Which is as much as to say that they will always obediently follow their master's will?—The Master replied: They would not follow him so far as to commit patricide or regicide.
The Master said: Yu is the man to settle a long litigation in a few words.
Tzǔ Kung was fond of weighing other men's merits and defects. The Master said: Surely Tz'ǔ must be a very great sage! Personally, I have no time for this.
- ↑ A member of the ambitious family which was scheming to get the whole power of the dukedom into its own hands. The two disciples here mentioned had recently been enlisted in its service, and Chi Tzǔ-jan is anxious to find out how far they can be relied upon in case of need. Confucius sees through his nefarious designs.
