| Tan Gong II: |
There was an old acquaintance of Confucius, called Yuan Zang. When his mother died, the Master assisted him in preparing the shell for the coffin. Yuan (then) got up on the wood, and said, 'It is long since I sang to anything;' and (with this he struck the wood), singing: 'It is marked like a wild cat's head; It is(smooth) as a young lady's hand which you hold.' The Master, however, made as if he did not hear, and passed by him. The disciples who were with him said, 'Can you not have done with him?' 'I have heard,' was the reply, 'that relations should not forget their relationship, nor old acquaintances their friendship,' |
