Sacred Books of the East Vol. 40 - Taoism Vol. 2

{fn. 1. I suppose the Tâo; but none of the commentators, so far as I have seen, say anything about the expression.} {fn. 2. Compare the long discourse of Confucius with Yen Hui, on the latter's proposing to go to Wei, in Bk. IV.} {fn. 3. Kwan Î-wû or Kwan Kung, the chief minister of duke Hwan of Khî, whom he is supposed to have in view in his 'small bag and short rope.'} {p. 8} it there, will suspect the speaker; and that speaker, being suspected, will be put to death. And have you not heard this?--Formerly a sea-bird alighted in the suburban country of Lû{fr. 1}. The marquis went out to meet it, (brought it) to the ancestral temple, and prepared to banquet it there. The Kiû-shâo{fr. 2} was performed to afford it music; an ox, a sheep, and a pig were killed to supply the food. The bird, however, looked at everything with dim eyes, and was very sad. It did not venture to eat a single bit of flesh, nor to drink a single cupful; and in three days it died. 'The marquis was trying to nourish the bird with what he used for himself, and not with the nourishment proper for a bird. They who would nourish birds as they ought to be nourished should let them perch in the deep forests, or roam over sandy plains; float on the rivers and lakes; feed on the eels and small fish; wing their flight in regular order and then stop; and be free and at ease in their resting-places. It was a distress to that bird to hear men speak; what did it care for all the noise and hubbub made about it? If the music of the Kiû-shâo{fr. 3} or the Hsien-khih{fr. 4} were performed in the wild of the Thung-thing{fr. 4} lake, birds would fly away, and beasts would run off when they heard it, and fishes would dive down to the bottom of the water; while men, when they hear it, would come all round together,