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

When he returned and went into his house, he did not appear in his courtyard{fr. 2} for three months{fr. 2}. (When he came out), Lan Zü{fr. 3} (his disciple) asked him, saying, 'Master, why have you for this some time avoided the courtyard so much?' Kwang-dze replied, 'I was guarding my person, and forgot myself; I was looking at turbid water, till I {fn. 1. Kwang-dze might now have shot the bird, but we like him the better for letting it alone.} {fn. 2. So then, masters of schools, like Kwang-dze, received and taught their disciples in the courtyard of their house;--in China as elsewhere. For three 'months,' it is conjectured, we should read three 'days.'} {fn. 3. The disciple Lan Zü appears here, but not, so far as I know, elsewhere.} {p. 41} mistook the clear pool. And moreover I have heard the Master say{fr. 1}, "Going where certain customs prevail, you should follow those customs." I was walking about in the park of Tiâo-ling, and forgot myself. A strange bird brushed past my forehead, and went flying about in the grove of chestnuts, where it forgot the true (art of preserving itself). The forester of the chestnut grove thought that I was a fitting object for his reproach. These are the reasons why I have avoided the courtyard.' 9. Yang-dze, having gone to Sung, passed the night in a lodging-house, the master of which had two concubines;--one beautiful, the other ugly{fr. 2}. The ugly one was honoured, however, and the beautiful one contemned. Yang-dze asked the reason, and a little boy of the house replied, 'The beauty knows her beauty, and we do not recognise it. The ugly one knows her ugliness, and we do not recognise it.' Yang-dze said, 'Remember it, my disciples. Act virtuously, and put away the practice of priding yourselves on your virtue. If you do this, where can you go to that you will not be loved{fr. 3}?'