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

4. Some literati, students of the Odes and Ceremonies, were breaking open a mound over a grave{fr. 4}. The superior among them spoke down to the others, 'Day is breaking in the east; how is the thing going on?' The younger men replied, 'We have not yet opened his jacket and skirt, but there is a pearl in the mouth. As it is said in the Ode, {fn. 1. The {img 13400} of the text = {img 13401}, the still giving its name to the province so called.} {fn. 2. Where Shun was buried.} {fn. 3. This last sentence is difficult to construe, and to understand.--The genuineness of this paragraph is also questioned, and the style is inferior to that of the preceding.} {fn. 4. I can conceive of Kwang-dze telling this story of some literati who had been acting as resurrectionists, as a joke against their class; but not of his writing it to form a part of his work.} "The bright, green grain Is growing on the sides of the mound. {p. 135} While living, he gave nothing away; Why, when dead, should he hold a pearl in his mouth{fr. 1}?"' Thereupon they took hold of the whiskers and pulled at the beard, while the superior introduced a piece of fine steel into the chin, and gradually separated the jaws, so as not to injure the pearl in the mouth. 5. A disciple of Lâo Lâi-dze{fr. 2}, while he was out gathering firewood, met with Kung-nî. On his return, he told (his master), saying, 'There is a man there, the upper part of whose body is long and the lower part short. He is slightly hump-backed, and his ears are far back. When you look at him, he seems occupied with the cares of all within the four seas I do not know whose son he is.' Lâo Lâi-dze said, It is Khiû; call him here;' and when Kung-nî came, he said to him, 'Khiû, put away your personal conceit, and airs of wisdom, and show yourself to be indeed a superior man.' Kung-nî bowed and was retiring, when he abruptly changed his manner, and asked, 'Will the object I am pursuing be thereby advanced?' Lao Lâi-dze replied, 'You cannot bear the sufferings of this one age, and are stubbornly regardless of the