with good words, I am afraid that what I should say would not
suit your ideas, so that I should speak in vain and not be listened
to. The only way in which I can requite it, is by recommending to
your notice men of worth.' The duke said. 'Men of worth are
exactly what I desire.' 'Nay,' said Chi. 'you are not able to
appreciate them.' 'Nevertheless,' was the reply, 'I should like to
hear whom you consider deserving that name.' Tsze-sze replied,
'Do you wish to select your officers for the name they may have
or for their reality?' 'For their reality, certainly,' said the duke.
His guest then said, 'In the eastern borders of your State, there is
one Li Yin, who is a man of real worth.' 'What were his
grandfather and father?' asked the duke. 'They were husbandmen,'
was the reply, on which the duke broke into a loud laugh, saying, '
I do not like husbandry. The son of a husbandman cannot be fit for
me to employ. I do not put into office all the cadets of those
families even in which office is hereditary.' Tsze-sze observed, 'I
mention Li Yin because of his abilities; what has the fact of his
forefathers being husbandmen to do with the case? And moreover,
the duke of Chau was a great sage, and K'ang-shu was a great
worthy. Yet if you examine their beginnings, you will find that
from the business of husbandry they came forth to found their
States. I did certainly have my doubts that in the selection of
your officers you did not have regard to their real character and
capacity.' With this the conversation ended. The duke was silent
[1].
Tsze-sze was naturally led to Sung, as the K'ung family
originally sprang from that principality. One account, quoted in
'The

1 See the ¤ó©mÃÐ,¨÷¤@¦Ê¤G,¤Õ¤ó,¤Õ¥ù.