the rules of propriety, becomes timidity; boldness, without the rules
of propriety, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness,
without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.
2. 'When those who are in high stations perform well all their
duties to their relations, the people are aroused to virtue. When old
friends are not neglected by them, the people are preserved from
meanness.'
CHAP. III. The philosopher Tsang being ill, he called to him
the disciples of his school, and said, 'Uncover my feet, uncover my
hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry, "We should be apprehensive
and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin
ice," and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape
from all injury to my person, O ye, my little children.'

CHAP. IV. 1. The philosopher Tsang being ill, Meng Chang
went to ask how he was.
2. Tsang said to him, 'When a bird is about to die, its notes are
mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are good.
3. 'There are three principles of conduct which the man of
high rank should consider specially important:-- that in his
deportment and manner he keep from violence and heedlessness;
that in regulating his countenance he keep near to sincerity; and
that in his words and tones he keep far from lowness and
impropriety. As to such matters as attending to the sacrificial
vessels, there are the proper officers for them.'

CHAP. V. The philosopher Tsang said, 'Gifted with ability, and
yet putting questions to those who were not so; possessed of much,
and yet putting questions to those possessed of little; having, as
though he had not; full, and yet counting himself as empty;