Confucius said, "Why do you not turn out for my carriage?” The boy replied, "From olden times until now it has been thought best for a carriage to turn out for a city, and not for a city to turn out for a carriage." Confucius said, "You are still young in years. How is it that you are so quick?" The boy said, "A child at the age of two years speaks and walks; a hare, three days after it is born, runs over the fields; fish, three days after their birth, swim in the rivers; what comes by nature, how can it be called quick?” Confucius said, "I wish to have you walk with me. What do you think of it?" The boy answered, "A father is at home whom I am bound to serve; a loving mother is there, and her I am bound to care for; a younger brother is there whom I must teach. How have I time to go walking with you?" Confucius said, "I have in my carriage thirty-two chessmen. What do you say to having a game with me?" The boy replied, "If the king loves gaming, the kingdom will not be well taken care of; if scholars love it, learning will be lost; if farmers love it, they will miss the time for plowing and sowing; for these reasons I will not play with you." Confucius said, "Can you tell, under the whole sky, what fire has no smoke, what water no fish, what is it that is too long, what is it that is too short?" The boy replied, “A glowworm's fire has no smoke, well water has no fish, a summer's day is too long, a winter's day is not long enough." Then the boy, asking the sage, said, "How many stars are in the sky?" Confucius said, "At this time ask something about the earth. We can know nothing sure about the sky." The boy said, "Very well; will you, then, tell me how many houses are on the earth?" The sage replied, "Come now, my boy, speak about something that is before our eyes. Why must you talk of the earth and the sky?" "To please you," said the boy, "we will speak about what is before our eyes. How many hairs are in your eyebrows?" Confucius smiled, but did not answer. Turning to his friends he said, "I will go home now. I need not go about teaching the people, for by and by this child can teach them."— An Old Chinese Legend. NOTES 1. The name Confucius means the "Great Teacher, Kong." Confucius lived from the year 550 B. C. to the year 478 B. C. He was a famous sage and philosopher who spent the most of his life as a teacher and whose moral code is preserved in the "Nine Books" on Confucianism. He is worshiped as the greatest teacher and moralist of China. 2. What is "Gossip"? Tell how it is played. 3. Be prepared to give meanings of the following words: philosopher, profit, quick, hare, gaming, kingdom, sage. EXERCISES 1. What is the meaning of the word Confucius? Who was Confucius? 2. Why did this boy attract the attention of Confucius? 3. Explain "Play is without profit." 4. Why did not the young boy turn aside for the carriage of the great teacher? 5. What is the child's answer to the next question? 6. What was the boy's reason for refusing to walk with Confucius? 7. What was the boy's place in the family, according to this answer? 8. Are the boy's reasons for not playing with the king sound? 9. What was the king's conundrum? The boy's answer? 10. What questions did the boy now ask Confucius? 11. Why does Confucius feel that he needs no longer to go about teaching people? 12. What real bits of intelligence does the child display? ADDITIONAL READINGS CRANCH: A Chinese Story. ARNOLD: Self-Dependence. WHITTIER: The Barefoot Boy. In School Days. SIMS: The Lights of London Town. HANS ANDERSEN: Hans Clodhopper. To have done whatever had to be done; To have turned the face of your soul to the sun; To have made life better and brighter for one: This is to have lived. -Clifford Harrison. A TRIPPING INTO TOWN LL of us like to know people. In childhood, we have thought a great deal of some one who later proved to be a wicked or false friend. We have been disappointed many times when we found that those about us were really different from what we thought them to be. A preacher in whom we had confidence, a teacher we loved, or a young friend we trusted, proved to be bad, and we almost felt that no one could be trusted. With this feeling in our hearts, we began to realize that we had judged persons on a wrong basis, and we longed to know some true plan by which to judge others. Such a poem as "Tripping into Town" sets up a right standard for judging people. The three little lassies are the people to be judged. The twittering sparrows, like average lightminded persons, judge according to appearances merely. The wise old owl, the type of true wisdom, declares that brown, golden, and raven locks will soon disappear, that appearances change rapidly, and that one is fairest whose face shows a true, happy heart. TRIPPING INTO TOWN A little lass with golden hair, "I like the golden hair the best!" "And I the black!" three sparrows said, "Tu-whit! Tu-whoo!" an old owl cried "Tu-whit! Tu-whoo! so fast, so fast, And soon, so soon, three white-haired dames "Gone then for aye the raven locks, The golden hair, the brown; Has never worn a frown!" Selected. NOTES 1. Tell of instances in which you misjudged persons. Tell how you misjudged a new boy or girl, and how you later changed your mind. 2. What class of people resembles sparrows? What class, owls? 3. Belfry. A bell tower, usually on a church, but formerly built on the ground in many instances. |