Tsze-lu then said to the family, "Not to take office is not righteous.

子路曰：“不仕无义。

If the relations between old and young may not be neglected,

长幼之节不可废也，

how is it that he sets aside the duties that should be observed between sovereign and minister?

君臣之义如之何其废之？

Wishing to maintain his personal purity, he allows that great relation to come to confusion.

欲洁其身而乱大伦。

A superior man takes office, and performs the righteous duties belonging to it,

君子之仕也，行其义也，

As to the failure of right principles to make progress, he is aware of that."

道之不行已知之矣。”

The men who have retired to privacy from the world have been Po-i, Shu-ch'i, Yuchung, and Shao-lien.

逸民：伯夷、叔齐、虞仲、少连。

The Master said, "Refusing to surrender their wills, or to submit to any taint in their persons, such, I think, were Po-i and Shu-ch'i."

子曰：“不降其志，不辱其身，伯夷、叔齐与！”

It may be said of Hui of Liu-hsia! and of Shaolien, that they surrendered their wills, and submitted to taint in their persons,

谓：“柳下惠、少连降志辱身矣，

but their words corresponded with reason, and their actions were such as men are anxious to see,

言中伦，行中虑，

This is all that is to be remarked in them."

其斯而已矣。”

It may be said of Yu-chung and I-yi, that, while they hid themselves in their seclusion,

谓：“虞仲、夷逸隐居，

they gave a license to their words; but in their persons, they succeeded in preserving their purity,

放言，身中清，

and, in their retirement, they acted according to the exigency of the times.

废中权。