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CHAPTER VI.

1. A high officer asked Tsze-kung, saying, 'May we not say that your Master is a sage? How various is his ability!'

2. Tsze-kung said, 'Certainly Heaven has endowed him unlimitedly. He is about a sage. And, moreover, his ability is various.'

3. The Master heard of the conversation and said, 'Does the high officer know me? When I was young, my condition was low, and therefore I acquired my ability in many things, but they were mean matters. Must the superior man have such variety of ability? He does not need variety of ability. '

4. Lao said, 'The Master said, "Having no official employment, I acquired many arts."'

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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia