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When Tzu-lu, Tseng Hsi, Jan Yu and Kung-shi Hua were seated in attendance, the Master said, 'Do not feel constrained simply because I am a little older than you are. Now you are in the habit of saying, "My abilities are not appreciated," but if someone did appreciate your abilities, do tell me how you would go about things.'

Tzu-lu promptly answered, 'If I were to administer a state of a thousand chariots, situated between powerful neighbours, troubled by armed invasions and by repeated famines, I could, within three years, give the people courage and a sense of direction.'

The Master smiled at him.

'Ch'iu, what about you?'

'If I were to administer an area measuring sixty or seventy li square, or even fifty or sixty li square, I could, within three years, bring the size of the population up to an adequate level. As to the rites and music, I would leave that to abler gentlemen.'

'Ch'ih, how about you?'

'I do not say that I have the ability, but I am ready to learn. On ceremonial occasions in the ancestral temple or in diplomatic gatherings, I should like to assist as a minor official in charge of protocol, properly dressed in my ceremonial cap and robes.'

'T'ien, how about you?'

After a few dying notes came the final chord, and then he stood up from his lute. 'I differ from the other three in my choice.'

The Master said, 'What harm is there in that? After all, each man is stating what he has set his heart upon.'

'In late spring, after the spring clothes have been newly made, I should like, together with five or six adults and six or seven boys, to go bathing in the River Yi and enjoy the breeze on the Rain Altar, and then go home chanting poetry.'

The Master sighed and said, 'I am all in favour of Tien.'

Confucius, Analects, tr. Vikram Seth, in From Heaven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet

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