Declination to Throne (5)

1 Duke Ai of Lu was eager to seek talents. When he heard that Yan He was a hard-won potential minister candidate, he sent his trusted envoy with munificent gifts to meet him and invited him to work for the country.

2 The envoy read up the address and found Yan He’s house which was located in a remote and poor village. The envoy said to himself, “My duke must make a mistake. In this shabby house, is it possible to have a guy who is worthy of being invited gingerly with munificent presents to be in the vital post?”

3 When he arrived, Yan He in sackcloth was grazing oxen outdoor. The envoy asked, “Is this Yan He’s house?”

4 Taking a look at the sturdy envoy in flamboyant clothes, he replied, “Yes. It is.” The envoy told him his purpose and presented the gifts. After forwarding the duke’s invitation, he was eager to leave since he didn’t want to stay at the shabby and stinking lane.

5 Yan He didn’t accept the gift. He told the envoy, “Hey! You should have made a mistake. Look at me, am I the person who is qualified to receive so precious gifts? Not to mention the important post. You had better go back and clarify again. I am afraid that you make a mistake and will be blamed by your boss.”

6 The envoy also feeling curious at first, after Yan He’s reminding, he doubted even further. He thought, “Ok! Let’s me return to clarify the truth. It is nothing to lost, but come again. If I mistook to give the precious presents to a wrong person, I could not take upon myself the consequence and could not afford to pay for.”

7 So, the envoy came back to ask and knew that the stinking old guy was truly the man he suppose to looking for. When he returned to the house, he found Yan He and his family gone and nobody knew where they went.

8 Common scholars usually regard themselves aloof and lofty—they declare that they don’t work for salary. However, when they face the opportunity for promotion and fortune, they jump at it faster than anyone and are afraid of losing it. Yan He, who practiced the aloof and the lofty himself and was not lured by fortune and position, was the admirable man of wisdom.

9 Men of practice should understand that the purposes of practice are to improve self-nature, to cultivate a sound, tranquil and peaceful heart and so, to open the great wisdom. Only when they have extra energy and time out of practice, they therefore, will consider working for nation and doing public works. So to speak, governance for the King is an unimportant work while cultivation of morality and nature is the most important course instead.

10 The common scholars in society take risk for winning the fame, interest, honor, wealth and desire that belong to the objective environment. In order to attain these, they are tired out as the saying ‘Spare no effort in pursuit until death.’ Don’t you think that they are very pitiful?

11 Before action, the men of perfect practice will appraise the influence of a thing on practice and its meaning. Common people, however, don’t think so. They shoot the very far and small sparrow with the bullet of a precious pearl. If people doing that way, we might think that those guys are idiots. However, when they spend their life in pursuing the external things, we don’t think they are stupid. Don’t we evaluate that the life is more precious than the pearl?