CHAPTER XIV

1. When Mencius left Ch＇î, he dwelt in Hsiû. There Kung-sun Ch＇âu asked him, saying, ＇Was it the way of the ancients to hold office without receiving salary?＇

2. Mencius replied, ＇No; when I first saw the king in Ch＇ung, it was my intention, on retiring from the interview, to go away. Because I did not wish to change this intention, I declined to receive any salary.

3. ＇Immediately after, there came orders for the collection of troops, when it would have been improper for me to beg permission to leave. But to remain so long in Ch＇î was not my purpose.＇

CHAPTER 14. THE REASON MENCIUS＇S HOLDING AN HONORARY OFFICE IN CH＇ȊWITHOUT SALARY, THAT HE WISHED TO BE FREE IN HIS MOVEMENTS.

1. Hsiû was in the present district of T＇ăng (藤) in the department of Yen-châu. Kung-sun Châu＇s inquiry was simply for information. This appears from the 非with which it is answered.

2. Ch＇ung must be the name of a place in Ch＇î, which cannot be more exactly determined. It is not to be confounded with the ancient principality or barony of the same name. 得见 is evidently=始见.

3. 师命 may be as in the translation, or—＇the appointment to the position of a Tutor＇, i.e. honorary adviser to the king. This is the interpretation of the glossarist of Châo Ch＇î, and is perhaps preferable to the former.