Zilu, following behind Confucius, fell back and lost his way. He encountered an old man carrying a weed-cutter balanced over his shoulder on a staff. Zilu asked, "Have you seen my master, sir?" The old man replied, "Your four limbs are unaccustomed to toil, and you cannot tell one grain from another — who, pray, is your master?" He planted his staff in the ground and went on weeding. Zilu stood before him with hands respectfully clasped. The old man kept Zilu for the night, killed a fowl and cooked millet to feed him, and presented his two sons to him. The next morning, Zilu went on his way and reported what had happened to Confucius. The Master said, "He is a recluse." He sent Zilu back to call upon the old man, but when Zilu arrived, the man had already gone. Zilu then said to the household: "To refuse office is not right. If the proper relations between old and young cannot be set aside, how can the right relation between ruler and minister be set aside? In wishing to keep himself untainted, he throws into confusion the great bonds of human society. When a gentleman takes office, he does so in order to fulfill his duty. That the Way does not prevail in the world — this we already know full well."