Original text:
The scholar He Yue was named Weizhai. I once found more than two hundred taels of silver on a night trip, but I didn't dare to tell my family for fear of being persuaded to keep the gold. The next day, I took him to the place where I collected the silver. I saw a man looking for it. I asked about the amount of the silver and the seal matched it, so I returned it. The man wanted to express his gratitude by dividing the gold, but Wei Zhai said, "I picked up the gold and no one knew about it. It belongs to me. How can I use this small amount of gold?" The man thanked him and left.
He also taught at the eunuch's house. The eunuch came to Beijing for business and sent a box to Wei Zhai with hundreds of gold in it, saying, "I'll pick it up some other day." After several years, there was no news. His nephew came south because he had other affairs, so he had no choice but to take the box. I entrusted you to send it.
Weizhai is a poor scholar. He only returns the money after collecting it, but he can still encourage him for a while. He sends the money for several years and is not moved at all, which is far from superior to others!
(Excerpted from Zhou Hui's "Jinling Trivia")
Translation:
The scholar He Yue once picked up more than two hundred taels of silver while walking at night. He didn't dare to tell his family about this, for fear that they would advise him to keep the money. The next morning he returned to the place where he had collected the silver and saw a man coming back to look for it. He Yue asked the man about the amount of the silver and the sealing mark. The answers were all consistent, so he returned the silver to him. The man wanted to give him some silver to express his gratitude. He Yue said, "I found the silver and no one else knew about it. All the money can become my property. Why do I want to take advantage of these few taels of silver?" He thanked him and left.
He Yue once taught in the home of an official. The official had to go to the capital for business and left a box with He Yue. There were hundreds of taels of silver in the box and said, "Wait a minute." Come and get it back when you have a chance." He left for several years without any news. He Yue heard that the official's nephew came to the south for other matters and was not here to pick up the box. He asked the official's nephew to bring the box back to the official.
He Yue was a poor scholar. He returned the money to others as soon as he found it. If he could not be greedy in a short period of time, he could encourage him; but the official kept the money in his house for many years, but he was not tempted. , this noble quality far exceeds that of ordinary people!
Comment: Orchid in the deep valley, if you don’t do it, it will not be fragrant; if you are on a boat in the river and sea, if you don’t take it, it will not float; a gentleman will do justice. Don’t stop the body for the sake of true knowledge.