How can you sweep the world if you don’t sweep one house? - "Book of the Later Han Dynasty. The Biography of Chen Fan"

Original text

In the fifteenth year of the feudal lordship, I had a quiet time in one room. When the court was in ruins, his father's friend Xue Qin from the same county came to wait for him. He said to the feudal lord, "Why don't you sweep the house to entertain the guests?" The feudal lord said, "When a man lives in the world, he should sweep the world and keep the whole house in peace." It is very strange that there are records of the Qing Dynasty.

Translation

When Chen Fan was fifteen years old, he lived alone in a place with a very messy courtyard and house. His father lived in the same city. His friend Xue Qin came to visit him and said to him: "Young man, why don't you tidy up the room to welcome the guests?" Chen Fan said: "When a man handles things, he should take it as his own responsibility to eliminate bad things from the world. He cannot care about the things in one room. "Xue Qin believes that he is unique in his ambition to clarify the world.