Book 10: 《鄉黨》 Xiang Dang (In the Village)
《鄉黨》 Passage 10.18
Legge Translation (1861)
When the prince sent him a gift of cooked meat, he would adjust his mat, first taste it, and then give it away to others. When the prince sent him a gift of undressed meat, he would have it cooked, and offer it to the spirits of his ancestors. When the prince sent him a gift of a living animal, he would keep it alive.When he was in attendance on the prince and joining in the entertainment, the prince only sacrificed. He first tasted everything.
Word by word
- 君 jūn
ruler, sovereign
- 賜 cì
to bestow, give (a gift from a superior)
- 食 shí
food, a meal
Contrasted with raw meat (腥) and a live animal (生) in the following clauses: here 食 denotes food already prepared to eat.
- 必 bì
always, invariably
- 正 zhèng
to straighten, put right
- 席 xí
mat, sitting mat
- 先 xiān
first, before anything else
- 嘗 cháng
to taste
- 之 zhī
it, object pronoun referring to the food
- 君 jūn
ruler, sovereign
- 賜 cì
to bestow, give (a gift from a superior)
- 腥 xīng
raw meat
- 必 bì
always, invariably
- 熟 shú
cooked, to have cooked
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and, and then
- 薦 jiàn
to offer, present as a sacrificial offering
- 之 zhī
it, object pronoun referring to the meat
- 君 jūn
ruler, sovereign
- 賜 cì
to bestow, give (a gift from a superior)
- 生 shēng
living, alive
- 必 bì
always, invariably
- 畜 xù
to raise, rear, keep (livestock)
- 之 zhī
it, object pronoun referring to the animal
- 侍 shì
to attend upon, wait upon a superior
- 食 shí
a meal
- 於 yú
preposition: at, with
- 君 jūn
ruler, sovereign
- 君 jūn
ruler, sovereign
- 祭 jì
to sacrifice, make a ritual food offering
- 先 xiān
first, before others
- 飯 fàn
to eat first, begin the meal (acting as the ruler's food-taster)
Read fàn as a verb (朱熹: 飯，扶晚反): while the ruler made his offering the Master, who as guest did not offer, ate first as though tasting the food for him (若為君嘗食然). Peimin Ni, Roberts, Ames & Rosemont and Lau specify the rice; Legge, Slingerland, Watson and Chin the food generally.
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