Book 11: 《先進》 Xian Jin (Former Eras)
《先進》 Passage 11.26
子路、曾皙、冉有、公西華侍坐。子曰：「以吾一日長乎爾，毋吾以也。居則曰：「不吾知也！』如或知爾，則何以哉？」子路率爾而對曰：「千乘之國，攝乎大國之間，加之以師旅，因之以饑饉；由也為之，比及三年，可使有勇，且知方也。」夫子哂之。「求！爾何如？」對曰：「方六七十，如五六十，求也為之，比及三年，可使足民。如其禮樂，以俟君子。」「赤！爾何如？」對曰：「非曰能之，願學焉。宗廟之事，如會同，端章甫，願為小相焉。」「點！爾何如？」鼓瑟希，鏗爾，舍瑟而作。對曰：「異乎三子者之撰。」子曰：「何傷乎？亦各言其志也。」曰：「莫春者，春服既成。冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」夫子喟然歎曰：「吾與點也！」三子者出，曾皙後。曾皙曰：「夫三子者之言何如？」子曰：「亦各言其志也已矣。」曰：「夫子何哂由也？」曰：「為國以禮，其言不讓，是故哂之。」「唯求則非邦也與？」「安見方六七十如五六十而非邦也者？」「唯赤則非邦也與？」「宗廟會同，非諸侯而何？赤也為之小，孰能為之大？」
Legge Translation (1861)
Zilu, Zeng Xi, Ran You, and Gongxi Hua were sitting by the Master. He said to them: "Though I am a day or so older than you, do not think of that. From day to day you are saying, 'We are not known.' If some ruler were to know you, what would you like to do?"Zilu hastily and lightly replied: "Suppose the case of a State of ten thousand chariots; let it be straitened between other large States; let it be suffering from invading armies; and to this let there be added a famine in corn and in all vegetables: — if I were entrusted with the government of it, in three years' time I could make the people to be bold, and to recognize the rules of righteous conduct."
The Master smiled at him.
Turning to Ran You, he said: "Qiu, what are your wishes?"
Qiu replied: "Suppose a state of sixty or seventy li square, or one of fifty or sixty, and let me have the government of it; — in three years' time, I could make plenty to abound among the people. As to teaching them the rules of propriety and music, I must wait for the rise of a superior man to do that."
"And what are your wishes, Chi?" said the Master to Gongxi Hua.
Chi replied: "I do not say that my ability extends to these things, but I should like to learn them. At the services of the ancestral temple, and at the audiences of the princes with the emperor, I should like, dressed in the dark-colored cap and robes, to act as a small assistant."
Last of all, the Master asked Zeng Xi: "Dian, what are your wishes?"
Dian, pausing as he was playing on his lute, while it was yet twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose. "My wishes," he said, "are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen."
"What harm is there in that?" said the Master; "do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes."
Dian then said: "In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the Yi, enjoy the breeze among the rain altars, and return home singing."
The Master heaved a sigh and said: "I give my approval to Dian."