Book 12: 《顏淵》 Yan Yuan
《顏淵》 Passage 12.18
Legge Translation (1861)
Ji Kang, distressed about the number of thieves in the State, inquired of Confucius how to do away with them. Confucius said: "If you, sir, were not covetous, although you should reward them to do it, they would not steal."Word by word
- 季康子 jì kāng zǐ
Ji Kangzi, head of the Ji clan and de facto ruler of Lu
- 季 Ji (surname of a powerful clan in the state of Lu)
- 康 Kang, posthumous epithet in 季康子 (Ji Kangzi, i.e. Jisun Fei 季孫肥)
- 子 honorific suffix: Master, Sir (attached to a name)
- 患 huàn
to be troubled by, worried about
- 盜 dào
thieves, robbers
- 問 wèn
to ask, inquire of
- 於 yú
oblique-case marker: of, from
Marks Confucius as the person asked.
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 Kong (surname of Confucius)
- 子 honorific suffix: Master (in Kongzi, Confucius)
- 孔子 kǒng zǐ
Confucius, Master Kong
- 孔 Kong (surname of Confucius)
- 子 honorific suffix: Master (in Kongzi, Confucius)
Roberts recasts this second mention as the relative pronoun 'who' rather than repeating the name.
- 對曰 duì yuē
replied, answered (esp. a superior)
- 對 to reply, respond (esp. to a superior)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 苟 gǒu
if, if only
- 子 zǐ
you (addressing Ji Kangzi directly)
- 之 zhī
subordinating particle: nominalizes the preceding subject-predicate clause
- 不 bù
not
- 欲 yù
to desire, want; here covetousness, greed for gain
- 雖 suī
although, even if
- 賞 shǎng
to reward, bestow rewards
- 之 zhī
them (object pronoun referring to potential thieves)
- 不 bù
not
- 竊 qiè
to steal
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