Book 12: 《顏淵》 Yan Yuan
《顏淵》 Passage 12.4
Legge Translation (1861)
Sima Niu asked about the superior man. The Master said, "The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear.""Being without anxiety or fear!" said Niu; — "does this constitute what we call the superior man?"
The Master said, "When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?"
Word by word
- 司馬牛 sī mǎ niú
Sima Niu, a disciple of Confucius
- 司 surname element in the name Sima Niu, Confucius's disciple
- 馬 surname element in the name Sima Niu
- 牛 Niu, courtesy-name element in 司馬牛; traditionally identified as Sima Geng (司馬耕), given name 耕
- 問 wèn
to ask about, inquire about
- 君子 jūn zǐ
exemplary person, gentleman
- 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
- 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, Confucius (honorific title)
- 曰 said
- 君子 jūn zǐ
exemplary person, gentleman
- 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
- 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character
- 不 bù
not
- 憂 yōu
to worry, be anxious
- 不 bù
not, nor
- 懼 jù
to fear, be afraid
- 曰 yuē
said
- 不 bù
not
- 憂 yōu
to worry, be anxious
- 不 bù
not, nor
As at index 15, most translators use one negator for both 憂 and 懼, leaving this second occurrence unworded.
- 懼 jù
to fear, be afraid
- 斯 sī
resumptive demonstrative: this, that, in that case
- 謂 wèi
to call, refer to as, mean
- 之 zhī
object pronoun: it, referring back to the preceding clause
English folds this pronoun into the construction ('is this called...', 'does this constitute...') rather than supplying a separate word for it; a couple of translators supply a syntactically required subject ('one', 'a man') for an English passive/causative, but that fills an English grammar slot rather than translating 之.
- 君子 jūn zǐ
exemplary person, gentleman
- 君 lord, ruler; 君子 is literally a lord's son
- 子 son; 君子 is literally a lord's son, one of the ruling class, which the Analects makes a term of character
- 已 yǐ
particle of sufficiency: that's all, merely, only
- 乎 hū
interrogative final particle
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, Confucius (honorific title)
- 曰 said
- 內省 nèi xǐng
to examine oneself inwardly, introspect
- 內 inward, within oneself
- 省 to examine, reflect upon
- 不 bù
not
- 疚 jiù
a troubled conscience, cause for guilt or self-reproach
- 夫 fú
particle introducing a rhetorical question: now, then
Only Watson supplies an explicit discourse marker ('then').
- 何 hé
what, why (interrogative)
- 憂 yōu
to worry, be anxious
- 何 hé
what, why (interrogative)
Most translators use a single 'what'/'why' to cover both 何 clauses; only Legge, Watson and Chin repeat the interrogative for this second occurrence.
- 懼 jù
to fear, be afraid
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