Book 12: 《顏淵》 Yan Yuan
《顏淵》 Passage 12.5
Legge Translation (1861)
Sima Niu, full of anxiety, said, "Other men all have their brothers, I only have not."Zixia said to him, "There is the following saying which I have heard:—
'Death and life have their determined appointment; riches and honors depend upon Heaven.'
Let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, and let him be respectful to others and observant of propriety:— then all within the four seas will be his brothers. What has the superior man to do with being distressed because he has no brothers?"
Word by word
- 司馬牛 sī mǎ niú
Sima Niu, a disciple of Confucius
- 司 first element of the compound surname Sima (司馬)
- 馬 second element of the compound surname Sima (司馬)
- 牛 Niu, courtesy-name element in 司馬牛; traditionally identified as Sima Geng (司馬耕), given name 耕
- 憂 yōu
worried, anxious, distressed
- 曰 yuē
said, spoke (introduces direct speech)
- 人 rén
other people, everyone else
- 皆 jiē
all, every one
- 有 yǒu
to have, possess
- 兄弟 xiōng dì
brothers (elder and younger)
- 兄 elder brother
- 弟 younger brother
- 我 wǒ
I, me
- 獨 dú
alone, only I
- 亡 wú
to lack, have none
亡 stands here for 無, to have none, and is read wú (經典釋文: 音無), not wáng, to perish or flee.
- 子夏 zǐ xià
Zixia, a disciple of Confucius
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 夏 second syllable of the courtesy name Zixia
- 曰 yuē
said, spoke (introduces direct speech)
- 商 shāng
I (Zixia referring to himself by his given name Shang)
Speakers in the Analects often refer to themselves by given name rather than a pronoun.
- 聞 wén
to hear
- 之 zhī
it, that, referring to the saying quoted next
- 矣 yǐ
final particle marking assertion of a settled fact
- 死 sǐ
death
- 生 shēng
life
- 有 yǒu
to have, to be a matter of, to be governed by
- 命 mìng
fate, destiny, one's allotted lot
- 富 fù
wealth, riches
- 貴 guì
high rank, honor, eminence
- 在 zài
to rest with, depend on
- 天 tiān
Heaven
- 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
- 敬 jìng
respectful, reverent
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and
- 無失 wú shī
without fault, blameless
- 無 without, free of, lacking
- 失 fault, error, mistake
- 與 yǔ
coverb marking the party dealt with: with, toward
- 人 rén
other people, others
- 恭 gōng
courteous, deferential, respectful
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and
- 有 yǒu
to have, to observe, to be possessed of
- 禮 lǐ
ritual propriety, the rites
- 四海 sì hǎi
the four seas, i.e. the whole world
- 四 four
- 海 seas; with 四, the whole world
- 之 zhī
modifying particle: 's, of, marking 四海 as attributive to 內
English renders 四海之內 by direct juxtaposition, 'within the four seas,' rather than with an explicit genitive marker.
- 內 nèi
inside, within
- 皆 jiē
all, every one
- 兄弟 xiōng dì
brothers (elder and younger)
- 兄 elder brother
- 弟 younger brother
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion, affirming a stated fact
- 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
- 何 hé
what, why
- 患 huàn
to worry about, be troubled by
- 乎 hū
coverb equivalent to 於: about, over, marking what 患 bears on
- 無 wú
not to have, lack
- 兄弟 xiōng dì
brothers (elder and younger)
- 兄 elder brother
- 弟 younger brother
- 也 yě
final particle reinforcing an assertion, here closing a rhetorical question
English forms the rhetorical question with the interrogative word and a question mark, so 也's reinforcing force goes untranslated as a separate word.
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