Book 14: 《憲問》 Xian Wen (Xian Asked)
《憲問》 Passage 14.39
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master was playing, one day, on a musical stone in Wey, when a man, carrying a straw basket, passed the door of the house where Confucius was, and said: "His heart is full who so beats the musical stone."A little while after, he added: "How contemptible is the one-ideaed obstinacy those sounds display! When one is taken no notice of, he has simply at once to give over his wish for public employment. 'Deep water must be crossed with the clothes on; shallow water may be crossed with the clothes held up.'"
The Master said: "How determined is he in his purpose! But this is not difficult!"
Word by word
- 子 zǐ
the Master, Confucius
- 擊 jī
to strike, play (a percussion instrument)
- 磬 qìng
stone chimes, a percussion instrument
- 於 yú
locative preposition: in, at
- 衛 wèi
Wey, a state of the Zhou period
- 有…者 yǒu … zhě
indefinite subject marker: there was one who..., a man who...
- 有 existential verb introducing an indefinite subject: there was
- 者 nominalizing particle: the one who, that which
- 荷蕢 hè kuì
carrying a basket (on the back)
- 荷 to carry (on the shoulder or back)
- 蕢 a straw or rush basket
- 而 ér
coordinating conjunction: and
English usually joins the two clauses with a comma rather than a separate word.
- 過 guò
to pass by, go past
- 孔氏 kǒng shì
the Kong family, Confucius's household
- 孔 Kong, surname of Confucius's family
- 氏 clan, family, household
- 之 zhī
possessive particle: 's, of
- 門 mén
gate, door
- 曰 yuē
to say, said
- 有心 yǒu xīn
to have something on one's mind, be full of feeling or purpose
- 有 to have, be filled with (something on one's mind)
- 心 heart, mind; feeling, purpose
- 哉 zāi
final exclamatory particle
- 擊 jī
to strike, play (a percussion instrument)
- 磬 qìng
stone chimes, a percussion instrument
- 乎 hū
exclamatory final particle
- 既而 jì ér
presently, after a while, then
- 既 already; forms with 而 the adverb 'presently, shortly after'
- 而 particle forming the adverb 既而, 'presently, shortly after'
- 曰 yuē
to say, said
- 鄙 bǐ
vulgar, uncouth, narrow-minded
- 哉 zāi
exclamatory particle: how...!
- 硜硜 kēng kēng
clanging sound of stone striking stone
- 硜 onomatopoeic: clanging sound of stone striking stone
- 硜 onomatopoeic: clanging sound of stone striking stone (reduplicated)
硜硜 is both onomatopoeia for the chimes and a stock figure for petty obstinacy (cf. 13.20).
- 乎 hū
exclamatory final particle
- 莫 mò
negative pronoun: no one, none
- 己 jǐ
reflexive pronoun: oneself, him
- 知 zhī
to know, understand, appreciate
- 也 yě
clause-final particle marking a conditional clause: if...then
- 斯 sī
then, in that case
- 己 jǐ
reflexive pronoun: oneself, himself
Some texts read 已, to stop, for this 己 (noted by 楊伯峻); 朱熹 keeps 己, 'keep to oneself'. Lau, Watson and Peimin Ni translate 'give up, stop', Slingerland and Chin 'tend to / keep to yourself'.
- 而已矣 ér yǐ yǐ
and no more, that's all
- 而 part of 而已, 'and no more, that's all'
- 已 part of 而已, 'and no more, that's all'
- 矣 final particle reinforcing completion or finality
- 深則厲 shēn zé lì
if the water is deep, wade across fully clothed (Odes quotation)
- 深 deep (of water)
- 則 then, in that case
- 厲 to wade across fully clothed, cross with clothes on
- 淺則揭 qiǎn zé qì
if the water is shallow, lift the hem to wade across (Odes quotation)
- 淺 shallow (of water)
- 則 then, in that case
- 揭 to lift up one's hem, raise one's clothes to wade
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master, Confucius
- 曰 to say, said (introduces direct speech)
- 果 guǒ
resolute, decisive
- 哉 zāi
exclamatory particle: how..., truly...!
- 末 mò
negative: there is nothing, not
- 之 zhī
third-person object pronoun: it, him
- 難 nán
difficult, hard
朱熹 reads 難 as 'difficult': there is nothing hard about simply withdrawing (Legge, Peimin Ni, Ames & Rosemont, Watson 'easy'); Slingerland, Roberts and Lau read nàn, to object to or dispute, 'no way to rebuke him'.
- 矣 yǐ
final particle of assertion
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