Book 15: 《衛靈公》 Wei Ling Gong (Duke Ling of Wey)
《衛靈公》 Passage 15.13
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "It is all over! I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 to say, speak
- 已矣乎 yǐ yǐ hū
it is hopeless, all is over, I give up
- 已 to stop, be over, come to an end
- 矣 particle marking completion or emphasis
- 乎 exclamatory final particle
已矣乎 is a fixed exclamatory expression of resignation ('it's all over/hopeless'); 矣 marks completion and 乎 adds exclamatory force, so translators render the three characters as a single interjection.
- 吾 wú
I, me
- 未 wèi
not yet
- 見 jiàn
to see, to meet, to encounter
- 好 hào
to love, be fond of
- 德 dé
virtue, moral excellence
- 如 rú
comparative: as...as, equal to
如 is the comparative conjunction linking the two objects being compared (loving virtue vs. loving beauty).
- 好 hào
to love, be fond of
- 色 sè
physical beauty, sensual attraction
- 者 zhě
nominalizing particle: one who, that which
者 nominalizes the preceding clause 好德如好色, yielding 'one who loves virtue as [he] loves beauty'.
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
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