Book 15: 《衛靈公》 Wei Ling Gong (Duke Ling of Wey)
《衛靈公》 Passage 15.19
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "The superior man is distressed by his want of ability. He is not distressed by men's not knowing him."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 君子 jūn zǐ
gentleman, exemplary person
- 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
Roberts renders this as 'true prince', a stylistic variant reflecting the same ideal.
- 病 bìng
distressed by, troubled by
- 無能 wú néng
lack of ability, incompetence
- 無 to lack, be without
- 能 ability, capability
- 焉 yān
final particle: in this, in this regard
the sense is absorbed into the predicate 'lack of ability' itself.
- 不 bù
not
- 病 bìng
distressed by, troubled by
Several translators leave the repeated verb implicit, relying on the parallel with the first clause.
- 人 rén
others, other people
- 之 zhī
subordinating particle: marks the preceding clause as a nominalized phrase
- 不 bù
not
- 己知 jǐ zhī
to recognize him, know his worth (己 is the fronted object of 知)
- 己 him, oneself (object pronoun, fronted before the verb under negation)
- 知 to know, recognize
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
English closes the sentence with punctuation and quotation marks rather than a final particle.
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