Book 17: 《陽貨》 Yang Huo
《陽貨》 Passage 17.16
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "Anciently, men had three failings, which now perhaps are not to be found.The high-mindedness of antiquity showed itself in a disregard of small things; the high-mindedness of the present day shows itself in wild license. The stern dignity of antiquity showed itself in grave reserve; the stern dignity of the present day shows itself in quarrelsome perverseness. The stupidity of antiquity showed itself in straightforwardness; the stupidity of the present day shows itself in sheer deceit."
Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 Master, honorific title for a teacher; here, Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 古者 gǔ zhě
in ancient times, of old
- 古 antiquity, ancient times
- 者 particle marking a time word as topic: as for, in the time of
- 民 mín
the people, the common people
- 有 yǒu
to have, there existed
- 三 sān
three
- 疾 jí
fault, failing, shortcoming
- 今 jīn
now, at present
- 也 yě
particle marking a preceding time word as topic
- 或 huò
perhaps, maybe
- 是 shì
this, these
- 之 zhī
resumptive particle marking a fronted topic as the object of the following verb
- 亡 wú
to be lost, no longer exist, have disappeared
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
English closes the sentence with a period.
- 古 gǔ
antiquity, the ancients, in ancient times
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of
Only Legge preserves a genitive 'of'.
- 狂 kuáng
wild, impetuously unrestrained
- 也 yě
particle marking the preceding phrase as topic, before the comment
it is not a translation of this 也.
- 肆 sì
unrestrained but forthright, indulging oneself openly
- 今 jīn
now, the present day, nowadays
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of, 's
- 狂 kuáng
wild, unruly
Slingerland, Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, and Watson refer back with a bare pronoun rather than repeating the noun.
- 也 yě
particle marking the preceding phrase as topic, before the comment
- 蕩 dàng
dissolute, unrestrained to the point of losing self-control
- 古 gǔ
antiquity, the ancients, in ancient times
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of
- 矜 jīn
self-regarding, punctiliously proud of one's own dignity
- 也 yě
particle marking the preceding phrase as topic, before the comment
- 廉 lián
restrained, honorably principled
- 今 jīn
now, the present day, nowadays
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of, 's
- 矜 jīn
self-regarding pride, touchy self-esteem
Slingerland, Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, and Watson refer back with a bare pronoun rather than repeating the noun.
- 也 yě
particle marking the preceding phrase as topic, before the comment
- 忿戾 fèn lì
irascible and contentiously perverse, quick to anger and defiance
- 忿 prone to anger, resentful
- 戾 perverse, contentiously defiant
- 古 gǔ
antiquity, the ancients, in ancient times
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of
- 愚 yú
stupid, dull-witted
- 也 yě
particle marking the preceding phrase as topic, before the comment
- 直 zhí
straightforward, honest, upright
- 今 jīn
now, the present day, nowadays
- 之 zhī
possessive/modifying particle: of, 's
- 愚 yú
stupid, foolish
Slingerland, Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, and Watson refer back with a bare pronoun rather than repeating the noun.
- 也 yě
particle marking the preceding phrase as topic, before the comment
- 詐 zhà
deceitful, given to trickery and cunning
- 而已矣 ér yǐ yǐ
restrictive final tag: and that is all, merely, only
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 已 to stop, no more; conveys a restrictive sense: only, merely
- 矣 final particle marking a completed or asserted state
Most translators let the sentence simply end Peimin Peimin Ni's 'nothing but' and Watson's 'all they do is' are the clearest traces of this tag.
A text file for Anki 2.1.55 or later: File → Import. The cards go to the deck “Analects”, tagged by passage, and importing again updates them instead of adding copies.
Discussion
No one has started on this passage yet.
Start the discussion in r/analects