《陽貨》 Passage 17.4

the Master, Confucius

to go to, come to

Wucheng, proper name of a town

• 武 Wu, first syllable of the place name Wucheng
• 城 walled town, second syllable of the place name Wucheng

to hear

string music and singing

• 弦 stringed instrument, string music
• 歌 song, singing

attributive particle: of

sound

the Master

• 夫 first syllable of 夫子, honorific title for the Master
• 子 second syllable of 夫子, honorific title for the Master

Most translators substitute a bare pronoun (he, his) for this second, repeated mention of the subject.

to smile slightly, break into a gentle smile

• 莞 first syllable of 莞爾, a slight smile
• 爾 second syllable of 莞爾, a slight smile
• 而 conjunctive particle linking manner to action: and, and then
• 笑 to smile, laugh

莞爾 is a binome for a slight smile; most translators fuse it with 笑 into a single verb and drop the nuance of 而.

to say

to cut up, slaughter

chicken

interrogative adverb: how, why

to use

ox-cleaver, ox-knife

• 牛 ox
• 刀 knife, cleaver

Ziyou, a disciple of Confucius

• 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
• 游 second syllable of the proper name Ziyou

to reply, answer

• 對 to respond, reply to a superior
• 曰 said, spoke, introduces direct speech

formerly, in the past

• 昔 first syllable of 昔者, formerly, in the past
• 者 second syllable of 昔者, formerly, in the past

I, me (Ziyou referring to himself by name before the Master)

topic-marking particle after the subject

to hear

fusion of 之 and 於: it from, from him

Master, vocative address to Confucius

• 夫 first syllable of 夫子, honorific title for the Master
• 子 second syllable of 夫子, honorific title for the Master

to say

gentleman; here by rank, a man of high station (against 小人, the common people)

• 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

朱熹 reads 君子 and 小人 in this maxim by rank (以位言之): those who govern and the common people, since the commoners' benefit is that they become 易使. Legge, Peimin Ni, Roberts and Chin translate by rank; Slingerland, Lau and Watson keep 'gentleman'.

to study, learn

the Way, moral teaching

then, in that case

Only Roberts marks the consequence with a discrete word.

to love, care for

other people, others

petty person, commoner

• 小 first syllable of 小人, petty person, commoner
• 人 second syllable of 小人, petty person, commoner

to study, learn

the Way, moral teaching

then, in that case

easy

to employ, put to use

final particle of assertion

English closes the sentence with a period; the assertion is carried by punctuation rather than a discrete word.

the Master said

• 子 first syllable of 子曰, the Master said
• 曰 second syllable of 子曰, the Master said

my friends, you disciples, vocative address to the assembled students

• 二 two, first syllable of the idiom 二三子 addressing a group of disciples
• 三 three, second syllable of the idiom 二三子, addressing disciples
• 子 you, sirs, vocative plural addressing the disciples

Yan, Ziyou's personal name

possessive particle: 's, of

Most translators restructure to 'what X said' rather than keeping a possessive noun phrase.

words, what was said, a remark

right, correct

final particle of assertion

English closes the sentence with a period; the assertion is carried by punctuation rather than a discrete word.

the earlier remark, what was said before

• 前 earlier, previous, first syllable of 前言, the earlier remark
• 言 words, remark, second syllable of 前言, the earlier remark

to joke, jest

object pronoun: it, them, referring to the earlier remark

English folds the object into the relative clause 'what I said', so no separate pronoun is needed.

final particle: only, merely