Book 4: 《里仁》 Li Ren (Dwelling in Ren)
《里仁》 Passage 4.26
Legge Translation (1861)
Ziyou said: "In serving a prince, frequent remonstrances lead to disgrace. Between friends, frequent reproofs make the friendship distant."Word by word
- 子游 zǐ yóu
Ziyou, a disciple of Confucius (Yan Yan)
- 子 prefix of a courtesy name, as in 子路 and 子貢; not the title Master
- 游 You, courtesy-name element in 子游, the courtesy name of Yan Yan (言偃); his given name is 偃
- 曰 yuē
said, spoke (introducing direct speech)
- 事君 shì jūn
to serve a ruler, lord
- 事 to serve
- 君 ruler, lord
- 數 shuò
frequent, repeated (remonstrance)
Read shuò 'frequent, repeated' rather than shù 'to count'; translators split between a literal reading of frequency and a moral judgment of excess in manner.
- 斯…矣 sī … yǐ
resultative connective: then, thus, results in
- 斯 then, thus, in that case (resultative connective)
- 矣 final particle marking a realized or resulting state
斯...矣 is a resultative frame ('if X, then it results in Y'); translators fuse it into a single causal verb rather than rendering 斯 and 矣 separately.
- 辱 rǔ
disgrace, humiliation
- 朋友 péng yǒu
friends, companions
- 朋 friend
- 友 friend, companion
- 數 shuò
frequent, repeated (reproof)
Same term as in the preceding clause, now applied to friendship; Slingerland and Roberts elide it, carrying over the verb from the first clause instead of repeating it.
- 斯…矣 sī … yǐ
resultative connective: then, thus, results in
- 斯 then, thus, in that case (resultative connective)
- 矣 final particle marking a realized or resulting state
- 疏 shū
estrangement, growing distant
Ames & Rosemont's 'ostracized' leans toward active social exclusion rather than a passive cooling of the relationship.
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