Book 5: 《公冶長》 Gong Ye Chang
《公冶長》 Passage 5.20
Legge Translation (1861)
Ji Wen thought thrice, and then acted. When the Master was informed of it, he said: "Twice may do."Word by word
- 季文子 jì wén zǐ
Ji Wenzi, a minister of the state of Lu
- 季 surname Ji, a component of a personal name
- 文 posthumous epithet Wen within the personal name Ji Wenzi
- 子 honorific suffix meaning master, in the name Ji Wenzi
A high officer of Lu, remembered here for deliberating at unusual length before acting.
- 三 sān
three, three times over
- 思 sī
to think, reflect, deliberate
- 而後 ér hòu
temporal connective: and only then, afterward
- 而 conjunction linking two clauses: and, and then
- 後 after, afterward, following in time
Most translators reorder the clause into English as 'before acting'; the Chinese literally reads 'and only afterward act.'
- 行 xíng
to act, take action
- 子 zǐ
the Master, Confucius
- 聞 wén
to hear, hear about, be informed of
- 之 zhī
it, this, referring to Ji Wenzi's practice
- 曰 yuē
said, remarked
- 再 zài
twice, a second time
Confucius's terse reply plays off 三 (three times) in the preceding line: two rounds of thought are judged enough, a mild check on over-deliberation.
- 斯 sī
resumptive particle: this, then, in that case
- 可 kě
sufficient, acceptable, will do
- 矣 yǐ
final particle marking assertion or completed state
The assertive force is carried by English modal verbs ('would', 'should') rather than by a discrete word.
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