Book 6: 《雍也》 Yong Ye (As for Yong)
《雍也》 Passage 6.26
Legge Translation (1861)
Zai Wo asked, saying: "A benevolent man, though it be told him, 'There is a man in the well' will go in after him, I suppose."Confucius said: "Why should he do so? A superior man may be made to go to the well, but he cannot be made to go down into it. He may be imposed upon, but he cannot be fooled."
Word by word
- 宰我 zǎi wǒ
Zai Wo, a disciple of Confucius
- 宰 Zai, surname of the disciple Zai Wo
- 我 Wo, courtesy-name element in 宰我, the courtesy name of Zai Yu (宰予); his given name is 予
- 問曰 wèn yuē
asked, saying
- 問 to ask
- 曰 said, spoke
- 仁者 rén zhě
a humane person, one who possesses ren (benevolence)
- 仁 benevolent, humane; possessing ren, the cardinal virtue
- 者 nominalizing particle: one who, a person who
- 雖 suī
even though, although
- 告 gào
to tell, inform
- 之 zhī
him, the object pronoun referring to the person addressed
Only Legge keeps this pronoun as a separate word.
- 曰 yuē
saying (introduces direct/quoted speech)
- 井 jǐng
a well
- 有 yǒu
there is, there exists
- 仁 rén
a humane, benevolent person
朱熹 adopts 劉聘君's view that this 仁 should be 人, 'a person', since it is odd for the man in the well to be specifically humane; Legge, Slingerland, Peimin Ni and Chin translate accordingly ('a man', 'a human being', 'someone'), while Roberts, Ames & Rosemont, Lau and Watson keep 'humane person'.
- 焉 yān
locative final particle: there, in it
Contracts 於 + 之; its locative force surfaces in English as the preposition 'in'/'into' rather than as a separate word.
- 其 qí
he, it (subject pronoun)
- 從 cóng
to go to, proceed toward
- 之 zhī
him, it (object pronoun, referring to the person in the well)
- 也 yě
final particle of rhetorical question
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 Master (honorific title for Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 何為 hé wéi
why, for what reason
- 何 what, why
- 為 for, for the sake of; because of
- 其 qí
he, it (subject pronoun)
- 然 rán
so, thus, in that way
- 也 yě
final particle of rhetorical question
- 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
- 可 kě
can, may (marking passive potential)
- 逝 shì
to go, proceed toward
- 也 yě
final particle marking a parallel clause
- 不可 bù kě
cannot, may not
- 不 not
- 可 can, may (marking passive potential)
- 陷 xiàn
to fall into a trap, be ensnared
Legge and Ames & Rosemont read this concretely as physically going down into the well, while the other translators read it figuratively as being caught in a trap.
- 也 yě
final particle marking a parallel clause
- 可 kě
can, may (marking passive potential)
- 欺 qī
to deceive, trick, cheat
- 也 yě
final particle marking a parallel clause
- 不可 bù kě
cannot, may not
- 不 not
- 可 can, may (marking passive potential)
- 罔 wǎng
to deceive, dupe, make a fool of
- 也 yě
final particle marking a parallel clause
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