Book 6: 《雍也》 Yong Ye (As for Yong)
《雍也》 Passage 6.6
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master, speaking of Zhonggong, said: "If the calf of a brindled cow be red and horned, although men may not wish to use it, would the spirits of the mountains and rivers put it aside?"Word by word
- 子 zǐ
the Master, Confucius
- 謂 wèi
to speak of, remark on
- 仲弓 zhòng gōng
Zhonggong (courtesy name of the disciple Ran Yong)
- 仲 Zhong- (element of the name Zhonggong)
- 弓 -gong (element of the name Zhonggong)
- 曰 yuē
to say (introduces direct speech)
- 犂牛 lí niú
plow ox, working ox (as opposed to a pedigreed sacrificial animal)
- 犂 plow, plow-colored; describes an ox used for labor — Also read as 'brindled, dappled' (a coat-color term), the reading Legge follows; most translators take it as 'plow(-ox)'.
- 牛 ox, cattle
何晏 and 朱熹 both gloss 犂 as 雜文, parti-coloured, so the traditional reading is the coat pattern that Legge follows ('brindled'); 楊伯峻 takes it as a plough-ox, the reading of most translators, and Watson writes merely 'ordinary'.
- 之 zhī
genitive particle: 's, of
- 子 zǐ
offspring, calf
- 騂 xīng
red, reddish-brown coat (ritually correct color for sacrifice)
- 且 qiě
and, moreover (coordinating two qualities)
- 角 jiǎo
horned, having well-formed horns
- 雖 suī
although, even if
- 欲 yù
to want, wish to
- 勿 wù
prohibitive negation: must not, do not
- 用 yòng
to use, employ (as a sacrificial animal)
- 山 shān
mountain(s)
- 川 chuān
river(s), stream(s)
- 其 qí
rhetorical modal particle: surely, would...?
Marks the question as rhetorical/hypothetical; Watson realizes the same force with 'Surely' instead of a modal 'would'.
- 舍 shě
to reject, discard, put aside, pass over
舍 is here the verb 捨, read shě, 'to set aside' (朱熹: 舍, 上聲).
- 諸 zhū
fusion of 之 + 乎: it? (object pronoun plus interrogative particle)
諸 here fuses 之 ('it') and 乎 (question particle).
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