Book 7: 《述而》 Shu Er (Transmission)
《述而》 Passage 7.8
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "I do not open up the truth to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject to any one, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 不 bù
not, negation adverb
- 憤 fèn
eager to understand, straining for insight
translators split between an epistemic reading (eager, striving to understand) and a stronger affective one (agitated, driven to distraction).
- 不 bù
not, negation adverb
- 啟 qǐ
open up, instruct, show the way
- 不 bù
not, negation adverb
- 悱 fěi
straining to put it into words
translators split the same way as 憤: an epistemic reading (struggling to express oneself) versus a stronger affective one (worked into a frenzy).
- 不 bù
not, negation adverb
- 發 fā
give the words for, help articulate
- 舉 jǔ
raise, hold up, present
- 一 yī
one
- 隅 yú
corner
- 不 bù
not, negation adverb
- 以 yǐ
by means of, with
- 三隅 sān yú
the other three corners
- 三 three
- 隅 corner (the remaining ones)
- 反 fǎn
come back, respond in kind
source of the later idiom 舉一反三, extending one shown case to the rest by analogy.
- 則 zé
then, in that case (consequential connective)
only Watson keeps an explicit 'then'.
- 不 bù
not, negation adverb
- 復 fù
repeat, do again
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
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