Book 7: 《述而》 Shu Er (Transmission)
《述而》 Passage 7.32
Legge Translation (1861)
When the Master was in company with a person who was singing, if he sang well, he would make him repeat the song, while he accompanied it with his own voice.Word by word
- 子 zǐ
the Master, Confucius
- 與 yǔ
with, together with (coverb marking companionship)
- 人 rén
other people, others
- 歌 gē
to sing
- 而 ér
conjunctive particle: and, linking two verb phrases in sequence
Legge alone reads this occurrence as conditional ('if') rather than coordinating; Roberts collapses the clause into a relative phrase with no separate connective.
- 善 shàn
good, well done (of the singing)
Translators split between describing the singing itself as good and recasting the clause as the Master liking the song, which shifts the verb's subject.
- 必 bì
invariably, always, certainly
- 使 shǐ
causative: to have, make, or ask someone to do something
- 反 fǎn
to repeat, to do again
- 之 zhī
it, referring to the song
- 而後 ér hòu
and then, only after that
- 而 conjunctive particle: and, and then
- 後 after, afterward; marks temporal sequence
- 和 hè
to harmonize with, to join in singing along
read hè (朱熹: 和，去聲), to sing in answer, join in harmony.
- 之 zhī
it, referring to the song
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