Book 8: 《泰伯》 Tai Bo
《泰伯》 Passage 8.12
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "It is not easy to find a man who has learned for three years without coming to be good."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 Master, honorific title for Confucius
- 曰 said, spoke
- 三年 sān nián
three years
- 三 three
- 年 year
- 學 xué
to study, learn
- 不 bù
not, without (negates the verb that follows)
- 至於 zhì yú
to turn one's attention or thoughts to
- 至 to turn one's attention or thoughts toward — 朱熹 suspects 至 is an error for 志, to set one's mind on, and the translators' 'thinking about' follows him; read as written, 至於穀 is to arrive at a salary, which Legge's 'coming to' and Roberts's 'heading for' preserve.
- 於 oblique-marking preposition: to, toward
most translators read this figuratively as directing one's thoughts toward something; Legge's 'coming to' and Roberts's 'heading for' lean more literal
- 穀 gǔ
official salary, stipend
grain paid as an official's stipend, so 穀 stands for taking office; 朱熹 glosses it 祿, and seven translators follow. Legge's 'good' is not idiosyncratic but the old commentary: 孔安國, in 何晏's 集解, glosses 穀 as 善.
- 不易 bù yì
not easy, difficult
- 不 not
- 易 easy
- 得 dé
to find, obtain
- 也 yě
final particle of assertion
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