Book 8: 《泰伯》 Tai Bo
《泰伯》 Passage 8.21
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "I can find no flaw in the character of Yu. He used himself coarse food and drink, but displayed the utmost filial piety towards the spirits. His ordinary garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his sacrificial cap and apron. He lived in a low, mean house, but expended all his strength on the ditches and water-channels. I can find nothing like a flaw in Yu."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 the Master (Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 禹 yǔ
Yu, legendary sage-king
- 吾 wú
I, me
- 無間然 wú jiàn rán
to have no fault to find, be beyond criticism
- 無 to have no, be without
- 間 gap, flaw; fault to find
- 然 suffix forming a manner expression with 間: in any respect, at all
間 is read jiàn, a gap or crack, hence to find fault (朱熹: 罅隙也，謂指其罅隙而非議之); 然 rounds it off as a manner suffix, and the whole is a set idiom.
- 矣 yǐ
perfective/assertive final particle
- 菲 fěi
meager, sparing, simple (of food)
- 飲食 yǐn shí
food and drink
- 飲 drink
- 食 food
- 而 ér
adversative conjunction: but, yet
- 致孝 zhì xiào
to extend filial devotion to the utmost, be devoutly filial
- 致 to extend to the utmost, devote
- 孝 filial piety, devotion to ancestors
- 乎 hū
preposition: to, toward
- 鬼神 guǐ shén
ghosts and spirits, ancestral and divine spirits
- 鬼 ghost, spirit of the dead
- 神 god, spirit, deity
- 惡 è
poor, shabby, coarse
Roberts alone reads 惡 as the verb wù 'dislike' rather than the adjective è 'shabby' read by the other seven
- 衣服 yī fú
clothes, garments
- 衣 clothes, garment
- 服 clothing, dress
- 而 ér
adversative conjunction: but, yet
- 致美 zhì měi
to be lavish, sumptuous, extend beauty to the utmost
- 致 to extend to the utmost, devote
- 美 beauty, elegance
- 乎 hū
preposition: in, to, toward
- 黻冕 fú miǎn
sacrificial apron and cap
- 黻 embroidered ceremonial apron, sacrificial vestment
- 冕 ceremonial cap, crown
- 卑 bēi
humble, low, modest (of dwelling)
- 宮室 gōng shì
dwelling, house, one's rooms
- 宮 dwelling, palace
- 室 room, chamber
- 而 ér
adversative conjunction: but, yet
- 盡力 jìn lì
to exert all one's strength, give one's utmost effort
- 盡 to exhaust, use to the utmost
- 力 strength, energy
- 乎 hū
preposition: to, on, into
- 溝洫 gōu xù
irrigation ditches and channels
- 溝 ditch, drainage channel
- 洫 irrigation channel, moat
- 禹 yǔ
Yu, legendary sage-king
- 吾 wú
I, me
- 無間然 wú jiàn rán
to have no fault to find, be beyond criticism
- 無 to have no, be without
- 間 gap, flaw; fault to find
- 然 rounds off the verb phrase: 'nothing I could criticize in any way'; some read it as a final particle
closes the passage with the same idiom that opened it
- 矣 yǐ
perfective/assertive final particle
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