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The Analects of Confucius 論語

17. 《陽貨》 Yang Huo

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》 Yang Huo

孔子孔子不見孔子孔子孔子:「。」:「可謂?」:「不可。」「從事失時可謂知乎?」:「不可。」「日月歲不我與。」孔子:「。」
Yang Huo wished to see Confucius, but Confucius would not go to see him. On this, he sent a present of a pig to Confucius, who, having chosen a time when Huo was not at home, went to pay his respects for the gift. He met him, however, on the way. Huo said to Confucius, "Come, let me speak with you." He then asked, "Can he be called benevolent who keeps his jewel in his bosom, and leaves his country to confusion?" Confucius replied, "No." "Can he be called wise, who is anxious to be engaged in public employment, and yet is constantly losing the opportunity of being so?" Confucius again said, "No." "The days and months are passing away; the years do not wait for us." Confucius said, "Right; I will go into office."

子曰:「性相。」
The Master said, "By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart."

子曰:「不移。」
The Master said, "There are only the wise of the highest class, and the stupid of the lowest class, who cannot be changed."

武城弦歌夫子莞爾:「割雞焉用牛刀?」子游對曰:「夫子:『君子學道愛人小人學道使。』」子曰:「前言。」
The Master, having come to Wu Cheng, heard there the sound of stringed instruments and singing. Well pleased and smiling, he said, "Why use an ox knife to kill a fowl?" Zi You replied, "Formerly, Master, I heard you say, 'When the man of high station is well instructed, he loves men; when the man of low station is well instructed, he is easily ruled.'" The Master said, "My disciples, Yan's words are right. What I said was only in sport."
5
子路:「何必。」子曰:「有用東周?」
Gong Shan Fo Rao, when he was holding Fei, and in an attitude of rebellion, invited the Master to visit him, who was rather inclined to go. Zi Lu was displeased, and said, "Indeed, you cannot go! Why must you think of going to see Gong Shan?" The Master said, "Can it be without some reason that he has invited me? If any one employ me, may I not make an eastern Zhou?"

子張孔子孔子:「五者天下。」請問:「足以使。」
Zi Zhang asked Confucius about perfect virtue. Confucius said, "To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue." He begged to ask what they were, and was told, "Gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. If you are grave, you will not be treated with disrespect. If you are generous, you will win all. If you are sincere, people will repose trust in you. If you are earnest, you will accomplish much. If you are kind, this will enable you to employ the services of others."

子路:「夫子:『身為君子。』中牟!」子曰:「?」
Bi Xi inviting him to visit him, the Master was inclined to go. Zi Lu said, "Master, formerly I have heard you say, 'When a man in his own person is guilty of doing evil, a superior man will not associate with him.' Bi Xi is in rebellion, holding possession of Zhong Mou; if you go to him, what shall be said?" The Master said, "Yes, I did use these words. But is it not said, that, if a thing be really hard, it may be ground without being made thin? Is it not said, that, if a thing be really white, it may be steeped in a dark fluid without being made black? Am I a bitter gourd? How can I be hung up out of the way of being eaten?"

子曰:「六言?」對曰:「。」「不好不好不好不好不好不好。」
The Master said, "You, have you heard the six words to which are attached six becloudings?" You replied, "I have not." "Sit down, and I will tell them to you. There is the love of being benevolent without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to a foolish simplicity. There is the love of knowing without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind. There is the love of being sincere without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to an injurious disregard of consequences. There is the love of straightforwardness without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to rudeness. There is the love of boldness without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to insubordination. There is the love of firmness without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to extravagant conduct."

子曰:「小子可以可以可以可以鳥獸草木。」
The Master said, "My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry? The Odes serve to stimulate the mind. They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation. They teach the art of sociability. They show how to regulate feelings of resentment. From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one's father, and the remoter one of serving one's prince. From them we become largely acquainted with the names of birds, beasts, and plants."
10
:「周南》、《不為周南》、《》,牆面而立?」
The Master said to Bo Yu, "Do you give yourself to the Zhou Nan and the Shao Nan. The man who has not studied the Zhou Nan and the Shao Nan is like one who stands with his face right against a wall. Is he not so?"

子曰:「鐘鼓?」
The Master said, "'It is according to the rules of propriety,' they say. 'It is according to the rules of propriety,' they say. Are gems and silk all that is meant by propriety? 'It is music,' they say. 'It is music,' they say. Are bells and drums all that is meant by music?"

子曰:「小人穿?」
The Master said, "He who puts on an appearance of stern firmness, while inwardly he is weak, is like one of the small, mean people - yea, is he not like the thief who breaks through, or climbs over, a wall?"

子曰:「。」
The Master said, "Your good, careful people of the villages are the thieves of virtue."

子曰:「。」
The Master said, "To tell, as we go along, what we have heard on the way, is to cast away our virtue."
15
子曰:「既得無所不至。」
The Master said, "There are those mean creatures! How impossible it is along with them to serve one's prince! While they have not got their aims, their anxiety is how to get them. When they have got them, their anxiety is lest they should lose them. When they are anxious lest such things should be lost, there is nothing to which they will not proceed."

子曰:「古者或是忿而已。」
The Master said, "Anciently, men had three failings, which now perhaps are not to be found. The high-mindedness of antiquity showed itself in a disregard of small things; the high-mindedness of the present day shows itself in wild license. The stern dignity of antiquity showed itself in grave reserve; the stern dignity of the present day shows itself in quarrelsome perverseness. The stupidity of antiquity showed itself in straightforwardness; the stupidity of the present day shows itself in sheer deceit."

子曰:「巧言令色。」
The Master said, "Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with virtue."

子曰:「鄭聲雅樂。」
The Master said, "I hate the manner in which purple takes away the luster of vermilion. I hate the way in which the songs of Zheng confound the music of the Ya. I hate those who with their sharp mouths overthrow kingdoms and families."

子曰:「無言。」子貢:「小子?」子曰:「四時百物?」
The Master said, "I would prefer not speaking." Zi Gong said, "If you, Master, do not speak, what shall we, your disciples, have to record?" The Master said, "Does Heaven speak? The four seasons pursue their courses, and all things are continually being produced, but does Heaven say anything?"
20
孔子孔子將命使
Ru Bei wished to see Confucius, but Confucius declined, on the ground of being sick, to see him. When the bearer of this message went out at the door, (the Master) took his lute and sang to it, in order that Bei might hear him.

:「已久君子不為不為。」子曰:「?」:「。」「夫君居喪不甘不樂居處不安不為!」子曰:「不仁然後免於父母天下其父?」
Zai Wo asked about the three years' mourning for parents, saying that one year was long enough. "If the superior man abstains for three years from the observances of propriety, those observances will be quite lost. If for three years he abstains from music, music will be ruined. Within a year the old grain is exhausted, and the new grain has sprung up, and, in procuring fire by friction, we go through all the changes of wood for that purpose. After a complete year, the mourning may stop." The Master said, "If you were, after a year, to eat good rice, and wear embroidered clothes, would you feel at ease?" "I should," replied Wo. The Master said, "If you can feel at ease, do it. But a superior man, during the whole period of mourning, does not enjoy pleasant food which he may eat, nor derive pleasure from music which he may hear. He also does not feel at ease, if he is comfortably lodged. Therefore he does not do what you propose. But now you feel at ease and may do it." Zai Wo then went out, and the Master said, "This shows Yu's want of virtue. It is not till a child is three years old that it is allowed to leave the arms of its parents. And the three years' mourning is universally observed throughout the empire. Did Yu enjoy the three years' love of his parents?"

子曰:「飽食終日無所用心博弈。」
The Master said, "Hard is it to deal with who will stuff himself with food the whole day, without applying his mind to anything good! Are there not gamesters and chess players? To be one of these would still be better than doing nothing at all."

子路:「君子?」子曰:「君子以為君子無義小人無義。」
Zi Lu said, "Does the superior man esteem valor?" The Master said, "The superior man holds righteousness to be of highest importance. A man in a superior situation, having valor without righteousness, will be guilty of insubordination; one of the lower people having valor without righteousness, will commit robbery."

子貢:「君子?」子曰:「稱人下流無禮惡果。」:「?」「以為知者以為以為。」
Zi Gong said, "Has the superior man his hatreds also?" The Master said, "He has his hatreds. He hates those who proclaim the evil of others. He hates the man who, being in a low station, slanders his superiors. He hates those who have valor merely, and are unobservant of propriety. He hates those who are forward and determined, and, at the same time, of contracted understanding." The Master then inquired, "Ci, have you also your hatreds?" Zi Gong replied, "I hate those who pry out matters, and ascribe the knowledge to their wisdom. I hate those who are only not modest, and think that they are valorous. I hate those who make known secrets, and think that they are straightforward."
25
子曰:「女子小人為難。」
The Master said, "Of all people, girls and servants are the most difficult to behave to. If you are familiar with them, they lose their humility. If you maintain a reserve towards them, they are discontented."

子曰:「四十。」
The Master said, "When a man at forty is the object of dislike, he will always continue what he is."

Source: Chinese Text Project http://ctext.org/analects, from "The Chinese Classics, volume 1", James Legge, 1861

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