Confucian Analects Book XIX Part 3 (孔夫子論語:第十九 第三部份)

Author: Confucius (孔夫子); translated by James Legge

Tzu-kung said, A gentleman's faults are like the eating of sun or moon. All men see them, and when he mends all men look up to him.

第十九

BOOK XIX

21. 子貢曰：「君子之過也，如日月之食焉。過也，人皆見之；更也，人皆仰之。」

Tzu-kung said, A gentleman's faults are like the eating of sun or moon. All men see them, and when he mends all men look up to him.

22. 衛公孫朝問於子貢曰：「仲尼焉學？」子貢曰：「文武之道，未墜於地，在人。賢者 識其大者，不賢者識其小者，莫不有文武之道焉。夫子焉不學，而亦何常師之有！」

Kung-sun Ch'ao of Wei asked Tzu-kung, From whom did Chung-ni learn?
Tzu-kung said, The Way of Wen and Wu has not fallen into ruin. It lives in men: the big in big men, the small in small men. In none of them is the Way of Wen and Wu missing. How should the Master not learn it? What need had he for a set teacher?

23. 叔孫武叔語大夫於朝曰：「子貢賢於仲尼。」子服景伯以告子貢。子貢曰：「譬之宮 牆。賜之牆也及肩，窺見屋家之好；夫子之牆數仞，不得其門而入，不見宗廟之美，百官之富。得其門者或寡矣！夫子之云，不亦宜乎！」

In talk with the great men of the court Shu-sun Wu-shu said, Tzu-kung is worthier than Chung-ni.
Tzu-fu Ching-po told this to Tzu-kung.
Tzu-kung said, This is like the palace wall. My wall reaches to the shoulder: peeping over you see the good home within. The Master's wall is several fathoms high: no one can see the beauty of the Ancestral Temple and the wealth of its hundred officers, unless he gets in by the gate. And if only a few men find the gate, may not my lord have spoken the truth?

24. 叔孫武叔毀仲尼。子貢曰：「無以為也！仲尼不可毀也。他人之賢者，丘陵也，猶可 踰也。仲尼，日月也，無得而踰焉。人雖欲自絕，其何傷於日月乎？多見其不知自量也！」

Shu-sun Wu-shu cried down Chung-ni.
Tzu-kung said, It is labour lost. Chung-ni cannot be cried down. The greatness of other men is a hummock, over which we can still leap. Chung-ni is the sun or moon, which no one can overleap. Though the man were willing to kill himself, how could he hurt the sun or moon? That he does not know his own measure would only be seen the better!

25. 陳子禽謂子貢曰：「子為恭也，仲尼豈賢於子乎？」子貢曰：「君子一言以為知，一 言以為不知，言不可不慎也！夫子之不可及也，猶天之不可階而升也。夫子之得邦家者，所謂立之斯立，道之斯行，綏之斯來，動之斯和。其生也榮，其死也哀，如之何其可及也？」

Ch'en Tzu-ch'in said to Tzu-kung, Ye humble yourself, Sir. In what is Chung-ni your better?
Tzu-kung said, By one word a gentleman shows wisdom, by one word want of wisdom. Words must not be lightly spoken. No one can come up to the Master, as heaven is not to be climbed by steps. If the Master had power in a kingdom, or a clan, the saying would come true, 'What he sets up stands; he shows the way and men go it, he brings peace and they come, he stirs them and they are at one. Honoured in life, he is mourned when dead!' Who can come up to him?