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

The Master said, When those above love courtesy, the people are easy to lead.

憲問第十四

BOOK XIV

41. 子路宿於石門。晨門曰:「奚自?」子路曰:「自孔氏。」曰:「是知其不可而為之 者與?」

Tzu-lu spent a night at Shih-men. The gate-keeper asked him, Whence comest thou? From Confucius, answered Tzu-lu. The man that knows it is no good and yet must still be doing? said the gate-keeper.

42. 子擊磬於衛。有荷蕢而過孔氏之門者,曰:「有心哉,擊磬乎!」既而曰:「鄙哉, 硜硜乎!莫己知也,斯已而已矣!『深則厲,淺則揭。』」子曰:「果哉!末之難矣!」

When the Master was chiming his sounding stones in Wei, a basket-bearer said, as he passed the door, The heart is full that chimes those stones! But then he said, For shame! What a tinkling sound! If no one knows thee, have done! Wade the deep places, Lift thy robe through the shallows! The Master said, Where there's a will, that is nowise hard.

43. 子張曰:「書云:『高宗諒陰,三年不言』何謂也?」子曰:「何必高宗?古之人 皆然。君薨,百官總已以聽於冢宰三年。」

Tzu-chang said, What does the Book mean by saying that Kao-tsung in his mourning shed did not speak for three years? Why pick out Kao-tsung? said the Master. The men of old were all thus. For three years after their lord had died, the hundred officers did each his duty and hearkened to the chief minister.

44. 子曰:「上好禮,則民易使也。」

The Master said, When those above love courtesy, the people are easy to lead.

45. 子路問「君子」。子曰:「修己以敬。」曰:「如斯而已乎?」曰:「修己以安人。 」曰:「如斯而已乎?」曰:「修己以安百姓。修己以安百姓,堯舜其猶病諸。」

Tzu-lu asked, What makes a gentleman? The Master said, To be bent on becoming better. Is that all? said Tzu-lu. By becoming better to bring peace to men. And is that all? By becoming better to bring peace to all men, said the Master. Even Yao and Shun were still struggling to become better, and so bring peace to all men.

46. 原壤夷俟。子曰:「幼而不孫弟,長而無述焉,老而不死是為賊。」以杖叩其脛。

Yüan Jang awaited the Master squatting. Unruly when young, unmentioned as man, undying when old, spells good-for-nothing! said the Master, and he hit him on the leg with his staff.

47. 闕黨,童子將命。或問之曰:「益者與?」子曰:「吾見其居於位也,見其與先生並 行也;非求益者也,欲速成者也。」

When a lad from the village of Ch'üeh was made messenger, someone asked, saying, Is it because he is doing well? The Master said, I have seen him sitting in a man's seat, and seen him walking abreast of his elders. He does not try to do well: he wishes to be quickly grown up.

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

The Master said, Never murmuring against Heaven, nor finding fault with men; learning from the lowest, cleaving the heights. I am known but to one, but to Heaven.

憲問第十四

BOOK XIV

31. 子貢方人。子曰:「賜也,賢乎哉?夫我則不暇!」

Tzu-kung would liken this man to that. The Master said, What talents Tz'u has! Now I have no time for this.

32. 子曰:「不患人之不己知,患其不能也。」

The Master said, Sorrow not at being unknown; sorrow for thine own shortcomings.

33. 子曰:「不逆詐,不億不信。抑亦先覺者,是賢乎?」

The Master said, Not to expect to be cheated, nor to look for falsehood, and yet to see them coming, shows worth in a man.

34. 微生畝謂孔子曰:「丘何為是栖栖者與?無乃為佞乎?」孔子曰:「非敢為佞也,疾 固也。」

Wei-sheng Mou said to Confucius, How dost thou still find roosts to roost on, Ch'iu, unless by wagging a glib tongue? Confucius answered, I dare not wag a glib tongue; but I hate stubbornness.

35. 子曰:「驥不稱其力,稱其德也。」

The Master said, A steed is not praised for his strength, but praised for his mettle.

36. 或曰:「以德報怨,何如?」子曰:「何以報德?以直報怨,以德報德。」

One said, To mete out good for evil, how were that? And how would ye meet good? said the Master. Meet evil with justice; meet good with good.

37. 子曰:「莫我知也夫!」子貢曰:「何為其莫知子也?」子曰:「不怨天,不尤人, 下學而上達。知我者,其天乎!」

The Master said, Alas! no man knows me! Tzu-kung said, Why do ye say, Sir, that no man knows you? The Master said, Never murmuring against Heaven, nor finding fault with men; learning from the lowest, cleaving the heights. I am known but to one, but to Heaven.

38. 公伯寮愬子路於季孫,子服景伯以告曰:「夫子固有惑志於公伯寮,吾力猶能肆諸市 朝。」子曰:「道之將行也與?命也!道之將廢也與?命也!公伯寮其如命何!」

Liao, the duke's uncle, spake ill of Tzu-lu to Chi-sun. Tzu-fu Ching-po told this to Confucius, saying, My master's mind is surely being led astray by the duke's uncle, but I have still the strength to expose his body in the market-place. The Master said, If the Way is to be kept, that is the Bidding, and if the Way is to be lost, this is the Bidding. What can the duke's uncle do against the Bidding?

39. 子曰:「賢者辟世,其次辟地,其次辟色,其次辟言。」

The Master said, Men of worth flee the world; the next best flee the land. Then come those that go at a look, then those that go at words.

40. 子曰:「作者七人矣!」

The Master said, Seven men did so.

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

The Master said, In the way of the gentleman there are three things that I cannot achieve. Love is never troubled; wisdom has no doubts; courage is without fear.

憲問第十四

BOOK XIV

16. 子曰:「晉文公譎而不正,齊桓公正而不譎。」

The Master said, Duke Wen of Chin was deep, but dishonest; Duke Huan of Ch'i was honest, but shallow.

17. 子路曰:「桓公殺公子糾,召忽死之,管仲不死。」曰:「未仁乎!」子曰:「桓公 九合諸侯,不以兵車,管仲之力也。如其仁!如其仁!」

Tzu-lu said, When Duke Huan slew the young duke Chiu, and Shao Hu died with him, but Kuan Chung did not, was not this want of love? The Master said, Duke Huan gathered the great vassals round him, not by chariots of war, but through the might of Kuan Chung. What can love do more? What can love do more?

18. 子貢曰:「管仲非仁者與?桓公殺公子糾,不能死,又相之。」子曰:「管仲相桓公 ,霸諸侯,一匡天下,民到于今受其賜。微管仲,吾其被髮左衽矣!豈若匹夫匹婦之為諒也,自經於溝瀆,而莫之知也!」

Tzu-kung said, When Duke Huan slew the young duke Chiu, and Kuan Chung could not face death and even became his minister, surely he showed want of love? The Master said, By Kuan Chung helping Duke Huan to put down the great vassals and make all below heaven one, men have fared the better from that day to this. But for Kuan Chung our hair would hang down our backs and our coats would button to the left; or should he, like the bumpkin and his lass, their troth to keep, have drowned in a ditch, unknown to anyone?

19. 公叔文子之臣大夫僎,與文子同升諸公。子聞之曰:「可以為文矣!」

The minister Hsien, who had been steward to Kung-shu Wen, went to audience of the Duke together with Wen. When the Master heard of it, he said, He is rightly called Wen (well-bred).

20. 子言衛靈公之無道也,康子曰:「夫如是,奚而不喪?」孔子曰:「仲叔圉治賓客, 祝鮀治宗廟,王孫賈治軍旅,夫如是,奚其喪?」

The Master spake of Ling Duke of Wei's contempt for the Way. K'ang said, If this be so, how does he escape ruin? Confucius answered, With Chung-shu Yü in charge of the guests, the reader T'o in charge of the Ancestral Temple, and Wang-sun Chia in charge of the troops, how should he come to ruin?

21. 子曰:「其言之不怍,則為之也難!」

The Master said, When words are unblushing, they are hard to make good.

22. 陳成子弒簡公。孔子沐浴而朝,告於哀公曰:「陳恒弒其君,請討之。」公曰:「告 夫三子。」孔子曰:「以吾從大夫之後,不敢不告也!」君曰:「告夫三子者!之三子告,不可。」孔子曰:「以吾從大夫子後,不敢不告也!」

Ch'en Ch'eng murdered Duke Chien. Confucius bathed, and went to court and told Duke Ai, saying, Ch'en Heng has murdered his lord: pray, punish him. The Duke said, Tell the three chiefs. Confucius said, As I follow in the wake of the ministers, I dared not leave this untold; but the lord says, Tell the three chiefs. He told the three chiefs. It did no good. Confucius said, As I follow in the wake of the ministers, I dared not leave this untold.

23. 子路問「事君」。子曰:「勿欺也,而犯之。」

Tzu-lu asked how to serve a lord. The Master said, Never cheat him; stand up to him.

24. 子曰:「君子上達,小人下達。」

The Master said, A gentleman's life leads upwards; the small man's life leads down.

25. 子曰:「古之學者為己,今之學者為人。」

The Master said, The men of old learned for their own sake; to-day men learn for show.

26. 蘧伯玉使人於孔子,孔子與之坐而問焉。曰:「夫子何為?」對曰:「夫子欲寡其過 而未能也。」使者出。子曰:「使乎!使乎!」

Ch'ü Po-yü sent a man to Confucius. As they sat together, Confucius asked him, What does your master do? He answered, My master wishes to make his faults fewer, but cannot. When the messenger had left, the Master said, A messenger, a messenger indeed!

27. 子曰:「不在其位,不謀其政。」

The Master said, When not in office discuss not policy.

28. 曾子曰:「君子思不出其位。」

Tseng-tzu said, Even in his thoughts, a gentleman does not outstep his place.

29. 子曰:「君子恥其言而過其行。」

The Master said, A gentleman is shamefast of speech: his deeds go further.

30. 子曰:「君子道者三,我無能焉:仁者不憂,知者不惑,勇者不懼。」子貢曰:「夫 子自道也!」

The Master said, In the way of the gentleman there are three things that I cannot achieve. Love is never troubled; wisdom has no doubts; courage is without fear. That is what ye say, Sir, said Tzu-kung.

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

The Master said, Whilst the land keeps the Way, be fearless of speech and fearless in deed; when the land has lost the Way, be fearless in deed but soft of speech.

憲問第十四

BOOK XIV

1. 憲問恥。子曰:「邦有道穀,邦無道穀,恥也。」

Hsien asked, What is shame? The Master said, To draw pay when the land keeps the Way and to draw pay when it has lost the Way, is shame.

2. 「克伐怨欲,不行焉,可以為仁矣。」子曰:「可以為難矣,仁則吾不知也。」

To eschew strife and bragging, spite and greed, would that be love? The Master said, That may be hard to do; but I do not know that it is love.

3. 子曰:「士而懷居,不足以為士矣!」

The Master said, A knight that is fond of ease does not amount to a knight.

4. 子曰:「邦有道,危言危行;邦無道,危行言孫。」

The Master said, Whilst the land keeps the Way, be fearless of speech and fearless in deed; when the land has lost the Way, be fearless in deed but soft of speech.

5. 子曰:「有德者必有言,有言者不必有德。仁者必有勇,勇者不必有仁。」

The Master said, A man of mind can always talk, but talkers are not always men of mind. Love is always bold, though boldness is found without love.

6. 南宮适問於孔子曰:「羿善射,奡盪舟,俱不得其死然。禹稷躬稼而有天下。」夫子 不答。南宮适出,子曰:「君子哉若人!尚德哉若人!」

Nan-kung Kuo said to Confucius, Yi shot well, Ao pushed a boat over land: each died before his time. Yü and Chi toiled at their crops, and had all below heaven. The Master did not answer. But when Nan-kung Kuo had gone, he said, What a gentleman he is! How he honours mind!

7. 子曰:「君子而不仁者有矣夫,未有小人而仁者也。」

The Master said, Alas! there have been gentlemen without love! But there has never been a small man that was not wanting in love.

8. 子曰:「愛之,能勿勞乎?忠焉,能勿誨乎?」

The Master said, Can he love thee that never tasks thee? Can he be faithful that never chides?

9. 子曰:「為命:裨諶草創之,世叔討論之,行人子羽修飾之,東里子產潤色之。」

The Master said, The decrees were drafted by P'i Shen, criticised by Shih-shu, polished by the Foreign Minister Tzu-yü, and given the final touches by Tzu-ch'an of Tung-li.

10. 或問「子產」,子曰:「惠人也。」問「子西」,曰:「彼哉彼哉!」問「管仲」, 曰:「人也,奪伯氏駢邑三百,飯疏食,沒齒無怨言。」

When he was asked what he thought of Tzu-ch'an, the Master said, A kind-hearted man. Asked what he thought of Tzu-hsi, the Master said, Of him! What I think of him! Asked what he thought of Kuan Chung, the Master said, He was the man that drove the Po from the town of Pien with its three hundred households to end his days on coarse rice, without his muttering a word.

11. 子曰:「貧而無怨難,富而無驕易。」

The Master said, Not to grumble at being poor is hard, not to be proud of wealth is easy.

12. 子曰:「孟公綽為趙魏老則優,不可以為滕薛大夫。」

The Master said, Meng Kung-ch'o is more than fit to be steward of Chao or Wei, but he could not be minister of T'eng or Hsieh.

13. 子路問「成人」。子曰:「若臧武仲之知,公綽之不欲,卞莊子之勇,冉求之藝,文 之以禮樂,亦可以為成人矣!」曰:「今之成人者,何必然?見利思義,見危授命,久要不忘平生之言,亦可以為成人矣!」

Tzu-lu asked what would make a full-grown man. The Master said, The wisdom of Tsang Wu-chung, Kung-ch'o's lack of greed, Chuang of Pien's boldness and the skill of Jan Ch'iu, graced by courtesy and music, might make a full-grown man. But now, he said, who asks the like of a full-grown man? He that in sight of gain thinks of right, who when danger looms stakes his life, who, though the bond be old, does not forget what he has been saying all his life, might make a full-grown man.

14. 子問「公叔文子」於公明賈,曰:「信乎?夫子不言不笑不取乎?」公明賈對曰:「 以告者過也!夫子時然後言,人不厭其言;樂然後笑,人不厭其笑;義然後取,人不厭其取。」子曰:「其然!豈其然乎?」

Speaking of Kung-shu Wen, the Master said to Kung-ming Chia, Is it true that thy master does not speak, nor laugh, nor take a gift? Kung-ming Chia answered, That is saying too much. My master only speaks when the time comes, so no one tires of his speaking; he only laughs when he is merry, so no one tires of his laughter; he only takes when it is right to take, so no one tires of his taking. It may be so, said the Master; but is it?

15. 子曰:「臧武仲以防,求為後於魯,雖曰不要君,吾不信也。」

The Master said, When he held Fang and asked Lu to appoint an heir, though Tsang Wu-chung said he was not forcing his lord, I do not believe it.