Book 9 · Zi Han 子罕
9.1
子罕言利，與命與仁。
The Master seldom spoke of profit, of fate, or of humaneness.1
9.2
達巷黨人曰，「大哉孔子，博學而無所成名。」
子聞之，謂門弟子曰，「吾何執？
執御乎，執射乎？
吾執御矣。」
A man of the village of Daxiang said, “How great is Confucius! He has learned widely, yet he has made a name in nothing.”
Hearing of it, the Master said to his disciples, “What should I take up?
Should I take up driving, or take up archery?
I will take up driving.”
9.3
子曰：「麻冕，禮也。
今也純儉，吾從眾。
拜下，禮也。
今拜乎上，泰也，雖違眾，吾從下。」
The Master said, “A cap of hemp is the ritual.
Now silk is used, which is more economical, and I follow the majority.
To bow below the hall is the ritual.
Now people bow after ascending, which is presumptuous. Though it goes against the majority, I follow the practice of bowing below.”
9.4
子絕四，毋意，毋必，毋固，毋我。
The Master was free of four things: he had no preconceptions, no insistence, no obstinacy, and no self.
9.5
子畏於匡。
曰：「文王既沒，文不在茲乎，天之將喪斯文也。
後死者不得與於斯文也。
天之未喪斯文也。
匡人其如予何。」
The Master was in danger in Kuang.2
He said, “King Wen is gone, but is his culture not here with us? If Heaven had meant this culture to perish,
we who come after would not have been given a share in it.
Since Heaven has not let this culture perish,
what can the men of Kuang do to me?”
9.6
大宰問於子貢曰：「夫子聖者與！
何其多能也？」
子貢曰：「固天縱之將聖，又多能也。」
子聞之曰：「大宰知我乎？
吾少也賤，故多能鄙事。
君子多乎哉？
不多也！」
牢曰：「子云：『吾不試，故藝。』」
The Grand Steward asked Zigong, “Is your Master a sage?
How many things he can do!”
Zigong said, “Surely Heaven has let him go far toward being a sage, and he can do many things besides.”
Hearing of it, the Master said, “Does the Grand Steward know me?
When I was young I was of low station, and so I became able to do many lowly things.
Must a gentleman be able to do many things?
Not many!”
Lao3 said, “The Master said, ‘I was not given office, and so I learned the arts.’”
9.7
子曰：「吾有知乎哉？
無知也。
有鄙夫問於我，空空如也；
我叩其兩端而竭焉。」
The Master said, “Do I have knowledge?
I do not.
A common man asked me something, and his mind was a blank;
I questioned it from both ends and went through it all.”
9.8
子曰：「鳳鳥不至，河不出圖，吾已矣乎！」
The Master said, “The phoenix does not come; the river gives forth no chart.4 It is all over with me!”
9.9
子見齊衰者，冕衣裳者，與瞽者見之，雖少必作，過之必趨。
When the Master saw someone in mourning dress, or someone in ceremonial cap and robe, or someone blind, he would rise as they approached, even if they were young, and in passing them he would hasten his step.
9.10
顏淵喟然嘆曰：「仰之彌高，鑽之彌堅，瞻之在前，忽焉在後！
夫子循循然善誘人，博我以文，約我以禮。
欲罷不能，既竭吾才，如有所立，卓爾。
雖欲從之，末由也已！」
Yan Yuan sighed deeply and said, “The more I look up at it, the higher it seems; the more I bore into it, the harder it grows. I see it ahead of me, and suddenly it is behind!
The Master leads men on step by step. He broadens me with letters and holds me in with ritual.
I want to stop and cannot. When I have used up all my ability, there seems to be something standing there, towering.
Though I want to follow it, I find no way.”
9.11
子疾病，子路使門人為臣，病間曰：「久矣哉，由之行詐也！
無臣而為有臣，吾誰欺？
欺天乎？
且予與其死於臣之手也，無寧死於二三子之手乎？
且予縱不得大葬，予死於道路乎？」
The Master was gravely ill, and Zilu had the disciples act as his retainers. When the illness eased, the Master said, “For a long time now You has been practicing deceit!
I have no retainers, yet he makes it seem that I do. Whom would I deceive?
Would I deceive Heaven?
Besides, rather than die in the hands of retainers, would I not rather die in the hands of you, my friends?
And even if I do not get a grand funeral, would I be left to die by the road?”5
9.12
子貢曰：「有美玉於斯，韞匵而藏諸？
求善賈而沽諸？」
子曰：「沽之哉！
沽之哉！
我待賈者也！」
Zigong said, “Here is a beautiful piece of jade. Should one wrap it in a case and store it away?
Or look for a good offer and sell it?”
The Master said, “Sell it!
Sell it!
I am one who waits for an offer!”
9.13
子欲居九夷。
或曰：「陋，如之何？」
子曰：「君子居之，何陋之有！」
The Master wished to live among the Nine Yi.6
Someone said, “They are rough. What would you do?”
The Master said, “If a gentleman lived among them, what roughness would there be?”
9.14
子曰：「吾自衛反魯，然後樂正，雅頌，各得其所。」
The Master said, “It was after I came back from Wei to Lu that the music was put right, and the Ya and the Song7 each found its proper place.”
9.15
子曰：「出則事公卿，入則事父兄，喪事不敢不勉，不為酒困，何有於我哉！」
The Master said, “Abroad, serving dukes and ministers; at home, serving my father and elder brothers; in funerals, not daring to spare any effort; and not being overcome by wine: what of these is there in me?”
9.16
子在川上曰：「逝者如斯夫！
不舍晝夜。」
Standing by a river, the Master said, “It flows on like this!
Day and night it never stops.”
9.17
子曰：「吾未見好德如好色者也。」
The Master said, “I have yet to see a man who loves virtue as he loves beauty.”
9.18
子曰：「譬如為山，未成一簣，止，吾止也！
譬如平地，雖覆一簣，進，吾往也！」
The Master said, “It is like building a mound. If I stop when one basket short of finishing, it is I who stop!
It is like leveling the ground. Though I have tipped in only one basket, if I go on, it is I who go on!”
9.19
子曰：「語之而不惰者，其回也與？」
The Master said, “The one who never grew slack when I spoke to him, was it not Hui?”
9.20
子謂顏淵曰：「惜乎！
吾見其進也，吾未見其止也！」
The Master said of Yan Yuan, “What a loss!
I saw him go forward; I never saw him stop!”
9.21
子曰：「苗而不秀者，有矣夫！
秀而不實者，有矣夫！」
The Master said, “There are shoots that never flower!
There are flowers that never bear fruit!”
9.22
子曰：「後生可畏，焉知來者之不如今也？
四十五十而無聞焉，斯亦不足畏也已！」
The Master said, “The young are to be held in awe. How do we know that those to come will not equal the men of today?
But one who at forty or fifty has made no name for himself is not worth holding in awe.”
9.23
子曰：「法語之言，能無從乎？
改之為貴！
巽與之言，能無說乎？
繹之為貴！
說而不繹，從而不改，吾末如之何也已矣！」
The Master said, “Words of correction, can one fail to accept them?
What counts is to change!
Words of gentle advice, can one fail to be pleased by them?
What counts is to think them through!
To be pleased and not think them through, to accept and not change: with such a man I can do nothing at all!”
9.24
子曰：「主忠信，毋友不如己者，過則勿憚改。」
The Master said, “Hold to conscientiousness and good faith. Have no friend who is not your equal. When at fault, do not fear to change.”
9.25
子曰：「三軍可奪帥也，匹夫不可奪志也。」
The Master said, “The Three Armies can be robbed of their commander; a common man cannot be robbed of his resolve.”
9.26
子曰：「衣敝縕袍，與衣狐貉者立，而不恥者，其由也與！
不忮不求，何用不臧？」
子路終身誦之。
子曰：「是道也，何足以臧！」
The Master said, “Dressed in a worn robe padded with hemp, standing beside men in fox and badger furs, and not ashamed: would that not be You?
‘Not envious, not grasping, how could he be anything but good?’”8
Zilu recited it all the time.
The Master said, “That is a way, but how is it enough to be good?”
9.27
子曰：「歲寒，然後知松柏之後彫也。」
The Master said, “Only when the year turns cold do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.”
9.28
子曰：「知者不惑，仁者不憂，勇者不懼。」
The Master said, “The wise are not perplexed, the humane do not worry, the brave do not fear.”
9.29
子曰：「可與共學，未可與適道；
可與適道，未可與立；
可與立，未可與權。」
The Master said, “There are those with whom one can learn but not yet go along the Way;
those with whom one can go along the Way but not yet take a stand;
those with whom one can take a stand but not yet weigh things.”
9.30
「唐棣之華，偏其反而，豈不爾思？
室是遠而。」
子曰：「未之思也，夫何遠之有？」
“The flowers of the cherry tree flutter and turn. How could I not think of you?
But your home is far away.”9
The Master said, “He did not really think of her. How could it be far?”
Notes
1. The reading of Zhu Xi. Others take 與 as approval: he seldom spoke of profit, but he approved of fate and of humaneness.
2. The people of Kuang, a town on the border of Wei, mistook Confucius for Yang Huo, who had once oppressed them, and surrounded him.
3. Qin Lao, courtesy name Zikai, said to have been a disciple.
4. Signs of a sage ruler in the old legends: the phoenix appeared in the time of Shun, and a chart came out of the Yellow River on the back of a dragon horse in the time of Fu Xi.
5. Only a high officer had retainers to attend him and a funeral of rank. Confucius no longer held office.
6. The tribes of the east.
7. Two sections of the Songs: the Ya, odes of the court, and the Song, hymns of the temple.
8. Two lines of the ode “Xiong Zhi” in the Songs.
9. Lines not in the received Songs.