子贡曰贫，而无谄，富而无骄，何如。子曰，可也，未若贫而乐，富而好礼者也。子贡曰，诗云，如切如磋，如琢如磨，其斯之谓与。子曰，赐也，始可与言诗已矣，吿诸往而知来者。
Modern Chinese Guide
子贡说：贫穷却不谄媚，富贵却不骄傲，怎么样？孔子说：可以了；但还不如贫穷而乐于道，富贵而好礼。子贡说：《诗经》说“如切如磋，如琢如磨”，就是这个意思吧？孔子说：赐啊，现在可以同你谈《诗》了；告诉你已经发生的，你就能推知将要说的。
James Legge Translation
1. Tsze-kung said, "What do you pronounce concerning the poor man who yet does not flatter, and the rich man who is not proud?" The Master replied, "They will do; but they are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful, and to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety." 2. Tsze-kung replied, "It is said in the Book of Poetry, 'As you cut and then file, as you carve and then polish.'—The meaning is the same, I apprehend, as that which you have just expressed." 3. The Master said, "With one like Ts'ze, I can begin to talk about the odes. I told him one point, and he knew its proper sequence."
Source: James Legge, public domain, 1893.
Notes
- 底本：Wikisource 整理的 James Legge《The Chinese Classics》公版中英文本（1893–1895）。
- 简体化：原文由繁体转为简体（OpenCC），与公版英译逐句对应。
- 白话参考底本：《白话论语读本》，张兆瑢、沈元起编译，上海广益书局1948 年新三版。