子曰，色厉而内荏，譬诸小人，其犹穿窬之盗也与。
Modern Chinese Guide
孔子说：外表严厉而内心怯懦的人，用小人来打比方，大概就像那挖墙洞钻空子的盗贼吧。
James Legge Translation
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?"
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。