Book of Poetry

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。

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."

子曰，诗三百，一言以蔽之，曰，思无邪。

The Master said, "In the Book of Poetry are three hundred pieces, but the design of them all may be embraced in one sentence—'Having no depraved thoughts.'"

三家者，以雍彻。子曰，相维辟公，天子穆穆，奚取于三家之堂。

The three families used the yung ode, while the vessels were being removed, at the conclusion of the sacrifice. The Master said, "'Assisting are the princes;—the son of heaven looks profound and grave:'—what application can these words have in the hall of the three families?"

子夏问曰，巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮，素以为绚兮。何谓也。子曰，绘事后素。曰，礼后乎。子曰，起予者商也，始可与言诗已矣。

1. Tsze-hsia asked, saying, "What is the meaning of the passage—'The pretty dimples of her artful smile! The well-defined black and white of her eye! The plain ground for the colours?'" 2. The Master said, "The business of laying on the colours follows (the preparation of) the plain ground." 3. "Ceremonies then are a subsequent thing?" The Master said, "It is Shang who can bring out my meaning. Now I can begin to talk about the odes with him."

子曰，关睢乐而不淫，哀而不伤。

The Master said, "The Kwan Tsu is expressive of enjoyment without being licentious, and of grief without being hurtfully excessive."

子贡曰，夫子之文章，可得而闻也，夫子之言性与天道，不可得而闻也。

Tsze-kung said, "The Master's personal displays of his principles and ordinary descriptions of them may be heard. His discourses about man's nature, and the way of Heaven, cannot be heard."

子所雅言，诗，书，执礼，皆雅言也。

The Master's frequent themes of discourse were—the Odes, the History, and the maintenance of the Rules of Propriety. On all these he frequently discoursed.

曾子有疾，召门弟子曰，启予足，启予手，诗云，战战兢兢，如临深渊，如履薄冰，而今而后，吾知免夫，小子。

The philosopher Tsang being ill, he called to him the disciples of his school, and said, "Uncover my feet, uncover my hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry, 'We should be apprehensive and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if treading on thin ice,' and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape from all injury to my person, O ye, my little children."

子曰，兴于诗。立于礼。成于乐。

1. The Master said, "It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused. 2. "It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established. 3. "It is from Music that the finish is received."

子曰，衣敝缊袍，与衣孤貉者立，而不耻者，其由也与。不忮不求，何用不臧。子路终身诵之，子曰，是道也，何足以臧。

1. The Master said, "Dressed himself in a tattered robe quilted with hemp, yet standing by the side of men dressed in furs, and not ashamed;—ah! it is Yu who is equal to this! 2. "'He dislikes none, he covets nothing;—what can he do but what is good!'" 3. Tsze-lu kept continually repeating these words of the ode, when the Master said, "Those things are by no means sufficient to constitute (perfect) excellence."

唐棣之华，偏其反而，岂不尔思，室是远而。子曰，未之思也，夫何远之有。

1. How the flowers of the aspen-plum flutter and turn! Do I not think of you? But your house is distant. 2. The Master said, "It is the want of thought about it. How is it distant?"

南容三复白圭，孔子以其兄之子妻之。

Nan Yung was frequently repeating the lines about a white scepter stone. Confucius gave him the daughter of his elder brother to wife.

子曰，诵诗三百，授之以政，不达，使于四方，不能专对，虽多，亦奚以为。

The Master said, "Though a man may be able to recite the three hundred odes, yet if, when intrusted with a governmental charge, he knows not how to act, or if, when sent to any quarter on a mission, he cannot give his replies unassisted, notwithstanding the extent of his learning, of what practical use is it?"

陈亢问于伯鱼曰，子亦有异闻乎。对曰，未也，尝独立，鲤趋而过庭，曰，学诗乎。对曰，未也。不学诗，无以言。

1. Ch'an K'ang asked Po-yu, saying, "Have you heard any lessons from your father different from what we have all heard?" 2. Po-yu replied, "No. He was standing alone once, when I passed below the hall with hasty steps, and said to me, 'Have you learned the Odes?' On my replying 'Not yet,' he added, 'If you do not learn the Odes, you will not be fit to converse with.' I retired and studied the Odes.

子曰，小子，何莫学夫诗。诗可以兴。可以观。可以群。可以怨。迩之事父，远之事君。多识于鸟兽草木之名。

1. The Master said, "My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry? 2. "The Odes serve to stimulate the mind. 3. "They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation. 4. "They teach the art of sociability. 5. "They show how to regulate feelings of resentment. 6. "From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one's father, and the remoter one of serving one's prince. 7. "From them we become largely acquainted with the names of birds, beasts, and plants."