叔孙武叔语大夫于朝曰，子贡贤于仲尼。子服景伯以告子贡。子贡曰，譬之宫墙，赐之墙也，及肩，窥见室家之好。夫子之墙，数仞，不得其门而入，不见宗庙之美，百官之富。得其门者或寡矣，夫子之云，不亦宜乎。
白话导读
叔孙武叔在朝廷上对大夫们说：子贡比仲尼还要贤能。子服景伯把这话告诉了子贡。子贡说：拿围墙作比方吧，我家的围墙只有齐肩高，人们从墙外就能看见里面房屋的美好。我老师的围墙却有几丈高，如果找不到门进去，就看不见里面宗庙的富丽堂皇、各种房舍的多姿多彩。能找到那门的人大概很少吧。叔孙武叔那样说，不也是很自然的吗？
James Legge 英译
1. Shu-sun Wu-shu observed to the great officers in the court, saying, "Tsze-kung is superior to Chung-ni." 2. Tsze-fu Ching-po reported the observation to Tsze-kung, who said, "Let me use the comparison of a house and its encompassing wall. My wall only reaches to the shoulders. One may peep over it, and see whatever is valuable in the apartments. 3. "The wall of my Master is several fathoms high. If one do not find the door and enter by it, he cannot see the ancestral temple with its beauties, nor all the officers in their rich array. 4. "But I may assume that they are few who find the door. Was not the observation of the chief only what might have been expected?"
译注：James Legge 公版英译，1893 年原版。
注释
- 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。