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Chinese Text Project
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Scope: Man in the World, Associated with other Men Request type: Paragraph
Condition 1: Contains text "宋有荊氏者宜楸柏桑" Matched:1.
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人間世 - Man in the World, Associated with other Men

English translation: James Legge [?]
Books referencing 《人間世》 Library Resources
6 人間世:
南伯子綦遊乎商之丘,見大木焉有異,結駟千乘,隱將芘其所藾。子綦曰:「此何木也哉?此必有異材夫!」仰而視其細枝,則拳曲而不可以為棟梁;俯而見其大根,則軸解而不可為棺槨;咶其葉,則口爛而為傷;嗅之,則使人狂酲三日而不已。子綦曰:「此果不材之木也,以至於此其大也。嗟乎!神人以此不材!」宋有荊氏者,宜楸、柏、桑。其拱把而上者,求狙猴之杙者斬之;三圍四圍,求高名之麗者斬之;七圍八圍,貴人富商之家求樿傍者斬之。故未終其天年,而中道已夭於斧斤,此材之患也。故解之以牛之白顙者,與豚之亢鼻者,與人有痔病者,不可以適河。此皆巫祝以知之矣,所以為不祥也,此乃神人之所以為大祥也。
Man in the World,...:
Nan-bo Zi-Qi in rambling about the Heights of Shang, saw a large and extraordinary tree. The teams of a thousand chariots might be sheltered under it, and its shade would cover them all! Zi-Qi said, 'What a tree is this! It must contain an extraordinary amount of timber! When he looked up, however, at its smaller branches, they were so twisted and crooked that they could not be made into rafters and beams; when he looked down to its root, its stem was divided into so many rounded portions that neither coffin nor shell could be made from them. He licked one of its leaves, and his mouth felt torn and wounded. The smell of it would make a man frantic, as if intoxicated, for more than three whole days together. 'This, indeed,' said he, 'is a tree good for nothing, and it is thus that it has attained to such a size. Ah! and spirit-like men acknowledge this worthlessness (and its result).'
In Song there is the district of Jing-shi, in which catalpae, cypresses, and mulberry trees grow well. Those of them which are a span or two or rather more in circumference are cut down by persons who want to make posts to which to tie their monkeys; those which are three or four spans round are cut down by persons who want beams forr their lofty and famous houses; and those of seven or eight spans are cut down by noblemen and rich merchants who want single planks for the sides of their coffins. The trees in consequence do not complete their natural term of life, and come to a premature end in the middle of their growth under the axe and bill;-- this is the evil that befalls them from their supplying good timber.
In the same way the Jie (book) specifies oxen that have white foreheads, pigs that have turned-up snouts, and men that are suffering from piles, and forbids their being sacrificed to the Ho. The wizards know them by these peculiarities and consider them to be inauspicious, but spirit-like men consider them on this account to be very fortunate.

Total 1 paragraphs. Page 1 of 1.