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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 "觀者如市匠伯不顧遂行不輟" Matched:1.
Total 1 paragraphs. Page 1 of 1.

人間世 - Man in the World, Associated with other Men

English translation: James Legge [?]
Books referencing 《人間世》 Library Resources
5 人間世:
匠石之齊,至乎曲轅,見櫟社樹。其大蔽數千牛,絜之百圍,其高臨山十仞而後有枝,其可以為舟者旁十數。觀者如市,匠伯不顧,遂行不輟。弟子厭觀之,走及匠石,曰:「自吾執斧斤以隨夫子,未嘗見材如此其美也。先生不肯視,行不輟,何邪?」曰:「已矣,勿言之矣!散木也,以為舟則沈,以為棺槨則速腐,以為器則速毀,以為門戶則液樠,以為柱則蠹。是不材之木也,無所可用,故能若是之壽。」匠石歸,櫟社見夢曰:「女將惡乎比予哉?若將比予於文木邪?夫柤、梨、橘、柚、果、蓏之屬,實熟則剝,剝則辱,大枝折,小枝泄。此以其能苦其生者也,故不終其天年而中道夭,自掊擊於世俗者也。物莫不若是。且予求無所可用久矣,幾死,乃今得之,為予大用。使予也而有用,且得有此大也邪?且也,若與予也皆物也,奈何哉其相物也?而幾死之散人,又惡知散木!」匠石覺而診其夢。弟子曰:「趣取無用,則為社何邪?」曰:「密!若無言!彼亦直寄焉,以為不知己者詬厲也。不為社者,且幾有翦乎!且也,彼其所保,與眾異,以義譽之,不亦遠乎!」
Man in the World,...:
A (master) mechanic, called Shi, on his way to Qi, came to Qu-yuan, where he saw an oak-tree, which was used as the altar for the spirits of the land. It was so large that an ox standing behind it could not be seen. It measured a hundred spans round, and rose up eighty cubits on the hill before it threw out any branches, after which there were ten or so, from each of which a boat could be hollowed out. People came to see it in crowds as in a market place, but the mechanic did not look round at it, but held on his way without stopping. One of his workmen, however, looked long and admiringly at it, and then ran on to his master, and said to him, 'Since I followed you with my axe and bill, I have never seen such a beautiful mass of timber as this. Why would you, Sir, not look round at it, but went on without stopping?' 'Have done,' said Mr. Shi, 'and do not speak about it. It is quite useless. A boat made from its wood would sink; a coffin or shell would quickly rot; an article of furniture would soon go to pieces; a door would be covered with the exuding sap; a pillar would be riddled by insects; the material of it is good for nothing, and hence it is that it has attained to so great an age.'
When Mr. Shi was returning, the altar-oak appeared to him in a dream, and said, 'What other tree will you compare with me? Will you compare me to one of your ornamental trees? There are hawthorns, pear-trees, orange-trees, pummelo-trees, gourds and other low fruit-bearing plants. When their fruits are ripe, they are knocked down from them, and thrown among the dirt. The large branches are broken, and the smaller are torn away. So it is that their productive ability makes their lives bitter to them; they do not complete their natural term of existence, but come to a premature end in the middle of their time, bringing on themselves the destructive treatment which they ordinarily receive. It is so with all things. I have sought to discover how it was that I was so useless; I had long done so, till (the effort) nearly caused my death; and now I have learned it - it has been of the greatest use to me. Suppose that I had possessed useful properties, should I have become of the great size that I am? And moreover you and I are both things - how should one thing thus pass its judgment on another? how is it that you a useless man know all this about me a useless tree?' When Mr. Shih awoke, he kept thinking about his dream, but the workman said, 'Being so taken with its uselessness, how is it that it yet acts here as the altar for the spirits of the land?' 'Be still,' was the master's reply, 'and do not say a word. It simply happened to grow here; and thus those who do not know it do not speak ill of it as an evil thing. If it were not used as the altar, would it be in danger of being cut down? Moreover, the reason of its being preserved is different from that of the preservation of things generally; is not your explaining it from the sentiment which you have expressed wide of the mark?'

Total 1 paragraphs. Page 1 of 1.