| | 山木: |
孔子圍於陳、蔡之間，七日不火食。大公任往弔之，曰：「子幾死乎？」曰：「然。」「子惡死乎？」曰：「然。」 |
| The Tree on the...: |
Confucius was kept (by his enemies) in a state of siege between Chen and Cai, and for seven days had no food cooked with fire to eat. The Da-gong Ren went to condole with him, and said, 'You had nearly met with your death.' 'Yes,' was the reply. 'Do you dislike death?' 'I do.' |
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任曰：「予嘗言不死之道。東海有鳥焉，其名曰意怠。其為鳥也，翂翂翐翐，而似無能；引援而飛，迫脅而棲；進不敢為前，退不敢為後；食不敢先嘗，必取其緒。是故其行列不斥，而外人卒不得害，是以免於患。直木先伐，甘井先竭。子其意者飾知以驚愚，修身以明汙，昭昭乎若揭日月而行，故不免也。昔吾聞之大成之人曰：『自伐者無功，功成者墮，名成者虧。』孰能去功與名而還與眾人！道流而不明居，得行而不名處；純純常常，乃比於狂；削跡捐勢，不為功名。是故無責於人，人亦無責焉。至人不聞，子何喜哉？」 |
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Then Ren continued, 'Let me try and describe a way by which (such a) death may be avoided. In the eastern sea there are birds which go by the name of yi-dai; they fly low and slowly as if they were deficient in power. They fly as if they were leading and assisting one another, and they press on one another when they roost. No one ventures to take the lead in going forward, or to be the last in going backwards. In eating no one ventures to take the first mouthful, but prefers the fragments left by others. In this way (the breaks in) their line are not many, and men outside them cannot harm them, so that they escape injury. The straight tree is the first to be cut down; the well of sweet water is the first to be exhausted. Your aim is to embellish your wisdom so as to startle the ignorant, and to cultivate your person to show the unsightliness of others. A light shines around you as if you were carrying with you the sun and moon, and thus it is that you do not escape such calamity. Formerly I heard a highly accomplished man say, "Those who boast have no merit. The merit which is deemed complete will begin to decay. The fame which is deemed complete will begin to wane." Who can rid himself of (the ideas of) merit and fame, and return and put himself on the level of the masses of men? The practice of the Dao flows abroad, but its master does not care to dwell where it can be seen; his attainments in it hold their course, but he does not wish to appear in its display. Always simple and commonplace, he may seem to be bereft of reason. He obliterates the traces of his action, gives up position and power, and aims not at merit and fame. Therefore he does not censure men, and men do not censure him. The perfect man does not seek to be heard of; how is it that you delight in doing so?' |
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孔子曰：「善哉！」辭其交遊，去其弟子，逃於大澤；衣裘褐，食杼栗；入獸不亂群，入鳥不亂行。鳥獸不惡，而況人乎！ |
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Confucius said, 'Excellent;' and thereupon he took leave of his associates, forsook his disciples, retired to the neighbourhood of a great marsh, wore skins and hair cloth, and ate acorns and chestnuts. He went among animals without causing any confusion among their herds, and among birds without troubling their movements. Birds and beasts did not dislike him; how much less would men do so! |
| | 山木: |
孔子問子桑雽曰：「吾再逐於魯，伐樹於宋，削跡於衛，窮於商、周，圍於陳、蔡之間。吾犯此數患，親交益疏，徒友益散，何與？」 |
| The Tree on the...: |
Confucius asked Zi-sang Hu, saying, 'I was twice driven from Lu; the tree was felled over me in Song; I was obliged to disappear from Wei; I was reduced to extreme distress in Shang and Zhou; and I was kept in a state of siege between Chen and Cai. I have encountered these various calamities; my intimate associates are removed from me more and more; my followers and friends are more and more dispersed - why have all these things befallen me?' |
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子桑雽曰：「子獨不聞假人之亡與？林回棄千金之璧，負赤子而趨。或曰：『為其布與？赤子之布寡矣。為其累與？赤子之累多矣。棄千金之璧，負赤子而趨，何也？』林回曰：『彼以利合，此以天屬也。』夫以利合者，迫窮禍患害相棄也；以天屬者，迫窮禍患害相收也。夫相收之與相棄亦遠矣。且君子之交淡若水，小人之交甘若醴；君子淡以親，小人甘以絕。彼無故以合者，則無故以離。」 |
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Zi-sang Hu replied, 'Have you not heard of the flight of Lin Hui of Jia - how he abandoned his round jade symbol of rank, worth a thousand pieces of silver, and hurried away with his infant son on his back? If it be asked, "Was it because of the market value of the child?" But that value was small (compared with the value of the jade token). If it be asked again, "Was it because of the troubles (of his office)?" But the child would occasion him much more trouble. Why was it then that, abandoning the jade token, worth a thousand pieces of silver, he hurried away with the child on his back? Lin Hui (himself) said, "The union between me and the token rested on the ground of gain; that between me and the child was of Heaven's appointment." Where the bond of union is its profitableness, when the pressure of poverty, calamity, distress, and injury come, the parties abandon one another; when it is of Heaven's appointment, they hold in the same circumstances to one another. Now between abandoning one another, and holding to one another, the difference is great. Moreover, the intercourse of superior men is tasteless as water, while that of mean men is sweet as new wine. But the tastelessness of the superior men leads on to affection, and the sweetness of the mean men to aversion. The union which originates without any cause will end in separation without any cause.' |
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孔子曰：「敬聞命矣。」徐行翔佯而歸，絕學捐書，弟子無挹於前，其愛益加進。 |
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Confucius said, 'I have reverently received your instructions.' And hereupon, with a slow step and an assumed air of ease, he returned to his own house. There he made an end of studying and put away his books. His disciples came no more to make their bow to him (and be taught), but their affection for him increased the more. |
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異日，桑雽又曰：「舜之將死，真泠禹曰：『汝戒之哉！形莫若緣，情莫若率。緣則不離，率則不勞；不離不勞，則不求文以待形；不求文以待形，固不待物。』」 |
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Another day Sang Hu said further to him, 'When Shun was about to die, he charged Yu, saying, 'Be upon your guard. (The attraction of) the person is not like that of sympathy; the (power of) affection is not like the leading (of example). Where there is sympathy, there will not be separation; where there is (the leading of) example, there will be no toil. Where there is neither separation nor toil, you will not have to seek the decoration of forms to make the person attractive, and where there is no such need of those forms, there will certainly be none for external things.' |
| | 山木: |
孔子窮於陳、蔡之間，七日不火食，左據槁木，右擊槁枝，而歌猋氏之風，有其具而無其數，有其聲而無宮角，木聲與人聲，犁然有當於人心。 |
| The Tree on the...: |
When Confucius was reduced to great distress between Chen and Cai, and for seven days he had no cooked food to eat, he laid hold of a decayed tree with his left hand, and with his right hand tapped it with a decayed branch, singing all the while the ode of Biao-shi. He had his instrument, but the notes were not marked on it. There was a noise, but no blended melody. The sound of the wood and the voice of the man came together like the noise of the plough through the ground, yet suitably to the feelings of the disciples around. |
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顏回端拱還目而窺之。仲尼恐其廣己而造大也，愛己而造哀也，曰：「回！無受天損易，無受人益難。無始而非卒也，人與天一也。夫今之歌者其誰乎？」 |
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Yan Hui, who was standing upright, with his hands crossed on his breast, rolled his eyes round to observe him. Zhongni, fearing that Hui would go to excess in manifesting how he honoured himself, or be plunged in sorrow through his love for him, said to him, 'Hui, not to receive (as evils) the inflictions of Heaven is easy; not to receive (as benefits) the favours of men is difficult. There is no beginning which was not an end. The Human and the Heavenly may be one and the same. Who, for instance, is it that is now singing?' |
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回曰：「敢問無受天損易。」仲尼曰：「飢溺寒暑，窮桎不行，天地之行也，運物之泄也，言與之偕逝之謂也。為人臣者，不敢去之。執臣之道猶若是，而況乎所以待天乎！」 |
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Hui said, 'I venture to ask how not to receive (as evils) the inflictions of Heaven is easy.' Zhongni said, 'Hunger, thirst, cold, and heat, and having one's progress entirely blocked up - these are the doings of Heaven and Earth, necessary incidents in the revolutions of things. They are occurrences of which we say that we will pass on (composedly) along with them. The minister of another does not dare to refuse his commands; and if he who is discharging the duty of a minister feels it necessary to act thus, how much more should we wait with ease on the commands of Heaven!' |
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「何謂無受人益難？」仲尼曰：「始用四達，爵祿並至而不窮，物之所利，乃非己也，吾命有在外者也。君子不為盜，賢人不為竊。吾若取之，何哉？故曰：鳥莫知於鷾鴯，目之所不宜處，不給視，雖落其實，棄之而走。其畏人也，而襲諸人間，社稷存焉爾。」 |
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'What do you mean by saying that not to receive (as benefits) the favours of men is difficult?' Zhongni said, 'As soon as one is employed in office, he gets forward in all directions; rank and emolument come to him together, and without end. But these advantages do not come from one's self - it is my appointed lot to have such external good. The superior man is not a robber; the man of worth is no filcher - if I prefer such things, what am I? Hence it is said, "There is no bird wiser than the swallow." Where its eye lights on a place that is not suitable for it, it does not give it a second glance. Though it may drop the food from its mouth, it abandons it, and hurries off. It is afraid of men, and yet it stealthily takes up its dwelling by his; finding its protection in the altars of the Land and Grain.' |
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「何謂無始而非卒？」仲尼曰：「化其萬物而不知其禪之者，焉知其所終？焉知其所始？正而待之而已耳。」 |
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'What do you mean by saying that there is no beginning which was not an end?' Zhongni said, 'The change-- rise and dissolution-- of all things (continually) goes on, but we do not know who it is that maintains and continues the process. How do we know when any one begins? How do we know when he will end? We have simply to wait for it, and nothing more.' |
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「何謂天與人一邪？」仲尼曰：「有人，天也；有天，亦天也。人之不能有天，性也，聖人晏然體逝而終矣。」 |
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'And what do you mean by saying that the Human and the Heavenly are one and the same?' Zhongni said, 'Given man, and you have Heaven; given Heaven, and you still have Heaven (and nothing more). That man can not have Heaven is owing to the limitation of his nature. The sagely man quietly passes away with his body, and there is an end of it.' |
