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| Simplified Chinese version |
《寓言 - Metaphorical Language》 | English translation: James Legge [?] | Books referencing 《寓言》 Library Resources |
| 1 | 寓言: | 寓言十九，重言十七，卮言日出，和以天倪。寓言十九，藉外论之。亲父不为其子媒。亲父誉之，不若非其父者也；非吾罪也，人之罪也。与己同则应，不与己同则反，同于己为是之，异于己为非之。重言十七，所以已言也，是为耆艾。年先矣，而无经纬本末以期年耆者，是非先也。人而无以先人，无人道也；人而无人道，是之谓陈人。 |
| Metaphorical Language:...: |
Of my sentences nine in ten are metaphorical; of my illustrations seven in ten are from valued writers. The rest of my words are like the water that daily fills the cup, tempered and harmonised by the Heavenly element in our nature. The nine sentences in ten which are metaphorical are borrowed from extraneous things to assist (the comprehension of) my argument. (When it is said, for instance), 'A father does not act the part of matchmaker for his own son,' (the meaning is that) 'it is better for another man to praise the son than for his father to do so.' The use of such metaphorical language is not my fault, but the fault of men (who would not otherwise readily understand me). Men assent to views which agree with their own, and oppose those which do not so agree. Those which agree with their own they hold to be right, and those which do not so agree they hold to be wrong. The seven out of ten illustrations taken from valued writers are designed to put an end to disputations. Those writers are the men of hoary eld, my predecessors in time. But such as are unversed in the warp and woof, the beginning and end of the subject, cannot be set down as of venerable eld, and regarded as the predecessors of others. If men have not that in them which fits them to precede others, they are without the way proper to man, and they who are without the way proper to man can only be pronounced defunct monuments of antiquity. | |
| 卮言日出，和以天倪，因以曼衍，所以穷年。不言则齐，齐与言不齐，言与齐不齐也，故曰无言。言无言，终身言，未尝言；终身不言，未尝不言。有自也而可，有自也而不可；有自也而然，有自也而不然。恶乎然？然于然。恶乎不然？不然于不然。恶乎可？可于可。恶乎不可？不可于不可。物固有所然，物固有所可，无物不然，无物不可。非卮言日出，和以天倪，孰得其久！万物皆种也，以不同形相禅，始卒若环，莫得其伦，是谓天均。天均者，天倪也。 | ||
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Words like the water that daily issues from the cup, and are harmonised by the Heavenly Element (of our nature), may be carried on into the region of the unlimited, and employed to the end of our years. But without words there is an agreement (in principle). That agreement is not effected by words, and an agreement in words is not effected by it. Hence it is said, 'Let there be no words.' Speech does not need words. One may speak all his life, and not have spoken a (right) word; and one may not have spoken all his life, and yet all his life been giving utterance to the (right) words. There is that which makes a thing allowable, and that which makes a thing not allowable. There is that which makes a thing right, and that which makes a thing not right. How is a thing right? It is right because it is right. How is a thing wrong? It is wrong because it is wrong. How is a thing allowable? It is allowable because it is so. How is a thing not allowable? It is not allowable because it is not so. Things indeed have what makes them right, and what makes them allowable. There is nothing which has not its condition of right; nothing which has not its condition of allowability. But without the words of the (water-) cup in daily use, and harmonised by the Heavenly Element (in our nature), what one can continue long in the possession of these characteristics? All things are divided into their several classes, and succeed to one another in the same way, though of different bodily forms. They begin and end as in an unbroken ring, though how it is they do so be not apprehended. This is what is called the Lathe of Heaven; and the Lathe of Heaven is the Heavenly Element in our nature. | ||
| 2 | 寓言: | 庄子谓惠子曰：“孔子行年六十而六十化，始时所是，卒而非之，未知今之所谓是之非五十九年非也。”惠子曰：“孔子勤志服知也。”庄子曰：“孔子谢之矣，而其未之尝言。孔子云：‘夫受才乎大本，复灵以生。’鸣而当律，言而当法，利义陈乎前，而好恶是非直服人之口而已矣。使人乃以心服而不敢蘁立，定天下之定。已乎已乎！吾且不得及彼乎！” |
| Metaphorical Language:...: | Zhuangzi said to Huizi, 'When Confucius was in his sixtieth year, in that year his views changed. What he had before held to be right, he now ended by holding to be wrong; and he did not know whether the things which he now pronounced to be right were not those which he had for fifty-nine years held to be wrong.' Huizi replied, 'Confucius with an earnest will pursued the acquisition of knowledge, and acted accordingly.' Zhuangzi rejoined, 'Confucius disowned such a course, and never said that it was his. He said, "Man receives his powers from the Great Source (of his being), and he should restore them to their (original) intelligence in his life. His singing should be in accordance with the musical tubes, and his speech a model for imitation. When profit and righteousness are set before him, and his liking (for the latter) and dislike (of the former), his approval and disapproval, are manifested, that only serves to direct the speech of men (about him). To make men in heart submit, and not dare to stand up in opposition to him; to establish the fixed law for all under heaven: ah! ah! I have not attained to that."' | |
| 3 | 寓言: | 曾子再仕而心再化，曰：“吾及亲仕，三釜而心乐；后仕，三千锺而不洎，吾心悲。”弟子问于仲尼曰：“若参者，可谓无所县其罪乎？”曰：“既已县矣。夫无所县者，可以有哀乎？彼视三釜、三千锺，如观雀蚊虻相过乎前也。” |
| Metaphorical Language:...: | Zeng-zi twice took office, and on the two occasions his state of mind was different. He said, 'While my parents were alive I took office, and though my emolument was only three fu (of grain), my mind was happy. Afterwards when I took office, my emolument was three thousand zhong; but I could not share it with my parents, and my mind was sad.' The other disciples asked Zhongni, saying, 'Such an one as Shan may be pronounced free from all entanglement: is he to be blamed for feeling as he did?' The reply was, 'But he was subject to entanglement. If he had been free from it, could he have had that sadness? He would have looked on his three fu and three thousand zhong no more than on a heron or a mosquito passing before him.' | |
| 4 | 寓言: | 颜成子游谓东郭子綦曰：自吾闻子之言，一年而野，二年而从，三年而通，四年而物，五年而来，六年而鬼入，七年而天成，八年而不知死、不知生，九年而大妙。 |
| Metaphorical Language:...: | Yan Cheng Zi-you said to Dong-guo Zi-qi, 'When I (had begun to) hear your instructions, the first year, I continued a simple rustic; the second year, I became docile; the third year, I comprehended (your teaching); the fourth year, I was (plastic) as a thing; the fifth year, I made advances; the sixth year, the spirit entered (and dwelt in me); the seventh year, (my nature as designed by) Heaven was perfected; the eighth year, I knew no difference between death and life; the ninth year, I attained to the Great Mystery. | |
| 生有为，死也。劝公：以其死也，有自也；而生阳也，无自也。而果然乎？恶乎其所适？恶乎其所不适？天有历数，地有人据，吾恶乎求之？莫知其所终，若之何其无命也？莫知其所始，若之何其有命也？有以相应也，若之何其无鬼邪？无以相应也，若之何其有鬼邪？” | ||
| 'Life has its work to do, and death ensues, (as if) the common character of each were a thing prescribed. Men consider that their death has its cause; but that life from (the operation of) the Yang has no cause. But is it really so? How does (the Yang) operate in this direction? Why does it not operate there? Heaven has its places and spaces which can be calculated; (the divisions of) the earth can be assigned bv men. But how shall we search for and find out (the conditions of the Great Mystery)? We do not know when and how (life) will end, but how shall we conclude that it is not determined (from without)? and as we do not know when and how it begins, how should we conclude that it is not (so) determined? In regard to the issues of conduct which we deem appropriate, how should we conclude that there are no spirits presiding over them; and where those issues seem inappropriate, how should we conclude that there are spirits presiding over them?' | ||
| 5 | 寓言: | 众罔两问于景曰：“若向也俯而今也仰，向也括而今被发，向也坐而今也起，向也行而今也止，何也？”景曰：“搜搜也，奚稍问也？予有而不知其所以。予，蜩甲也，蛇蜕也，似之而非也。火与日，吾屯也；阴与夜，吾代也。彼，吾所以有待邪？而况乎以有待者乎！彼来则我与之来，彼往则我与之往，彼强阳则我与之强阳。强阳者，又何以有问乎！” |
| Metaphorical Language:...: | The penumbrae (once) asked the shadow, saying, 'Formerly you were looking down, and now you are looking up; formerly you had your hair tied up, and now it is dishevelled; formerly you were sitting, and now you have risen up; formerly you were walking, and now you have stopped: how is all this?' The shadow said, 'Venerable Sirs, how do you ask me about such small matters? These things all belong to me, but I do not know how they do so. I am (like) the shell of a cicada or the cast-off skin of a snake - like them, and yet not like them. With light and the sun I make my appearance; with darkness and the night I fade away. Am not I dependent on the substance from which I am thrown? And that substance is itself dependent on something else! When it comes, I come with it; when it goes, I go with it. When it comes under the influence of the strong Yang, I come under the same. Since we are both produced by that strong Yang, what occasion is there for you to question me?' | |
| 6 | 寓言: | 阳子居南之沛，老聃西游于秦，邀于郊，至于梁而遇老子。老子中道仰天而叹曰：“始以汝为可教，今不可也。”阳子居不答。至舍，进盥漱巾栉，脱屦户外，膝行而前曰：“向者弟子欲请夫子，夫子行不闲，是以不敢。今闲矣，请问其过。”老子曰：“而睢睢盱盱，而谁与居？大白若辱，盛德若不足。”阳子居蹴然变容曰：“敬闻命矣。”其往也，舍者迎将其家，公执席，妻执巾栉，舍者避席，炀者避灶。其反也，舍者与之争席矣。 |
| Metaphorical Language:...: |
Yang Zi-ju had gone South to Pei, while Lao Dan was travelling in the west in Qin. (He thereupon) asked (Laozi) to come to the border (of Pei), and went himself to Liang, where he met him. Laozi stood in the middle of the way, and, looking up to heaven, said with a sigh, 'At first I thought that you might be taught, but now I see that you cannot be.' Yang Zi-ju made no reply; and when they came to their lodging-house, he brought in water for the master to wash his hands and rinse his mouth, along with a towel and comb. He then took off his shoes outside the door, went forward on his knees, and said, 'Formerly, your disciple wished to ask you, Master, (the reason of what you said); but you were walking, and there was no opportunity, and therefore I did not presume to speak. Now there is an opportunity, and I beg to ask why you spoke as you did.' Laozi replied, 'Your eyes are lofty, and you stare - who would live with you? The purest carries himself as if he were soiled; the most virtuous seems to feel himself defective.' Yang Zi-ju looked abashed and changed countenance, saying, 'I receive your commands with reverence,' When he first went to the lodging-house, the people of it met him and went before him. The master of it carried his mat for him, and the mistress brought the towel and comb. The lodgers left their mats, and the cook his fire-place (as he passed them). When he went away, the others in the house would have striven with him about (the places for) their mats. |
URN: ctp:zhuangzi/metaphorical-language