Horses

Analects 16.12

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Sixteen

Original Text:

齐景公有马千驷死之日民无德而称焉伯夷叔齐饿于首阳之下民到于今称之其斯之谓与

Translation:

Other Translations:

“ ‘Duke Jing of Qi had a thousand teams of horses, and yet on the day he died, the people could find no reason to praise him. Bo Yi and Shu Qi starved to death at the foot of Mt. Shouyang, and yet to this day the common people still praise them.’ ”

“Is this not an example of this?”

Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

Duke Jing of Qi had a thousand teams of four horses, but the day he died, the common people of Qi could think of no bounty to praise him for. Bo Yi and Shu Qi died of hunger on Mount Shou-yang, yet to this day the common people praise them. This is what the saying means.

Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 15.26

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Fifteen

Original Text:

子曰吾犹及史之阙文也有马者借人乘之今亡矣夫

Translation:

Other Translations:

The Master said, “I once knew a time when scribes [who did not know how to write a word] would leave the text blank, and those who owned horses [that they could not tame themselves] would lend them to others. Nowadays, there is no one like this.”

Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The Master said, I can still remember when recorders left blanks in their text [when they were unsure of something,] or when people with horses lent them to others to drive. Nowadays such customs are no longer observed, are they?

Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.

Analects 10.17

Leave a Comment / Analects, Analects - Book Ten

Original Text:

厩焚子退朝曰伤人乎不问马

Translation:

Other Translations:

One day the stables burned. When the Master returned from court, he asked, “Was anyone hurt?” He did not ask about the horses.

Confucius, & Slingerland, E. (2003). Analects: With selections from traditional commentaries. Hackett Publishing.

The stables caught fire. Returning from court, the Master said, Was anyone hurt? He did not ask about the horses.

Confucius, & Watson, B. (2007). The Analects of Confucius. Columbia University Press.