Analects 15.25
The Analects (論語), BOOK XV. WEI LING KUNG 衞靈公第十五
子曰、吾猶及史之闕文也、有馬者、借人乘之、今亡矣夫。
The Master said, "Even in my early days, a historiographer would leave a blank in his text, and he who had a horse would lend him to another to ride. Now, alas! there are no such things."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 猶yóusimilar to, just like, as
- 及jíto extend; to reach; and; in time
- 史shǐhistory, chronicle, annals
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 闕quēpalace; watchtower
- 文wénculture, literature, writing
- 也yěalso, too
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 馬mǎhorse; surname
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 借jièto borrow; to lend; excuse, pretext
- 人rénman, person; people
- 乘chéngride, mount; to make use of; to ascend;
- 今jīnmodern, current; today, now
- 亡wángdeath, destruction; to lose; to perish
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Mencius 3B.1
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
- Zhuangzi Opening Trunks
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.