Analects 6.8
The Analects (論語), BOOK VI. YUNG YEY 雍也第六
伯牛有疾、子問之、自牖執其手、曰、亡之、命矣夫、斯人也、而有斯疾也、斯人也、而有斯疾也。
Po-niu being ill, the Master went to ask for him. He took hold of his hand through the window, and said, "It is killing him. It is the appointment of Heaven, alas! That such a man should have such a sickness! That such a man should have such a sickness!"
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 伯bóolder brother; father's elder brother; s
- 牛niúox, cow, bull
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 疾jísickness, illness, disease; to envy, to
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 自zìself; private, personal; from
- 牖yǒuwindow; to enlighten
- 執zhíto execute; to grasp, to hold; to keep;
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 手shǒuhand
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 亡wángdeath, destruction; to lose; to perish
- 命mìnglife; destiny, fate, luck; an order, ins
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 人rénman, person; people
- 也yěalso, too
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Analects 11.2
- Analects 14.42
- Hexagram 29
- Analects 18.6
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 74
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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