曰、恭、寬、信、敏、惠 ；Confucius is a most unlikely figure to be made the centre of veneration

姑且不談封面的衣物，可能有時代錯誤。
我們現在談"子曰"的回譯成中文。
很笨的方法之一是找出該引言的出處，譬如說，


17:6. Tzu-chang asked Confucius about humanity. Confucius said, "One who can practice five things wherever he may be is a man of humanity." Tzu-chang asked what the five are. Confucius said, "Earnestness, liberality, truthfulness, diligence, and generosity. If one is earnest, one will not be treated with disrespect. If one is liberal, one will win the hearts of all. If one is truthful, one will be trusted. If one is diligent, one will be successful. And if one is generous, one will be able to enjoy the service of others."
http://www.rjbaker.com/RJBDup/analects.htm

Confucius Analects

再找Wikisource 論語第17

陽貨第十七

BOOK XVII. YANG HO.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Confucian_Analects/XVII


【第六章】子張問仁於孔子、孔子曰、能行五者於天下爲仁矣。請問之、曰、恭、寬、信、敏、惠、恭、則不侮、寬、則得眾、信、則人任焉、敏、則有功、惠、則足以使人。

Oxford World's Classics

Confucius is recognized as China’s greatest teacher. His family name was Kong, and his personal name was Qiu (stylized as Zhongni), but he was eventually given the title Kong Fuzi, which has been Latinized as “Confucius.” Confucius’s father died when the son was three; by seventeen, Confucius supported his mother. Confucius married at age nineteen, had two daughters and a son, and held a minor office in Lu. He dedicated his life to teaching but believed that he was called to reform the decaying Zhou culture.

"One who can practise five things wherever he may be is a man of humanity…earnestness, liberality, truthfulness, diligence, and generosity."

****

這是2008年的一則試譯。還有一半沒譯出。

Even from this brief discussion, we can see that Confucius is a most unlikely figure to be made the centre of veneration. He did not have conventional leadership qualities, and his resonance - to me at least - comes from his lack of grandstanding; his constant awareness of his own shortcomings; his rejection of dogmatism; and his flashes of dry wit. These qualities, mixed with an ongoing patience with the hasty questions of the young, and his determination to help them think rather than force their adherence to a particular point of view. Few other world figures, I think, could have phrased their life goals in the disarming yet proud way that Confucius did, as recorded in the Analects. And this celebrated passage, known widely in China, just goes as follows:

史景遷先生

即使從上述簡短的討論，我們就知道，孔子最不可能成為重人崇拜的人物。他沒有傳統的領導素質，而他能引人共鳴的--管見--來自他不會去譁眾取寵；他一向都能自覺自己的缺點；他能"毋固、毋必"；他待人接物上能針貶而不討人厭，能幽默以對。


This delivery is also called dry humor or dry wit, when the intent, but not the presentation, is humorous, blunt, oblique, sarcastic, laconic, or apparently unintentional.

Urban Dictionary: dry wit

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dry+wit

Top Definition. dry wit. 1.) The ability to criticise someone and have them laugh about it; see also oblivious 2.) Humour that soars over the heads of your less ...

grand・stand

A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack.

（競馬場・競技場などの）正面観覧席; ((集合的)) その観客たち.
grand・stander　〔米話〕 スタンドプレーをする人.
grandstand finish　手に汗にぎる大接戦.
grandstand play　〔米〕 （野球の）スタンドプレー ((観衆のかっさいを目当てのプレー)).

grandstanding Show phonetics
noun [U] US INFORMAL
acting or speaking in a way intended to attract the good opinion of other people who are watching