Han shih wai chuan :: :: University of Virginia Library

When a fish out of water[2] [is hung up by] a thread in its mouth,
it is not long before it is worm-eaten. The term of life of [a
man's] two parents is brief as [a galloping horse] passing a crack.[3]
A tree wishes to grow luxuriant, but frost and dew do not allow it,[4]
and the worthy gentleman wishes to make his name, but his two
parents will not tarry. [Truly][5] "one whose family is poor and
whose parents are old is not particular about the office he will
fill." The Ode says,[6]

Though it be like a blazing fire,[7]
Your parents are very near.

The above is a development of this.

[1]

Cf. HSWC 1/1, 7/8, where Tsêng-tzŭ is the person involved. Shuo yüan 3.3b-4a
and Chia-yü 2.8a-b both attribute it to Tzŭ-lu.

[2]

[OMITTED]. The context requires a dry fish rather than a dried one. Cf. Hsün-tzŭ
1.

[3]

[OMITTED]: an ellipsis for the cliché [OMITTED] or one of its several variants (cf.
TT 2587-8).

[4]

[OMITTED]: I follow Chou and CHy in deleting the [OMITTED], which makes no sense
here. SY also lacks it.

[5]

From HSWC 7/7 I insert [OMITTED]. SY has [OMITTED]. (Chao 21.)

[6]

Shih 18 No. 10/3.

[7]

"The royal House is like a blazing fire," demanding service. Shih-k`ao 4a-b would have Han shih read [OMITTED] as quoted by a Hou-Han shu commentary instead of [OMITTED] as in Mao shih and present texts of HSWC. The two characters are only variants, and both occur in Han dynasty texts when quoting Mao shih.