Confucian Analects · Analects 19.23
1. Shu-sun Wu-shu observed to the great officers in the court, saying, 'Tsze-kung is superior to Chung-ni.' 2. Tsze-fu Ching-po reported the observation to Tsze- kung, who said, 'Let me use the comparison of a house and its encompassing wall. My wall only reaches to the shoulders. One may peep over it, and see whatever is valuable in the apartments. 3. 'The wall of my Master is several fathoms high. If one do not find the door and enter by it, he cannot see the ancestral temple with its beauties, nor all the officers in their rich array. 4. 'But I may assume that they are few who find the door. Was not the observation of the chief only what might have been expected?'
Chinese · source text【廿三章】【一節】叔孫武叔語大夫於朝曰、子貢賢於仲尼。【二節】子服景伯以告子貢。子貢曰、譬之宮牆、賜之牆也、及肩、窺見室家之好。【三節】夫子之牆、數仞、不得其門而入、不見宗廟之美、百官之富。【四節】得其門者或寡矣、夫子之云、不亦宜乎。
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Confucius · English translation by James Legge · bilingual transcription
James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Volume 1: Confucian Analects · Project Gutenberg #4094
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