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Jin Xin II · 孟子 7B.22

Passage 22

高gāo子zǐ曰yuē：「禹yǔ之zhī聲shēng，尚shàng文wén王wáng之zhī聲shēng。」孟mèng子zǐ曰yuē：「何hé以yǐ言yán之zhī？」曰yuē：「以yǐ追zhuī蠡lí。」曰yuē：「是shì奚xī足zú哉zāi？城chéng門mén之zhī軌guǐ，兩liǎng馬mǎ之zhī力lì與yǔ？」

The disciple Gao said, 'The music of Yu was better than that of king Wen.' Mencius observed, 'On what ground do you say so?' And the other replied, 'Because at the pivot the knob of Yu's bells is nearly worn through.' Mencius said, 'How can that be a sufficient proof? Are the ruts at the gate of a city made by a single two-horsed chariot?'

First-principles reading

Begin with the words and context, expose the premise beneath the argument, then test the conditions and limits of the principle.