子贡曰：“贫而无谄，富而无骄，何如？”子曰：“可也。未若贫而乐、富而好礼者也。”子贡曰：“《诗》云‘如切如磋，如琢如磨’，其斯之谓与？”子曰：“赐也，始可与言《诗》已矣，告诸往而知来者。”
1Tsze-kung said, 'What do you pronounce concerning the poor man who yet does not flatter, and the rich man who is not proud?' The Master replied, 'They will do; but they are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful, and to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety.'
2Tsze-kung replied, 'It is said in the Book of Poetry, "As you cut and then file, as you carve and then polish."-- The meaning is the same, I apprehend, as that which you have just expressed.'
3The Master said, 'With one like Ts'ze, I can begin to talk about the odes. I told him one point, and he knew its proper sequence.'