文言浅尝
A taste of Classical Chinese

上一课的总之、其中、因此，第六级的井底之蛙、不亦乐乎、百闻不如一见——你早就在用文言的字了，只是没有察觉。今天的读者、作者、记者里的者，也是从文言来的。这一课我们不学一门新语言，只把这些老熟人放回它们本来的句子里，读两句《论语》。

总之, 其中, 因此 from last lesson; 井底之蛙, 不亦乐乎, 百闻不如一见 from level 6 — you have been using classical characters for months without noticing. So is the 者 inside 读者, 作者 and 记者. This lesson teaches no new language: it puts those old acquaintances back into the sentences they came from, and reads two lines of the Analects.

文言和白话的第一个分别是密度。文言的学是学习，时是按时，习是复习，一个字顶一个词；白话几乎都用双音节。第二个分别是虚词：文言用之、者、而、乎，白话用的、地、得、吗。语法的骨架其实差不多——还是主语在前，动词在中间，修饰语在中心语前边。

The first difference is density: classical 学 is 学习, 时 is 按时, 习 is 复习 — one character carries one word, while modern Chinese nearly always uses two. The second is the function words: classical takes 之, 者, 而, 乎 where modern takes 的, 地, 得, 吗. The skeleton is much the same — subject first, verb in the middle, modifiers before their head.

曰只有一个意思：说。《论语》里一句话常常这样开头：子曰。子是尊称，在这本书里专指孔子。句末的乎相当于今天的吗，不亦…乎是文言的反问格式，意思是“不也是…吗”。还有一点要记住：这里的说读“悦”的音，意思是高兴，不是说话的说。

曰 means one thing only: said. Lines of the Analects habitually open with 子曰, 子 being an honorific that in this book always means Confucius. Sentence-final 乎 is the classical 吗, and 不亦…乎 is the rhetorical frame 'is that not …?'. One trap: 说 here is read yuè and means 高兴, not 'speak'.

判断的办法很简单，看它站在哪儿。动词后边的之是宾语代词：习之就是复习它。两个名词中间的之是助词：井底之蛙就是井底的青蛙，三分之一就是三份里的一份。现代汉语里的百分之十、之一，用的都是第二种。

Position decides. After a verb, 之 is an object pronoun: 习之 is 复习它. Between two nouns, 之 is the particle 的: 井底之蛙 is 井底的青蛙, and 三分之一 is one part in three. Modern 百分之十 and 之一 both use the second kind.

者做的事，第十一级你已经见过：的字短语——卖书的、红的。文言把这个的写成者，位置一样，作用一样。知之者就是知道它的人，好之者就是喜欢它的人。注意这里的好是动词，意思是喜欢，不是好坏的好。

You met 者's job in level 11 as the 的字短语: 卖书的, 红的. Classical Chinese writes that 的 as 者 — same position, same work. 知之者 is 'the one who knows it', 好之者 'the one who loves it'. Note that 好 here is read hào and means 'to love', not 'good'.

成语是文言留在现代汉语里的化石。不亦乐乎来自《论语》第一句；三人行，必有我师也是孔子的话，意思是三个人走在一起，里边一定有能做我老师的；百闻不如一见里的不如就是比不上。你懂了之、者、曰，这些四个字的东西就不再是死记的了。

Chengyu are the fossils classical Chinese left in the modern language. 不亦乐乎 comes from the opening of the Analects; 三人行，必有我师 is Confucius again — walk with two others and one of them can teach you; and the 不如 of 百闻不如一见 is simply 比不上. Once 之, 者 and 曰 make sense, these four-character blocks stop being things to memorise.