Introduction to Literary Chinese - Lesson 1, Text 3
Adapted from the 1927 book by J. Brandt
多言無益
The Uselessness of Many Words
或問墨子曰。
someone asked Mo-tzu, saying,
言以多爲貴乎。
Do words become precious through quantity?
墨子曰。蝦蟆日夜鳴。而人厭之。
Mo-tzu said, "Frogs croak day and night, yet men loathe them.
雄鷄一鳴。天下振動。
But when the cock crows only once, everything comes into motion.
言在當時。而已。
Words rely on the proper time, and that is all.
多言何。
What is the good of talking much?"