# 我四十にして惑わず



## Pavel Bond

孔子曰く「我四十にして惑わず」。He became 40 and still didn't have doubts? Or he became 40 and stopped to doubt?


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## 森人さん

Do not be afraid, do not have doubts at 40. More comments will follow.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

When I was young, I also had hesitations about what I should do in the future.  I couldn't do anything without hesitation or without wandering.

However, when I became 40, I was able to do my own way without hesitation, without wandering. I attained that level when I became 40.

_*"When I was 40, I didn't wander."*_


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## 森人さん

wonder?


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## SoLaTiDoberman

"Wander" as in "my mind wandered"
Does it make sense to you, a native English speaker?


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## 森人さん

Yes not having a focus. @SoLaTiDoberman  I like your answers very brief but thorough. Wondering about something could also cause hesitation.


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## Pavel Bond

Thanks, now I can understand the phrase and, as a bonus, follow the way of 孔子)).


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## Pavel Bond

曰く - you say mostly _iwaku_ or _notamawaku_ or both?


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## Flaminius

曰く is most of the time _iwaku_ but there is an honorific version (represented by the same character strings).  _Notamawaku_ is derived from _notamau_, a classical honorific verb corresponding to _iu_.  Traditionally, _notamawaku_ was used to the utterances of Confucius as found in the Analects.  Yes, we are dealing with a (botched) quote from the Analects.  The Japanese scholars who translated the Analects into Japanese showed deference to the sanctity of Confucius by applying honorific expressions to everything he said or did in the Analects.  Nowadays, most Japanese translations either do not apply honorific expressions to Confucius at all or retain just one type, _notamawaku_.

The portion of the translated passage is this (of course no punctuations in the ancient majority text, but I didn’t reproduce that):
子曰、「吾十有五而志于學、三十而立、四十而不惑、五十而知天命、六十而耳順、七十而從心所欲、不踰矩。」 

As you can see, the Chinese text does not have any morphology that correspond to honorific in Japanese.  A typical _kambun_ translation of this is:
子曰く、「吾れ十有五にして学に志す。三十にして立つ。四十にして惑わず。五十にして天命を知る。六十にして耳順う。七十にして心の欲するところに従ひて矩を踰へず」と。


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## Pavel Bond

So earlier the Japanese scholars used more honorific versions for 曰 (曰く), and nowadays  - mainly only _iwaku_ and _notamawaku_ (the first more often)?


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## 森人さん

Iwaku is used more. Notamawaku is more respectful and is used more for ancient scholarly texts and pronouncements, such as Confucius.


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## Flaminius

Pavel Bond said:


> used more honorific versions for 曰 (曰く)


No.  They used honorific versions for other verbs when they referred to the action of Confucius.  _Notamawaku_ is probably the only honorific version for verbs denoting “to say.”

Even in traditional texts, honorific expressions are seldom applied in _kambun_.  I would even say they were limited to actions of Confucius in the Analects.



Pavel Bond said:


> nowadays  - mainly only _iwaku_ and _notamawaku_ (the first more often)?


Yes.


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## Pavel Bond

Thanks!


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