282. | 自 | 勤 | 苦 | but toiled hard of their own accord. | |
Tzŭ4 | ch'in2 | ku3 | |||
Self | diligent | bitter |
Tzŭ see line 93.
Ch'in see line 270.
K'u is composed of 艸 ts'ao vegetation as radical, with 古 ku ancient (line 261), and is said to have originally meant the liquorice plant. Its modern sense is bitter and by extension toilsome, poverty-stricken; hence the imported word coolie has been written in Chinese 苦力 k'u li, poverty and strength.
283. | 如 | 囊 | 螢 | Then we have one who put fireflies in a bag, | |
Ju2 | nang2 | ying2 | |||
Follow | bag | firefly |
Ju see line 133. [Eitel again strangely translates by "perchance." Zottoli is also wrong with "sicut." His "quoad" under line 133 was much more to the point. The word is here used in an introductory sense.]
Nang has a portion of 束 shu to bind (lines 280, 268) appearing as part of the old radical, and also a portion of 襄 hsiang (line 38) as phonetic. It is now classed under radical 口 k'ou mouth.
Ying is composed of 虫 ch'ung insect as radical, with a common phonetic. [The reference is to 車引 Ch'ê Yin of the 4th cent. A.D., who was too poor to pay for a candle and adopted the above expedient. Eitel wrongly reads Kü Yin, being always ch'ê as a surname. Zottoli has 允 yün instead of 引 yin. Both occur, but the latter seems to be correct.]
284. | 如 | 映 | 雪 | and again another who used the white glare from snow. | |
Ju2 | ying4 | hsüeh3 | |||
Follow | bright | snow |
Ju see line 133.