A disciple asked Confucius for the meaning of the following verse:

Her coquettish smiles,

? ?How dimpling they are;

? Her beautiful eyes,

? ?How beaming they are;

? O fairest is she,

? ?Who is simple and plain.

?"In painting," answered Confucius,"ornamentation and colour are matters of secondary importance conpared with the groundwork."

?"Then art itself," said the disciple, "is a matter of 'secondary' consideration?"

?"My friend," replied Confucius,"You have given me an idea.Now I can talk of poetry with you."

中文：子夏問(wèn)曰：“ ‘巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮，素以為絢兮?！沃^也？” 子曰：“繪事后素?！?曰：“禮后乎？” 子曰：“起予者商也！” 始可與言《詩(shī)》已矣?！?br>

注釋：一位學(xué)生問(wèn)孔子下面這些詩(shī)句的意思：

? ? ? 她迷人的笑容，

? ? ? ? 酒窩淺淺；

? ? ?她美麗的眼睛，

? ? ? ? 歡悅撲閃；

? ?噢，她是最美的，

?? ? ? 樸素而簡(jiǎn)單。

“在繪畫(huà)中，”孔子回答說(shuō)，“與它的本質(zhì)相比，裝飾和色彩是次要的?！?/p>

“那么，藝術(shù)本身，”這位學(xué)生說(shuō)，“也是個(gè)應(yīng)被看做‘次要’的東西吧？”

“我的朋友，” 孔子回答說(shuō)，“你啟發(fā)了我。現(xiàn)在我可以和你談?wù)撛?shī)了?！?/p>