The Master said, "Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign!
子曰:“大哉尧之为君也!
How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it.
巍巍乎,唯天为大,唯尧则之。
How vast was his virtue! The people could find no name for it.
荡荡乎,民无能名焉。
"How majestic was he in the works which he accomplished! How glorious in the elegant regulations which he instituted!"
巍巍乎其有成功也,焕乎其有文章!”
Shun had five ministers, and the empire was well governed.
舜有臣五人而天下治。
King Wu said, "I have ten able ministers."
武王曰:“予有乱臣十人。”
Confucius said, "Is not the saying that talents are difficult to find, true?
孔子曰:“才难,不其然乎?
Only when the dynasties of T'ang and Yu met, were they more abundant than in this of Chau, yet there was a woman among them.
唐虞之际,于斯为盛;有妇人焉,
The able ministers were no more than nine men.
九人而已。
"King Wan possessed two of the three parts of the empire, and with those he served the dynasty of Yin.
三分天下有其二,以服事殷。
The virtue of the house of Chau may be said to have reached the highest point indeed."
周之德,其可谓至德也已矣。”
The Master said, "I can find no flaw in the character of Yu.
子曰:“禹,吾无间然矣。
He used himself coarse food and drink, but displayed the utmost filial piety towards the spirits.
菲饮食而致孝乎鬼神,
His ordinary garments were poor, but he displayed the utmost elegance in his sacrificial cap and apron.
恶衣服而致美乎黼冕,
He lived in a low, mean house, but expended all his strength on the ditches and water channels.
卑宫室而尽力乎沟洫。
I can find nothing like a flaw in Yu."
禹,吾无间然矣。”