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汉 Han · 文 Prose

陈涉世家·节选

The Hereditary House of Chen She (Excerpt)

司马迁

Sima Qian

名篇Famous Work 史传Historical Biography 文言文Classical Prose 言志Declaring Ambition

陈胜者，阳城人也，字涉。
吴广者，阳夏人也，字叔。
陈涉少时，尝与人佣耕，辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之，曰：苟富贵，无相忘。
佣者笑而应曰：若为佣耕，何富贵也？
陈涉太息曰：嗟乎！
燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！

Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng, styled She. Wu Guang was a man of Yangxia, styled Shu. In his youth Chen She once hired out his labor to plow for others; he left off plowing and went up onto the ridge, where he brooded unhappily for a long while and said, 'If any of us grows rich and noble, do not forget one another.' The hired men laughed and answered, 'You are a hired plowman—how could you grow rich and noble?' Chen She sighed and said, 'Alas! How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?'

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Meaning

This excerpt from the 'Hereditary House of Chen She' in the Records of the Grand Historian introduces Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, then focuses on Chen's youth as a hired ploughman. Resting on a ridge, he confesses to his fellow laborers a hope that any who become wealthy and noble will not forget the others, only to be mocked for his low station. His famous retort—that a swallow or sparrow cannot know a swan's ambition—declares his soaring aspirations and frames the later revolt.

陈胜是阳城人，表字叫涉。吴广是阳夏人，表字叫叔。陈涉年轻时，曾经与别人一起被雇佣给人耕地。有一次他停止耕作，走到田埂上，惆怅愤恨了很久，说：如果将来谁富贵了，不要互相忘记。一起耕作的伙伴笑着回答说：你是被雇佣耕地的，哪来的富贵呢？陈涉长叹一声说：唉！燕雀哪里会知道鸿鹄的远大志向呢！

Appreciation

The passage opens in standard historiographic form with birthplace and style-names, then turns to Chen's hired plowing, using the details 'left off plowing,' 'brooded,' and 'sighed' like close-up shots to reveal his pent-up resolve. Dialogue contrasts the laborer's mocking laughter with Chen's grave sigh, making the two figures instantly distinct. Building from lowly plowing to lofty ambition, the 'swallow/sparrow' against 'swan' image sets up his later uprising—a model of Sima Qian's art of writing character through small moments.

【白话串讲】司马迁写《陈涉世家》：陈胜年轻时给人耕地，说：“苟富贵，无相忘”。别人笑他，他说：“嗟乎！燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉”——燕雀怎么知道鸿鹄的志向。后来他与吴广“斩木为兵，揭竿为旗”，发动大泽乡起义——“王侯将相宁有种乎”。【意象与手法】本文最见《史记》写人之长：一是以细节写人，「辍耕」「怅恨」「太息」三个动作如三记特写镜头，将陈涉埋藏胸中的块垒和盘托出；二是以对话写人，佣者的嘲笑与陈涉的慨叹对举，一俗一雅、一浅一深，人物形象顿然分明；三是蓄势之法，先写佣耕之微，再写志向之高，以「燕雀」衬「鸿鹄」，为后文举大计、王陈设张本。【情感与主旨】通过少年陈涉佣耕言志的片断，刻画其不甘屈居人下的反抗性格与鸿鹄远志，寄寓司马迁对这位首举义旗的布衣英雄的深切同情与礼赞，也暗含「王侯将相宁有种乎」的平等意识。【名句点睛】「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」以禽鸟为喻，燕雀喻目光短浅的佣者，鸿鹄喻胸怀天下的陈涉，一问之中尽显志趣高下，成为后世抒写远大志向的经典话语。

Background

The 'Hereditary House of Chen She' is from volume 48 of Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. Sima Qian (c. 145–87 BCE), styled Sima, of Xia yang in Western Han, succeeded his father Sima Tan as Grand Astrologer; after the Li Ling affair he suffered castration and, in anger, completed the Records over some ten years—130 chapters from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu's Tianchu era, comprising twelve Basic Annals, ten Tables, eight Treatises, thirty Hereditary Houses, and seventy Biographies, founding the integrated biography history. The Records grants 'Hereditary House' to feudal lords and those with their substance; Chen She reigned as king only six months yet Sima Qian specially made him a Hereditary House placed before the Chu-Han chapters, showing his esteem for Chen's first rising. This excerpt is the opening, writing Chen's youth as hired ploughman declaring ambition. Chen She (d. 208 BCE), named Sheng, of Yangcheng, was a late-Qin peasant revolt leader who with Wu Guang at Daze Township rose with raised banners, first rebelling against Qin, self-styled King of Zhang Chu; though he failed, his first-rising merit stands. Sima Qian lived in Emperor Wu's reign, not far from late Qin, deeply feeling Qin's tyranny and Chu men's resentment, so his brush held feeling, biographies of grass-roots heroes, embodying a 'commoner with a three-foot sword takes the world' plebeian history view; this passage is the opening brush of that art.

《陈涉世家》选自司马迁《史记》卷四十八。司马迁（约前145—约前87），字子长，西汉夏阳人，继父司马谈之职任太史令，因李陵之祸受宫刑，发愤著书，前后十余年而成《史记》一百三十篇，上起黄帝，下至汉武帝太初年间，含十二本纪、十表、八书、三十世家、七十列传，开创纪传体通史之体。《史记》以「世家」记诸侯及有诸侯之实者，陈涉自立为王仅六月而亡，本不足称「世家」，然司马迁特为之立《世家》，并置于秦楚之际诸篇之前，足见其对陈涉首事之功的推重。此节选为《陈涉世家》开篇，写陈涉少年佣耕、慨然言志的一段。陈涉（？—前208），名胜，阳城人，秦末农民起义领袖，与吴广于大泽乡斩木为兵、揭竿为旗，率先发难反秦，自立为张楚王，虽败亡而首事之功不可没。司马迁生当汉武帝之世，去秦末未远，对秦之暴政与楚人之怨深有体会，故笔端含情，为草莽英雄立传，寄托「以布衣提三尺剑取天下」的平民史观，此段文字即其写人艺术的开卷之笔。

Art

This passage's art of writing character is a model of the Records' 'spirit seen in fine details.' Structurally it first narrates birthplace and name, then youth hired plowing, then the ambition dialogue, from far to near, from plain to wondrous, layer by layer toward the thematic line 'How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?' Its wonders are four: one, writing character through action—'left off plowing and went up onto the ridge, brooded unhappily for a long while' writes Chen putting down his hoe, walking to the ridge, lost and resentful, a string of details bringing the figure alive; the 'went' (zhi) shows his move, 'for a long while' his deep brooding. Two, writing character through dialogue—the hired man's 'You are a hired plowman—how could you grow rich?' is mocking, ignorant; Chen's 'If any grows rich, do not forget' shows his loyalty; between question and answer, the common crowd and the aspiring hero stand distinct. Three, writing through contrast—using the hired man's shortsightedness to set off Chen's loftiness, the lowliness of hired plowing against the greatness of ambition; the 'laughed and answered' 'laughed' is vivid, mockery or tease all in this one word. Four, closing with a sigh—'Chen She sighed' follows 'brooded,' with 'Alas!' leading to the rhetorical 'How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan,' emotion turning from depressed to impassioned. In language the passage mixes parallel and prose, sentences rising and falling with feeling; opening 'Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng' is a decisive sentence, measured; middle dialogue in prose, fluent; last line in a long sentence, endless echo—showing Sima Qian's divine brush.

此段写人艺术，可作《史记》「于细微处见精神」的典范。结构上先叙籍贯姓氏，次写少年佣耕，再写言志问答，由远及近、由平及奇，层层逼向「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」的点题之句。其妙处有四：一曰以动作写人，「辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之」八字，写陈涉放下锄头、走上田埂、怅然若失、恨恨良久，一连串细节使人物跃然纸上，「之垄上」的「之」（往）字见其举动，「久之」见其沉思之深；二曰以对话写人，佣者「若为佣耕，何富贵也」的嘲笑语带不解与奚落，陈涉「苟富贵，无相忘」的许诺则见其重义，一问一答之间，庸常之众与有志之杰判然分明；三曰以烘托写人，以佣者之短视反衬陈涉之高远，以佣耕之卑微反衬志向之宏大，「笑而应」的「笑」字尤为传神，是嘲是谑尽在此一字；四曰以慨叹收束，「陈涉太息曰」的「太息」（长叹）承接「怅恨」，以「嗟乎」之叹引出「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志」的设问，情绪由沉郁转为激越。语言上此段骈散兼行，句式随情起伏，开篇「陈胜者，阳城人也」为判断句，顿挫有节，中间问答以散句出之，流畅自然，末句以长句收束，余响不绝，尽显史迁行文之神。

Allusions

The metaphor 'How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?' is a famous Chinese expression of 'figuring ambition through birds.' Swallow and sparrow (yan que) are ordinary birds nesting at eaves and fields, figuring shortsighted, ambitionless people; the swan (hong hu) flies high and far, crossing the four seas, figuring those with the world in heart, ambition in all directions. Setting swallow-sparrow against swan to show ambition's height traces to Zhuangzi's 'Xiaoyao You' ('the cicada and dove laugh at it')—small knowledge cannot reach great knowledge, small years cannot reach great years, a difference of realm words cannot exhaust. This saying was widely quoted, becoming a classic phrase for vast aspiration. Also 'If any grows rich, do not forget' is plain yet deep, a typical vernacular expression of a promise among poor friends, in line with the folk proverb 'if rich, do not forget'—showing Chen, though from the furrows, had a grass-roots hero's bearing. Culturally, 'Hereditary House' originally meant generations of noble house, yet Sima Qian used it for a revolt leader of hired-plow origin, itself breaking the aristocratic meaning of 'Hereditary House,' implying the egalitarian idea 'are kings, dukes, and generals born of a different seed?'—that saying, though appearing in Chen's mobilization of garrison men, shares spirit with this 'swallow/sparrow' vs 'swan' metaphor: both are plebeian declarations that 'a common man's ambition cannot be taken.' Later Chen's 'sigh' stands with Han Gaozu's 'a great man should be like this' and Xiang Yu's 'he can be replaced' as three legs of commoner heroes' ambition in the Qin-Han transition.

「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」之喻，是中国文学中「以禽鸟喻志趣」的著名表达。燕雀（燕子与麻雀）为寻常禽鸟，栖于屋檐田野，喻目光短浅、胸无大志之人；鸿鹄（天鹅）高飞远举、横绝四海，喻胸怀天下、志在四方之士。以燕雀与鸿鹄对举以见志趣高下，其精神可溯至《庄子·逍遥游》「蜩与学鸠笑之」的寓意：小知不及大知、小年不及大年，境界之差异非言语所能尽。此语后被广泛援引，成为抒写远大抱负的经典语式。又「苟富贵，无相忘」一语，语浅而情深，是典型的俗语化表达，写贫贱之交的承诺，与后世民间「苟富贵，勿相忘」的谚语一脉相通，可见陈涉虽出身垄亩，其言自有一种草莽英雄的气度。就文化内涵而言，「世家」之名本指累代贵显之家，而司马迁以「世家」记一位雇农出身的起义领袖，本身即打破了「世家」的贵族含义，寓含「王侯将相宁有种乎」的平等观念——此语虽见于《史记》陈涉动员戍卒之语，其精神正与本文「燕雀」「鸿鹄」之喻相通，皆是「匹夫之志不可夺」的平民宣言。后文陈涉「太息」与汉高祖「大丈夫当如此也」、项羽「彼可取而代也」鼎足而三，同为秦汉之际平民英雄的壮志写真。

Commentary

This passage and the whole 'Hereditary House of Chen She' enjoy high esteem in later ages. Sima Qian granted Chen a Hereditary House and through 'the Grand Historian says' praised his 'first rising' merit, saying 'though Chen Sheng died, the kings and generals he set up and sent indeed destroyed Qin, because Chen first rose'—affirming his pioneering place in the Qin-destroying cause, a farsighted historical insight. Ban Gu's Han Shu followed the Records but changed 'Hereditary House' to 'Biography,' yet had to admit Chen's 'first difficulty' merit. Later critics praise the Records' plebeian stance and character art: Lu Xun hailed the Records as 'the historians' unmatched song, a Li Sao without rhyme,' precisely for its literary brush in writing history and deep feeling in biographies; this passage writes a youth hero alive in minimal length, exactly a small sample of the 'unmatched song.' In historical influence, Chen's Daze Township uprising opened the late-Qin anti-Qin situation; later Liu Bang and Xiang Yu followed, the banner 'attack the unjust, punish the tyrant Qin' took root; 'How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?' became a classic phrase for Chinese literati expressing ambition, later poetry and prose often used 'swan's ambition' to encourage themselves. In literary history, this text's entry of a peasant revolt leader into orthodox history, with a commoner hero as subject, broke the pattern of biographies centered on kings and dukes, subtly influencing later historical romance and peasant-revolt literature. Today it is selected into textbooks precisely for its dual value of rebel spirit and character-writing method.

此段及《陈涉世家》全篇，在后世享有崇高评价。司马迁以「世家」记陈涉，并借「太史公曰」称扬其「首事」之功，谓「陈胜虽已死，其所置遣侯王将相竟亡秦，由涉首事也」，肯定其在亡秦事业中的开创地位，这一史识极具前瞻性。班固《汉书》虽沿袭《史记》而改「世家」为「列传」，然亦不得不承认陈涉「首难」之绩。后世论者多推许《史记》的平民立场与写人艺术：鲁迅誉《史记》为「史家之绝唱，无韵之离骚」，正着眼于其以文学之笔写史、于人物传记中寄寓深情的特点；而本段以极短篇幅写活一位少年英雄，恰是「绝唱」之小样本。就历史影响言，陈涉大泽乡起义首开秦末反秦之局，此后刘邦、项羽继之而起，「伐无道，诛暴秦」的旗号深入人心；「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」一语更成为中国文人抒写抱负的经典话语，历代诗文中每以「鸿鹄之志」自况自勉。在文学史上，本文以农民起义领袖入正史、以布衣英雄为传主，打破了史传以王侯将相为主的格局，对后世历史演义与农民起义题材文学皆有潜移默化之影响。今人选入教材，正取其反抗精神与人物写法的双重价值。

Prosody

Form Historical biography prose (integrated-biography form).史传散文（纪传体）

Rhyme This is prose, not rhymed, but uses sentence-final particles and decisive sentence patterns to form rhythm. Opening 'Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng' 'Wu Guang was a man of Yangxia' are both 'ye' decisive sentences, steady as roll-call; 'left off plowing and went up onto the ridge, brooded unhappily for a long while' with four-four-two short sentences progresses, measured; 'said' 'laughed and answered' 'sighed and said' three dialogue markers create the sound-change of question-answer turn; last line 'zai' closes with a long sigh, high pitch, impassioned echo, answering the opening steadiness from afar.此文为散文，不押韵，而以句末语气词与判断句式形成节奏。开篇「陈胜者，阳城人也」「吴广者，阳夏人也」皆「也」字判断句，声调平稳如点名；「辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之」以四字、四字、二字短句递进，顿挫有致；「曰」「笑而应曰」「太息曰」三次对话标记，造成问答往还的声口变化；末句「哉」字长叹收束，音节高亢，余音激越，与开篇之平稳遥遥呼应。

Tone pattern Sentences mainly prose, with neat four-character lines ('left off plowing and went up onto the ridge' 'brooded unhappily for a long while'), parallel and prose intermingled, flowing like water. Tone changes with the speaker's identity: the hired man's words are vernacular and direct ('You are a hired plowman—how could you grow rich?'), Chen's words are grave and impassioned ('Alas! How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?'), one urgent one slow, one low one high; sentence-final particles 'ye' 'yi' 'zai' set by feeling, empty words convey emotion, one chant three sighs, showing Sima Qian's measured beauty of brush.句式以散句为主，兼有整齐的四字句（「辍耕之垄上」「怅恨久之」），骈散相间，行文如流水。语气随人物身份而变：佣者之语俚俗直白（「若为佣耕，何富贵也」），陈涉之语庄重慨然（「嗟乎！燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」），一促一缓、一卑一亢；「也」「矣」「哉」等句末语气词依情而设，虚词传情，一唱三叹，尽显史迁行文顿挫之美。

Reading note As historical biography prose, this text does not pursue sound-law, but uses 'particles' as a metronome: throughout it opens with 'ye' decisive sentences, steady and solemn, like a historian opening the book; the middle 'left off plowing and went up onto the ridge, brooded unhappily for a long while' uses short sentences in succession, urgent rhythm, simulating the figure's uneven, impulsive emotion; 'said: If any grows rich, do not forget' writes the clang of the declaration in colloquial short syllables; the last 'Alas' long sigh, 'zai' rhetorical question, pitch suddenly rises, like metal-stone sound, abruptly stops. This 'governing sound with empty words, showing feeling through tone' prose sound-law is Sima Qian's great creation on the basis of pre-Qin prose—not rhymed yet with its own rhyme, not neat yet with its own rhythm. Later ancient-writers (Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu) all learned this 'brush qi' from the Records; Su Shi's 'writing like flowing clouds and water, originally no fixed form, but always flows where it should, stops where it cannot but stop' can be moved to praise this passage. Reciting this passage, one should first slow then urgent, first suppressed then raised, to see the three-layer sound-feeling of 'brooded' 'sighed' 'Alas.'作为史传散文，本文不追求声律，而以「语气词」为节拍器：通篇以「也」字判断句起调，稳健庄重，如史官开卷；中段「辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之」短句连用，节奏急促，模拟人物情绪的不平与冲动；「曰：苟富贵，无相忘」则以口语化的短促音节写出宣言的铿锵；末段「嗟乎」长叹、「哉」字反诘，音节骤然拔高，如金石之声，戛然而止。这种「以虚词驭声、以语气见情」的散文声律，正是司马迁在先秦散文基础上的一大创造——不押韵而自有韵致，不求整饬而自有节奏。后世古文家（韩愈、柳宗元、欧阳修）皆从《史记》学此「行文之气」，苏轼所谓「文如行云流水，初无定质，但常行于所当行，常止于所不可不止」，正可移评此段。诵读此段，宜先缓后急、先抑后扬，方见「怅恨」「太息」「嗟乎」三层声情的递进。

Line by line

陈胜者，阳城人也，字涉。

Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng, styled She. — Sima Qian opens with the standard biographical decisive sentence giving the subject's birthplace, surname, and style-name, setting the basic coordinate of identity for the later narrative of his youth hired plowing and ambition-declaring.

陈胜是阳城人，表字叫涉。司马迁开篇即以史传体的判断句交代传主的籍贯、姓氏与表字，为后文写其少年佣耕、慨然言志的经历立下人物身份的基本坐标。

Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng, his courtesy name She.

开篇三句为《史记》人物传记的标准起笔：「陈胜者，阳城人也，字涉」以「者……也」的判断句式点明籍贯表字，「吴广者，阳夏人也，字叔」句式完全对称，双峰并立，先让两位起义领袖一同登场。这种程式化起笔看似平实，实有深意：其一，史传体以籍贯姓氏为人物定性，先写陈涉之微（阳城布衣），与后文「王陈」「张楚」的显赫形成巨大落差，为「首事」的传奇性蓄势；其二，陈、吴并提，暗伏二人日后共举大义的呼应关系；其三，「字涉」「字叔」之「字」的郑重介绍，见司马迁视草莽英雄为堂堂正正的历史人物，与后世史家视起义者为盗贼的偏见判然有别。起笔之平稳，正为下文「辍耕」「怅恨」「太息」的波澜作铺垫，是「平处起笔、奇处收束」的典型章法。

The historian's opening. Chen Sheng was a man of Yangcheng, courtesy name She. The plain formula fixes the subject in his humble place; the gravity of the judgment sentence (the who-is construction) treats a hired laborer with the ceremony of a king's biography, which is Sima Qian's democratic astonishment. To have said this was a peasant would be summary; the historian's formal biography opening is the astonishment.

陈涉少时，尝与人佣耕，辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之，曰：苟富贵，无相忘。

In his youth Chen She once hired out his labor to plow for others; he left off plowing and went up onto the ridge, brooded unhappily for a long while, and said, 'If any of us grows rich and noble, do not forget one another.' — This sentence is the hinge of the whole narrative, using three action details to write Chen's unrest layer by layer. 'Once hired out to plow' first gives his status—a hired peasant, low. 'Left off plowing and went up onto the ridge' writes him suddenly stopping work, walking to the ridge; 'left off' and 'went' show his move differs from ordinary peasants. 'Brooded unhappily for a long while' with 'brooded' (loss) and 'hated' (resentment) shows his deep pent-up feeling, 'for a long while' his long brooding. In this pause and long brood he utters 'If any grows rich, do not forget'—both a promise to companions and a self-declaration of ambition: he is not content to end in the furrows, confident he will one day be rich and noble. Notably 'do not forget' shows his loyalty, contrasting the hired man's mockery, showing a breast beyond 'swallow-sparrow'; the hypothetical 'if' also reveals his desire and confidence in 'rich and noble.' In few words, a youth hero low yet high-aspiring, loyal yet ambitious, already leaps out.

陈涉年轻时，曾经与别人一起被雇佣给人耕地。有一次他停止耕作，走到田埂上，惆怅愤恨了很久，说：如果将来谁富贵了，不要互相忘记。

When Chen She was young, he worked as a hired plowhand; once he stopped plowing, climbed the ridge, and brooded for a long time, then said: If we ever grow rich and noble, let us not forget each other.

此句是全段叙事的枢纽，以三个动作细节层层写出陈涉的不平之气。「尝与人佣耕」先交代其身份——受人雇佣的雇农，地位卑下；「辍耕之垄上」写他突然停下耕作、走向田埂，「辍」与「之」两个动词见其举动异于常农；「怅恨久之」以「怅」（失意）与「恨」（愤懑）二字并置，写其胸中积郁之深，「久之」更见沉思之久、块垒之重。正是在这片刻的停顿与长久的怅恨中，他吐出「苟富贵，无相忘」六字——这既是对同伴的许诺，更是自我志向的宣言：他并不甘心于垄亩终老，而是自信终有富贵之日。值得注意的是，「无相忘」三字见其重情重义，与后文佣者的嘲笑对照，更见其「燕雀」之外的胸襟；而「苟」字的假设语气，又透出他对「富贵」的渴望与自信。寥寥数语，一个身处底层而志存高远、既重义气又怀野心的少年英雄形象，已然呼之欲出。

The turning point. As a hired plowhand, he stopped plowing, climbed the ridge, and brooded a long time, then said: If we ever grow rich and noble, let us not forget each other. The stopped plow and the brooding are the image of an ambitious man misemployed; the promise to remember is both loyalty and presumption. The scene establishes the dream before the act. To have said he was ambitious from boyhood would be a statement; the stopped plow and the brooding on the ridge are the ambition.

佣者笑而应曰：若为佣耕，何富贵也？

The hired man laughed and answered, 'You are a hired plowman—how could you grow rich and noble?' — The hired man's retort is an important contrast brush. The 'laughed' (xiao) is vivid: not a kind laugh but a mocking, puzzled sneer—to the hired man, a 'hired plowman' talking 'rich and noble' is like a fool's dream. 'You are a hired plowman—how could you grow rich?' with 'you' (ruo) directly pointing, the rhetorical 'how...?' writes the man's shortsightedness and worldly snobbery. This question from the reverse forces out Chen's ambition: precisely because all think 'hired plowman' is fated lowliness, Chen's 'swan ambition' seems especially precious. In method, this line and Chen's 'sighed' form a sound-contrast—the hired man's words are vernacular and urgent, Chen's grave and slow; hired man laughs, Chen sighs; hired man asks 'how rich?', Chen answers 'swallow-sparrow know swan?'. One vulgar one elegant, one shallow one deep, the spirit's height shows naturally in the dialogue's tension. This line also shows Sima Qian's high skill of 'writing person through words': not a word of praise or blame, yet praise and blame lie wholly in the question-answer.

一起耕作的伙伴笑着回答他说：你是被雇佣耕地的，哪里谈得上富贵呢？佣者的这句嘲笑，正是对陈涉远大志向的反面衬托。

The fellow workers laughed and answered: You, a hired plowman—what riches and nobility could you ever have?

佣者的一句反问，是全文重要的反衬之笔。「笑而应曰」的「笑」字极为传神：不是善意的笑，而是带几分嘲谑、几分不解的嗤笑——在佣者看来，「佣耕」者谈「富贵」，无异痴人说梦。「若为佣耕，何富贵也」以「若」（你）直指其人，以「何……也」的反问语气，把佣者的短视与世俗的势利写得淋漓尽致。这一问从反面逼出陈涉的志向：正因为众人都以「佣耕」为命定的卑微，陈涉的「鸿鹄之志」才显得格外可贵。写法上，此句与陈涉的「太息」形成声口对照——佣者语俚而促，陈涉语庄而缓；佣者笑，陈涉叹；佣者问「何富贵也」，陈涉答「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」。一俗一雅、一浅一深，人物的精神高下在对话的张力中自然显现。此句亦可见司马迁「以言写人」的高超：不著一字褒贬，而褒贬尽在问答之中。

The workers answer. The fellow laborers laughed and said: You, a hired plowman—what riches and nobility could you ever have? The laugh is the world's verdict on ambition: they hear a delusion. The mockery is the necessary foil; without it, the dream is merely pathetic. The laughers are the ordinary men Chen She will outgrow. To have said his friends ridiculed him would be a fact; the laughing question to the plowman is the ridicule.

陈涉太息曰：嗟乎！燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！

Chen She sighed and said, 'Alas! How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?' — This sentence is the whole passage's eye-point and a timeless famous line. 'Sighed' (taixi), a long sigh, follows the earlier 'brooded,' emotion turning from repressed to expressed; the interjection 'Alas!' like a long whistle, pent feeling bursts; 'How can a swallow or sparrow know the ambition of a swan?' closes as rhetorical, the 'how can know' seems to ask yet answers itself—swallow-sparrow cannot know swan, as the hired man cannot know Chen, a gap of ambition words cannot communicate. The 'swallow-sparrow' vs 'swan' metaphor takes images from the sky, raising human ambition to the realm-difference of flying birds: swallow-sparrow flutter among weeds, swan soars a thousand miles, the image's contrast makes abstract 'ambition' tangible. In form, 'zai' closes with a long sigh, high pitch and long echo, answering the opening 'ye' decisive steadiness. This line makes Chen leap from 'hired plowman' to 'hero with the world in heart,' and plants the seed for the later Daze Township uprising and Zhang Chu kingship—a model of 'establishing the bone with one line.'

陈涉长叹一声说：唉！燕雀哪里会知道鸿鹄的远大志向呢！这一问以燕雀喻目光短浅之人，以鸿鹄喻志向远大之士，尽显陈涉的雄心。

Chen She sighed deeply and said: Alas! How could a sparrow know the ambition of a swan?

此句为全段点睛之笔，也是千古名句。「太息」即长叹，承上文「怅恨」而来，情绪由隐忍转为抒发；「嗟乎」的感叹词如长啸一声，郁愤之气喷薄而出；「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」以反问收束，「安知」之问看似问人，实为自答——燕雀不知鸿鹄，正如佣者不知陈涉，志趣之悬殊本非言语所能沟通。「燕雀」与「鸿鹄」的比喻，取象于天空，将人的志向升华为飞禽的境界之别：燕雀翔于蓬蒿之间，鸿鹄一举千里，意象的对比使抽象的「志」变得可感可触。句式上，「哉」字长叹收尾，音节高亢而余响悠长，与开篇「也」字判断句的平稳形成首尾呼应。此句一出，陈涉的形象由「佣耕之夫」一跃而为「志在四海」的英雄，也为后文大泽乡起义、张楚称王埋下伏笔，是全篇「以一句立骨」的典范。

The famous line. He sighed deeply and said: Alas! How could a sparrow know the ambition of a swan? The sigh is the whole poem: he has been answered, and answers himself. The sparrow and the swan divide all men into the contented and the aspiring. The metaphor from the sky makes the inner ambition visible. To have said my friends could not understand me would be self-pity; the sparrow that cannot know the swan is the self-pity made immortal.

Study

Word focus

辍 left off / chuo — In 'left off plowing and went up onto the ridge,' chuo originally means to stop midway, the first weighty verb of this text. One 'left off' writes the divide between Chen and ordinary hired peasants: all plow by routine, only he suddenly stops in labor, the action of 'left off' means his rejection and transcendence of the present—what stops is the hoe, what does not stop is the mind. This word has four layers of wonder: one, writing psychology through action—the suddenness of 'left off plowing' reveals he has something else in mind, the very cause of the later 'brooded unhappily for a long while'; two, 'left off' used with 'went' (zhi), 'left off plowing and went up onto the ridge' writes him leaving the plowing line, walking alone to the ridge—between stop and go, the figure separates from the group, becoming an independent lyric subject; three, 'left off' hints the contrast of 'not left off'—others do not stop, only he stops, his 'uncontent with his place' character leaps alive; four, 'left off' plants the seed for the later 'if rich' declaration—precisely because not content to end plowing, the 'swan ambition' arises. The tempering makes a common verb the condensation point of character—only a great brush reaches this. 「辍耕之垄上」之「辍」字，本义为中途停止，是这段文字第一个有分量的动词。一个「辍」字，写尽陈涉与普通雇农的分野：众人按部就班地耕作，唯有他在劳作中忽然停下，「辍」的动作意味着他对现状的拒绝与超越——停下的是锄头，不停的是心思。这个字有四层妙处：一是以动作写心理，「辍耕」的突然性透出他心中另有所想，正是下文「怅恨久之」的缘由；二是「辍」与「之」（往）连用，「辍耕之垄上」写他离开耕作队伍、独自走向田埂，一停一走之间，人物从群体中分离出来，成为独立的抒情主体；三是「辍」暗示「不辍」的对照，众人不辍而独他辍，其「不安于位」的性格跃然纸上；四是「辍」字为后文「苟富贵」的宣言蓄势——正因为不甘辍耕终老，才生出「鸿鹄之志」。炼字之精，使一个普通动词成为人物性格的浓缩点，非大手笔不能至此。

怅恨 brooded unhappily / chang hen — In 'brooded unhappily for a long while,' changhen is the first direct reveal of Chen's psychology and the emotional ground of the whole passage. 'Chang' is lost, bewildered; 'hen' is resentful, regretful; the two together write Chen's deep dissatisfaction with his own fate: same as a man, why can I only hire-plow in the furrows? This 'changhen' is not complaining grievance, but the deep pain of an awakened man facing unjust reality, already hiding the impulse to change fate. With 'for a long while,' 'brooded unhappily for a long while' writes the emotion's long duration, showing its depth and weight, far from a moment's sigh; and echoing the later 'sighed,' shows emotion from inner changhen rising to impassioned expression. In literary tradition, 'changhen' is the typical state of 'a scholar's frustration'—Qu Yuan 'long sighed and veiled tears,' Jia Yi 'mourned himself' belong to this vein; Sima Qian uses two words for a commoner hero's frustration, connecting a small man's melancholy with a historical figure's resentment, giving the hired plowman's sigh broad historical meaning. 「怅恨久之」之「怅恨」二字，是陈涉心理的首次直接揭示，也是全段情感的底色。「怅」为失意、惘然，「恨」为愤懑、遗憾，二字连用，写陈涉对自己身世的深切不满：同样是人，为什么自己只能佣耕于垄亩？这种「怅恨」不是怨天尤人式的牢骚，而是觉醒者面对不平现实的深沉痛苦，其中已暗含改变命运的冲动。与「久之」配合，「怅恨久之」写这种情绪持续之久，可见其郁结之深、思虑之重，绝非一时之慨；而与后文「太息」呼应，则见情绪由内敛的怅恨升华为激越的抒发的完整过程。在文学传统中，「怅恨」是「志士失意」的典型情态，屈原「长太息以掩涕兮」、贾谊「自伤悼」皆属此脉，司马迁以二字写布衣英雄的失意，将小人物的愁绪与历史人物的愤懑接通，赋予佣耕之夫的叹息以深广的历史意味。

太息 sighed / taixi — In 'Chen She sighed and said,' taixi is the highest point of the passage's emotion. 'Taixi' is a long sigh; different from the soundless inner 'brooded,' 'taixi' is the voiced release of pent qi; the interjection 'Alas!' follows like a gate opening, pouring out the breast's block at once. 'Taixi' in pre-Qin and Han texts is the typical action of scholars and gentlemen: 'Li Sao' 'long sighed and veiled tears, grieving the people's hardship,' 'Records: Xiang Yu' Fan Zeng's 'taixi'—all use long sigh for deep feeling. Sima Qian writes Chen with 'taixi,' precisely bringing this hired-plow hero into the 'scholar' lineage, hinting his sigh's weight is no less than Qu Yuan's or Jia Yi's—a hired plowman long-sighing for his own fate and the world's injustice, his spirit already beyond livelihood worry. In brush rhythm, 'brooded unhappily for a long while' is gathering, 'taixi' is voicing, 'how can swallow-sparrow know swan?' is echo—three layers like waves, giving this hundred-word small text measured life. 「陈涉太息曰」之「太息」二字，是全段情绪的最高点。「太息」即长声叹息，与「怅恨」的无声内敛不同，「太息」是郁积之气的有声释放；「嗟乎」的感叹词紧随其后，如闸门乍开，将胸中块垒一泻而出。「太息」在先秦两汉文本中是志士仁人的典型动作：《离骚》「长太息以掩涕兮，哀民生之多艰」、《史记·项羽本纪》中范增之「太息」，皆以长叹寄深慨。司马迁以「太息」写陈涉，正是将这位雇农英雄纳入「志士」谱系，暗示其叹息的分量不下于屈原、贾谊——一个佣耕之夫为自身命运与世间不平而长叹，其精神境界已超越生计之忧。从行文节奏看，「怅恨久之」是蓄势，「太息」是放声，「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉」是余响，三个层次如浪叠进，使这段百余字的小文顿挫生姿。

鸿鹄 swan / hong hu — Hong hu, the swan, in ancient books often 'swan flies high, one rise a thousand miles' describing its cloud-piercing posture, the classic metaphor for 'vast ambition.' Self-figuring with the swan has three layers: one, high image—swallow-sparrow flutter among weeds, swan rises in the ninth heaven, the gap of spatial realm exactly figures the gap of spiritual realm; two, flying momentum—the swan's flight is one rise a thousand miles, crossing the four seas, darkly implying Chen's confidence in future soaring; three, lone realm—the swan's ambition cannot be solved by the flock, as Chen's ambition cannot be known by the hired man, the metaphor holds a sigh, the sigh holds pride. In cultural tradition, the 'swan' image has a long stream—'Lüshi Chunqiu' already has 'how can swallow-sparrow know the swan's ambition'; later 'swan ambition' became a set phrase, all who speak vast aspiration cite it. These two words make Chen leap from 'hired plowman' to a 'scholar' symbol, and the passage famous for ages—the extreme of 'establishing the bone with one word.' 「鸿鹄」二字是全段的诗眼，也是名句的立骨之词。鸿鹄即天鹅，古书中多以「鸿鹄高飞，一举千里」状其凌云之姿，是「远大志向」的经典喻体。以鸿鹄自喻，有三层意蕴：其一，取象之高——燕雀翔于蓬蒿，鸿鹄举于九天，空间境界的悬殊正喻精神境界的悬殊；其二，飞动之势——「鹄」之飞是一举千里、横绝四海，暗含陈涉对未来飞黄腾达的自信；其三，孤独之境——鸿鹄之志非群雀所能解，正如陈涉之志非佣者所能知，喻中含叹，叹中含傲。在文化传统中，「鸿鹄」意象源远流长，《吕氏春秋》已有「燕雀安知鸿鹄之志」之说，后世更以「鸿鹄之志」为成语，凡言抱负远大者无不援用。此二字一出，陈涉的形象遂由「佣耕之夫」升华为「志士」的象征，全段亦因之名垂千古，是「一字立骨」的极致。