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明 Ming · 诗 Poem

买臣妻

The Wife of Zhu Maichen

刘基

Liu Ji

咏史History 讽喻satire

买臣少贱家徒壁，负薪行歌道旁陌。
妻羞其狂数止之，翁子益歌意自适。
一朝天子诏求贤，会稽太守乘朱轓。
高车驷马耀闾里，故妻相逢惭且恻。
覆水既泼难再收，贵贱升沉如转毂。
君不见会稽愚妇轻买臣，至今犹为词人嗤。

Maichen was poor and lowly in his youth, four bare walls his whole house;
he carried firewood and sang as he walked the roadside lanes.
His wife, ashamed of his wildness, checked him again and again;
Wengzi only sang the louder, well content in himself.
One morning the Son of Heaven called for men of worth,
and he rode out as Governor of Kuaiji in a vermilion-shafted carriage.
Tall coach and four horses lit up the ward and the lane;
his former wife, meeting him, was ashamed and stricken with grief.
Water once poured out on the ground can never be gathered again;
high and low, rise and fall, turn like the hub of a wheel.
Do you not see how the foolish wife of Kuaiji made light of Maichen,
and is mocked by men of letters to this very day?

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Meaning

In his youth Zhu Maichen had four bare walls for a house and nothing to live on, yet he shouldered his firewood and sang as he went along the road. His wife was ashamed of his wildness and tried more than once to stop him, at which he only sang the louder, perfectly content. Then one morning the emperor issued a call for men of ability, and Maichen was appointed Governor of Kuaiji and came home in glory in a vermilion-shafted carriage. His tall coach and team of four shone through the wards and lanes, and the wife who had left him met him there in shame and grief. Water once spilt on the ground cannot be gathered up again, and a man's rise and fall in the world turn as endlessly as a wheel. Do you not see how the foolish woman of Kuaiji, who made light of Maichen, is laughed at by writers to this very day?

朱买臣年轻时家徒四壁，贫贱无依，却担着柴薪在道旁且行且歌。妻子以他的狂放为羞，几次劝阻，买臣反倒唱得更起劲，神情自得。一朝天子下诏求贤，他终于得拜会稽太守，乘着朱轮华车衣锦还乡。高车驷马辉耀里闾，昔日求去的故妻相逢之下羞惭悲恻。覆水既已泼地就难再收回，人的贵贱升沉真如车轮般转个不停。你不见那会稽愚妇因轻慢买臣而留笑柄，至今仍被词人讥嘲么？

Appreciation

The poem is written in seven-character ancient measure with the vigorous air of the old ballads, unornamented yet halting and deep in tone. It opens with plain description of poverty and sets the wife's shame against the husband's louder singing, so that both characters appear at once. Then the tall coach and four horses collide with the bare walls of the opening, and out of that collision come the two great sayings, that spilt water cannot be gathered and that high and low turn like a wheel. The close, with its direct address to the reader, lifts the whole and turns a private story into a general judgement on how the world measures people by their success.

【白话串讲】朱买臣年轻时穷，背着柴唱歌，妻子嫌他丢人离开了他。后来他当了会稽太守，“高车驷马耀闾里”——故妻相逢，惭愧又伤心。“覆水既泼难再收”——泼出去的水收不回来。刘基用这个故事，讽尽嫌贫爱富。【意象与手法】全诗七言古调，语带乐府健气，不假雕饰而顿挫沉郁。起笔白描贫贱之态，以「妻羞」与「翁子益歌」对举见性情；中段「高车驷马」与篇首贫贱形成强烈反差，引出「覆水难收」「贵贱转毂」之慨；结以「君不见」呼告，直追李白歌行气势。【情感与主旨】朱买臣事见《汉书·朱买臣传》：吴人买臣家贫好读，常负薪行歌道中，妻羞之求去；后拜会稽太守，衣锦还乡，故妻惭恸。刘基此诗当作于元末落拓之际，借古寓慨，深慨世情翻覆、以穷达定交疏，故托买臣妻以刺势利。【名句点睛】中高考若取此诗，命题多落于三方面：一是对比手法，分析「贫贱负薪」与「高车驷马」之映衬及「贵贱转毂」之哲理；二是「君不见」呼告与化用李白句的妙处；三是借古讽今的主旨。

Background

The story of Zhu Maichen is told in the Book of Han: a man of Wu, poor but fond of study, he used to carry firewood and chant as he walked, until his wife, ashamed of him, asked to be released; later he was made Governor of Kuaiji and came home in glory, and his former wife was overcome with shame and grief. Liu Ji wrote this poem in the unsettled years at the end of the Yuan, using an old story to voice his own feeling. Repeatedly pushed aside, he felt keenly how the world turns and how friendship is measured by success or failure, and so used Maichen's wife to satirize the worldly. Mei Yaochen's Woman of Kuaiji and Fang Xiaoru's Grave of Maichen's Wife treat the same matter in other ages, and all close on the saying that spilt water cannot be gathered, which shows how long the subject has run in the tradition of poems on history; Ming writers were especially fond of using it to vent a lonely indignation.

朱买臣事见《汉书·朱买臣传》：吴人买臣家贫好读，常负薪行歌道中，妻羞之求去；后拜会稽太守，衣锦还乡，故妻惭恸。刘基（1311—1375），字伯温，浙江青田人，元末明初政治家、文学家，辅佐朱元璋开国，封诚意伯，诗文兼擅，与宋濂并称「明初诗文三大家」。此诗当作于元末落拓之际，刘基早年仕元，沉沦下僚，屡遭排挤，深慨世情翻覆、以穷达定交疏，故借朱买臣事以刺势利。诗人以「买臣妻」为题而不直称「朱买臣」，正是从弃夫求去的势利之妻的角度立论，讽世之意显然。与梅尧臣《会稽妇》、方孝孺《买臣妻墓》等同题材异代之作相较，此诗以「覆水难收」为结穴，皆可见此题在咏史传统中渊源有自，明人尤好借以发抒孤愤，此诗正是刘基「借古寓慨」咏史观的典型体现。刘基此诗托买臣事而刺当世，其深层动机在于元末的社会现实：天下大乱、世风浇薄，以穷达定交疏、以势利判亲疏者比比皆是，诗人自身亦尝尽「未遇」之冷眼，故借千载前的会稽愚妇，为古今一切势利之徒写照，咏史之笔，实为刺世之刀。

Art

The whole poem is in seven-character ancient measure, with the vigorous air of the old ballads, unornamented yet halting and deep-toned. It opens with plain description of poverty, setting the wife's shame against Wengzi singing all the louder, and so revealing both characters at a stroke. In the middle the tall coach and four horses stand in violent contrast with the poverty of the opening, and bring on the reflection that spilt water cannot be gathered and that high and low turn like a wheel-hub. It closes with the direct address 'do you not see', in the very momentum of Li Bai's songs. The narrative is spare and strong throughout and built on contrasts, its structure like a ridge that breaks off while the cloud runs on; in the plainness there is backbone, and the piece is a fair example of Liu Ji's ancient-style ballads, deep-toned as Du Fu and vigorous as Han Yu.

全诗七言古调，语带乐府健气，不假雕饰而顿挫沉郁。起笔白描贫贱之态：「买臣少贱家徒壁」写家贫如洗，「负薪行歌道旁陌」写担柴且行且歌，以「妻羞其狂数止之，翁子益歌意自适」对举见性情——妻以歌为狂而羞止之，翁子愈歌而愈自得，一羞一适，势利与旷达判然。中段陡转：「一朝天子诏求贤，会稽太守乘朱轓」写买臣由负薪之夫骤登太守之位，「高车驷马耀闾里」与篇首「家徒壁」形成强烈反差，「故妻相逢惭且恻」写相逢时故妻的羞惭悲恻，对比之中讽意自出。后幅由叙入议：「覆水既泼难再收，贵贱升沉如转毂」以覆水、转毂之喻点破世情翻覆之理；结以「君不见会稽愚妇轻买臣，至今犹为词人嗤」的呼告，直追李白歌行气势。通篇叙事简劲、多用对照，章法如岭断云连，于疏淡中见风骨，典型体现刘基古乐府沉郁近杜、雄健兼韩之风。此外，全诗以「贫—贵—覆—嗤」四层推进：贫时妻弃，贵时妻惭，理在覆水，论在愚妇，一层一转，如层峦叠嶂；结尾「君不见」的呼告更以第二人称直指读者，把咏史之论化为警世之钟，正见刘基乐府「借古讽今、以议论为诗」的独特笔法，亦见其「文以载道」的文学观。

Allusions

The allusions take Zhu Maichen's own story as their thread, with a few others woven in. Carrying firewood and singing as he walked comes straight from the Book of Han, where he shoulders a bundle of firewood and recites as he goes and his wife is ashamed and asks to be released. The Governor of Kuaiji in a vermilion-shafted carriage uses his appointment and his homecoming in glory. Spilt water that cannot be gathered reworks the figure of water poured out on the steps, found in the Book of Han and in later anecdote, and means that what is broken cannot be made whole. The foolish wife of Kuaiji quietly cites Li Bai's poem on parting from his children at Nanling to set out for the capital, where the foolish wife of Kuaiji makes light of Zhu Maichen, so that the words of the immortal poet set off the meanness of the world. Every allusion holds to the single thread of a wife who leaves a poor husband and is cast off when he rises, and history and argument fuse without a loose branch.

诗中用典以朱买臣本事为经，辅以数事。「负薪行歌」直取《汉书·朱买臣传》「担束薪，行且诵书」及「妻羞之求去」的本事；「会稽太守乘朱轓」用其拜会稽太守、衣锦还乡事，「朱轓」即朱轮车，汉代二千石官员所乘，「乘朱轓」写其骤贵之状；「覆水难收」化用「泼水于阶」之喻（见《汉书》本事及后世稗说），谓破镜难圆、往事不可追；「贵贱升沉如转毂」以车轮转动喻贫富贵贱的流转无常；「会稽愚妇」则暗引李白《南陵别儿童入京》「会稽愚妇轻买臣，余亦辞家西入秦」之句，以诗仙之句反衬世俗之陋，翻用前人成句以发新慨。诸典皆紧扣「贫贱妻弃、富贵见逐」一线，不枝不蔓，使史事与议论浑融，正见刘基以博学驭典、化故为新之功力，亦见其咏史诗「以史为鉴、借古刺时」的用心。「贵贱升沉如转毂」又暗含《易经》「无平不陂，无往不复」的循环观与《史记·货殖列传》「贫富之道，莫之夺予」的世情之论：刘基以转毂之喻写升沉之无常，正是其深谙世故、饱历沧桑的体现，典故之外，实有对人生与世道的透彻洞察。

Commentary

Of Liu Ji's ballads, Shen Deqian's Ming Shi Bie Cai says that his yuefu stand higher than his ancient-style poems, and Wang Shizhen too praised him for talent, feeling, air and bone together. The intention here of using the past to criticize the present is plain, and it is deep-toned in the same way as his Song of Liangfu, which is sorrowful and bleak. Modern discussions of early Ming seven-character ancient verse usually name Liu Ji with Gao Qi and say that his spirit strikes out on every side like a thousand-gold courser; here he writes the coldness of the world in plain language and shows exactly his refusal of prettiness and his own high standard. The phrase about the foolish wife of Kuaiji takes Li Bai's words and turns them to a new purpose, proof that Liu Ji was skilled at borrowing an earlier poet's line to voice a new indignation.

刘基乐府，沈德潜《明诗别裁》谓「乐府高于古诗」，王世贞亦称其「才情气骨」兼胜，此篇正见其乐府之工。沈德潜又评刘基诗「沉郁顿挫，直逼少陵」，此诗以七古写贫贱炎凉，叙事简劲而议论深沉，正是其「沉郁近杜」的体现。此篇托古刺时之意显然：以会稽愚妇刺势利之世、以覆水难收发世情之慨，与《梁甫吟》之「悲以凄」同一沉郁，与高启「神锋四出」的明初七古并称双璧。近人论明初七古，每以刘基与高启并提，谓其「以疏淡语写炎凉事」，正是不屑靡丽、独标高格。诗中「会稽愚妇」一语承太白而翻案，足证刘基善借前人成句以发新慨，其借古讽今、托物言志的咏史观，为明代咏史诗的繁荣开了先声，此诗亦成为「买臣妻」这一咏史母题中最具锋芒的一篇。此诗与李白《南陵别儿童入京》「会稽愚妇轻买臣，余亦辞家西入秦」同用一典而取径相反：李白以愚妇自况其暂受轻贱，意气飞扬；刘基则以愚妇刺世之凉薄，冷峻警世，一为自抒怀抱、一为借古讽今，正见同一典故在不同时代、不同心境下的多重开掘，亦见刘基善翻前人意、自铸新词的本领。

Prosody

Form Seven-character ancient-style poem (in imitation of the old ballads)七言古诗（拟古乐府）

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, the mo, xi and zhi entering-tone groups rhymed together, one rhyme throughout平水韵·陌锡职韵通押（壁、陌、适、轓、恻、毂、嗤，其中「轓」属元韵为变格），一韵到底，仄声韵短促沉郁，正合讽喻诗的冷峻声情。

Tone pattern Ancient style, not bound by level and oblique rules, with occasional regulated lines among mostly free ones古体不限平仄，间用律句而多散行，七言二句一转、顿挫分明，前段叙事舒缓、中段转折陡峭、后段议论激昂，声情随章法起伏。

Reading note Ming writers imitating the ballads of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties cast them as seven-character ancient verse, prizing vigour of spirit above strict prosody.此诗为七言古诗，属刘基拟汉魏六朝乐府之作，以七古出之，重气骨而轻声律。用韵上，全诗一韵到底，押陌锡职等仄声韵，「壁、陌、适、恻、毂、嗤」皆短促压抑之音，正合讽喻诗的冷峻与世情之炎凉的沉重感；唯「轓」字属元韵，为古体通押之变格，亦见古体用韵之宽。句法上，七言二句一转，顿挫分明：起四句写贫贱（买臣负薪、妻羞其狂），舒缓平实；中四句写骤贵（诏求贤、乘朱轓、耀闾里、相逢惭），转折陡峭，叙事如戏剧；末四句写议论（覆水难收、贵贱转毂、愚妇被嗤），以「君不见」呼告领起，激昂警世。全诗以七古自由之体容纳叙事、对比、议论，不尚雕琢而气骨沉郁，正是刘基乐府「沉郁近杜、雄健兼韩」风格的体现；其以史事为骨、以议论为锋的写法，也开明代咏史乐府借古讽今的先声，在明初诗坛上独树一帜。

Line by line

买臣少贱家徒壁，负薪行歌道旁陌

Maichen was poor and lowly in his youth, four bare walls his whole house; he carried firewood and sang as he walked the roadside lanes.

朱买臣年轻时家徒四壁，贫贱无依，却担着柴薪在道旁且行且歌。

Zhu Maichen in his youth was poor, his home bare walls; carrying firewood along the road, he sang as he walked.

白描起笔，写买臣未遇时的贫贱之态，为全诗的对比张本。「家徒壁」用「家徒四壁」之成语，写其家贫如洗、一无所有，一个「少贱」点出贫贱之始；「负薪行歌道旁陌」更以传神之笔写其日常：担着柴薪走在道旁小路上，边走边歌——「负薪」见其谋生之艰，「行歌」见其性情之旷，贫贱而不改其乐，正是朱买臣精神的可贵处。此句的深意在于「行歌」二字：在旁人眼中，穷得揭不开锅却还在唱歌，不是狂便是痴；而正是这份穷且益坚、不以贫贱易志的旷达，预示了他日后的飞黄腾达。以「家徒壁」之贫与「行歌」之乐对举，起笔即立起买臣的形象，也为下句「妻羞其狂」埋下伏笔，是全诗叙事的起点。

The woodcutter. Zhu Maichen in his youth was poor, his home bare walls; carrying firewood along the road, he sang as he walked. The bare walls and the singing woodcutter are the lowly start. To have described the singing woodcutter would be a portrait; the Zhu-Maichen-in-his-youth-was-poor-his-home-bare-walls-carrying-firewood-along-the-road-he-sang-as-he-walked is the portrait.

一朝天子诏求贤，会稽太守乘朱轓

One morning the Son of Heaven called for men of worth, and he rode out as Governor of Kuaiji in a vermilion-shafted carriage.

一朝天子下诏求贤，他终于得拜会稽太守，乘着朱轮华车衣锦还乡。

One day the emperor sent edicts seeking worthies; as governor of Kuaiji he rode in a red-chariot.

陡转叙事，写买臣由贫贱骤登显贵，是「贫贱—富贵」对比结构的中枢。「一朝」二字写命运转折之骤然：仿佛一夜之间，天子下诏求贤，负薪行歌的穷汉便登上了会稽太守之位，「一朝」的迅疾与「少贱」的漫长形成鲜明对照；「乘朱轓」写其乘朱轮车、衣锦还乡的显赫，「朱轓」是汉代二千石官员的仪仗，一个「朱」字色彩夺目，与篇首「家徒壁」的灰暗惨淡判若云泥。此句的妙处在于「不写过程只写结果」：买臣如何发迹，诗中一字不提，只以「诏求贤」轻轻带过，便让贫富的转换如戏剧般陡峭，正合「贵贱升沉如转毂」的哲理——命运的轮子一转，贫贱富贵便彻底翻覆，为下文的「故妻相逢」与「覆水难收」蓄足了势。

The rise. One day the emperor sent edicts seeking worthies; as governor of Kuaiji he rode in a red-chariot. The sudden edict and the red-chariot governor are the swift rise. To have described the sudden rise would be a turn; the one-day-the-emperor-sent-edicts-seeking-worthies-as-governor-of-Kuaiji-he-rode-in-a-red-chariot is the turn.

高车驷马耀闾里，故妻相逢惭且恻

High carriage and four horses blaze on the village; meeting his former wife, she is ashamed and wretched.

高车驷马辉耀里闾，昔日求去的故妻相逢之下羞惭悲恻。

High carriage and four horses dazzle the village; meeting him, his former wife is at once ashamed and stricken.

写衣锦还乡与故妻相逢的戏剧性场景，是全诗对比手法的顶点。「高车驷马耀闾里」写四马高车辉耀乡里，「耀」字极写其煊赫——衣锦还乡、光宗耀祖，正是世俗眼中人生成功的极致；「故妻相逢惭且恻」陡转写相逢场景：昔日嫌贫求去的妻子，如今在煊赫的车驾前相逢，心中「惭」且「恻」——惭是羞愧，悔当初弃夫求去；恻是悲恻，叹今日荣辱悬隔、覆水难收。两个动词写尽故妻复杂的心理，而诗人并不直言其悔，只以「惭且恻」轻轻点出，讽刺之意已在其中。此联以「耀」与「惭」对举，富贵之辉耀与故妻之羞惭形成刺目的对比，正是全诗讽世的锋芒所在，也可见刘基叙事「于冷静中见讥刺」的笔法。

The meeting. High carriage and four horses blaze on the village; meeting his former wife, she is ashamed and wretched. The blazing carriage and the ashamed and stricken ex-wife are the encounter. To have staged the encounter would be a scene; the high-carriage-and-four-horses-blaze-on-the-village-meeting-his-former-wife-she-is-ashamed-and-wretched is the scene.

覆水既泼难再收，贵贱升沉如转毂

Water once poured out on the ground can never be gathered again; high and low, rise and fall, turn like the hub of a wheel.

覆水既已泼地就难再收回，人的贵贱升沉真如车轮般转个不停。

Spilt water once poured is hard to gather again; noble and base rise and fall like a turning wheel.

点题之笔，由史事升华为人生感慨，富理趣，是全诗由叙入议的枢纽。「覆水既泼难再收」以覆水喻弃妇之不可复合、往事之不可追回：水已泼地，再难收起，正如故妻的势利已成事实，纵悔亦无及——此句既是写买臣之妻，更是写一切以穷达定交疏的势利之人，破镜难圆、覆水难收，正是对他们最无情的讽刺；「贵贱升沉如转毂」更以车轮转动喻贫富贵贱的流转：富贵贫贱如车轮般转个不停，今日之贵或为明日之贱，今日之贱或为明日之贵，「转毂」之喻既写出世情之无常，也暗含对势利者的警告——你今日轻贱之人，安知明日不居你之上？两句以「覆水」与「转毂」两个比喻，把史事之理升华为普遍的人生哲理，是全诗议论的核心。

The wheel. Spilt water once poured is hard to gather again; noble and base rise and fall like a turning wheel. The spilt water and the turning wheel are the moral. To have moralized on spilt water would be a moral; the spilt-water-once-poured-is-hard-to-gather-again-noble-and-base-rise-and-fall-like-a-turning-wheel is the moral.

君不见会稽愚妇轻买臣，至今犹为词人嗤

Do you not see how the foolish wife of Kuaiji made light of Maichen, and is mocked by men of letters to this very day?

你不见那会稽愚妇因轻慢买臣而留笑柄，至今仍被词人讥嘲么？

Do you not see? The foolish wife of Kuaiji who despised Maichen is still mocked by poets to this day.

以呼告收束全诗，化用李白句，讥世态炎凉，余味不尽，是全诗讽意的最终落点。「君不见」以呼告起句，直呼读者，把议论推向高潮，正是李白歌行「君不见黄河之水天上来」式的笔法，气势逼人；「会稽愚妇轻买臣」化用李白《南陵别儿童入京》「会稽愚妇轻买臣，余亦辞家西入秦」之句——李白以会稽愚妇自况其被世俗轻贱的遭遇，刘基则翻用此句，直指那轻慢买臣的愚妇；「至今犹为词人嗤」写其千百年后仍被词人讥嘲，「至今犹」三字写笑柄之长久，势利者终被钉在历史的耻辱柱上，警世之意凛然。此句以呼告作结，戛然而止而余响不绝，既为全诗的讽刺画上句点，也寄寓了刘基对世态炎凉的深沉感慨与对势利之人的冷峻警告，正是「借古讽今」的题旨所在。

The warning. Do you not see? The foolish wife of Kuaiji who despised Maichen is still mocked by poets to this day. The do-you-not-see and the Li Bai allusion are the close. To have closed with the see-you-not would be a close; the do-you-not-see-the-foolish-wife-of-Kuaiji-who-despised-Maichen-is-still-mocked-by-poets-to-this-day is the close.

Study

Word focus

行歌 To sing while walking under a load of firewood: it shows how he made his poor living, and still more the stubborn contentment of a man whose pleasure hardship could not change. One phrase, and the character stands complete. 「负薪行歌道旁陌」之「行歌」，负薪而行且歌，既写其贫贱谋生，更见其倔强自适、不以困顿改其乐的性情，一字传神。「行歌」是「且行且歌」的压缩：担着柴薪走在路上，边走边唱，本是穷苦人谋生的一幕，刘基却以「行歌」二字写出其中的精神——穷到负薪，而歌不止，这是何等的旷达与自信。此字与「妻羞其狂」相照应：在势利的妻子眼中，穷得如此还唱歌，是「狂」；而正是这份「狂」，才是买臣日后发迹的精神根基——穷且益坚，不坠青云之志。若写「负薪行路」则流于记实，唯「行歌」二字兼有动作与精神、困顿与旷达的双重内涵，是炼字「以一当十」的典范，也为全诗「贫贱—富贵」的对比埋下性格的伏笔。

惭且恻 The first word carries remorse and the second grief; used together they render the tangle of feeling in the former wife at their meeting, and throw into relief how wrong her earlier hardness had been. 「故妻相逢惭且恻」之「惭且恻」，写故妻相逢时的复杂心理，「惭」写悔愧、「恻」写悲凄，二字叠用，极写其内心之翻覆，反衬前此决绝之误。「惭」是羞惭：当年嫌贫求去，如今丈夫衣锦还乡，高车驷马耀于闾里，自己却已成弃妇，羞愧之情油然而生；「恻」是悲恻：既叹自己错失良人、命运不济，也悲眼前荣辱悬隔、往事不可追。二字一写道德之愧、一写命运之悲，由外而内，把故妻相逢时欲哭无泪的复杂心境写足。此二字之妙在于「以少写多」：诗人不写故妻说了什么、做了什么，只以「惭且恻」二字点出其心理，而讽刺之意、世情之凉已在其中——早知今日，何必当初？二字收尽故妻的悔恨，是刘基叙事「于冷静处见锋芒」的典型笔法。

转毂 A turning wheel-hub as a figure for rising and falling in the world: the image is ordinary and the sense far-reaching, and it gathers the poem's whole lament over worldly coldness into two words. 「贵贱升沉如转毂」之「转毂」，以车轮转动喻贵贱升沉，意象寻常而理致深远，凝炼收束全篇炎凉之叹。「毂」是车轮中心的圆木，转毂即车轮转动，刘基以车轮之转写贵贱之变：人生如车，轮一转则贫贱富贵彻底翻覆，今日之贵或为明日之贱，今日之贱或为明日之贵，正像车轮永远在转、没有定数。此喻的妙处有二：一是形象的贴切——转毂之「转」既写变化之频繁，也写变化之不由人，车轮的转动不是人所能左右的，正如命运的升沉非个人所能主宰；二是意味的深远——以「转」写无常，暗含对势利者的警告：你以穷达定交疏，而穷达本身就在流转，今日轻人者，明日或为人所轻。此二字以寻常物象写深刻哲理，凝炼有力，是刘基善用比喻说理的典范。

买臣妻