Grammar

楊朱之弟曰布。衣素衣而出，天雨解素衣，衣緇衣而反。其狗不知，迎而吠之。楊布怒將撲之。楊朱曰：“子無撲矣，子亦猶是也。嚮者，使汝狗白而往，黑而來，豈能無怪哉？”

Yáng Zhū zhī dì yuē Bù. Yì sù yī ér chū, tiān yǔ jiě sù yī, yì zī yī ér fǎn. Qí gǒu bù zhī, yíng ér fèi zhī. Yáng Bù nù jiāng pū zhī. Yáng Zhū yuē:  "Zǐ wú pū yǐ, zǐ yì yóu shì yě. xiàng zhě, shǐ rǔ gǒu bái ér wǎng, hēi ér lái, qǐ néng wú guài zāi?"

衣 as a noun and as a verb

• In classical Chinese, a noun can be used as a verb. In this lesson the word 衣 functions as both noun and verb.

衣素衣而出    to wear a white coat and go out.

The first 衣 is a verb and the second 衣 is a noun. Note that the pronunciation of 衣 as a verb is 'yì' while the pronunciation of 衣 as a noun is 'yī'. The same applies to 衣緇衣而反.

衣 in 天雨解素衣 is a noun.

Negation word 無

• 無 is a negation word (as an adverb). Unlike 不，無 is often used in imperative sentence. But 無 can be used as a verb also. In that case, 無 negates nouns, while 不 negates verbs or adjectives.

不良    not good (不 as an adverb, negates an adjective)

無過    do not have errors (mistakes)  (無 as a verb, negates a noun)

無撲   do not hit  (無 as an adverb in imperative sentence)