觳觫

觳觫

1. (literary) to tremble in fear

   • 「牛何之？」對曰：「將以釁鐘。」王曰：「舍之！吾不忍其觳觫，若無罪而就死地。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     「牛何之？」对曰：「将以衅钟。」王曰：「舍之！吾不忍其觳觫，若无罪而就死地。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     “Niú hé zhī?” Duì yuē: “Jiāng yǐ xìn zhōng.” Wáng yuē: “Shě zhī! Wú bùrěn qí húsù, ruò wúzuì ér jiù sǐdì.” [Pinyin]

     "Where is the ox going?" The man replied, "We are going to consecrate a bell with its blood." The king said, "Let it go! I cannot bear its frightened appearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the place of death."

   • 犧牲上場，如果顯得慷慨，他們就看了悲壯劇；如果顯得觳觫，他們就看了滑稽劇。 [MSC, trad.]
     牺牲上场，如果显得慷慨，他们就看了悲壮剧；如果显得觳觫，他们就看了滑稽剧。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1923, Lu Xun, What happens to Nora after she leaves? (《娜拉走後怎樣》)

     Xīshēng shàngchǎng, rúguǒ xiǎndé kāngkǎi, tāmen jiù kàn le bēizhuàng jù; rúguǒ xiǎndé húsù, tāmen jiù kàn le huájī jù. [Pinyin]

     Enter the martyr. If they conduct themselves with heroic passion, for the mere watchers that's just a stirring tragic show. If the hero trembles in fear, then the show becomes rather amusing.

From Literary Chinese. From 孟子/梁惠王上.^[1]

• (Tokyo) こくそく [kòkúsókú] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞kɯ̟so̞kɯ̟]

觳(こく)觫(そく) • (kokusoku) ^†-tari (adnominal 觳(こく)觫(そく)とした (kokusoku to shita) or 觳(こく)觫(そく)たる (kokusoku taru), adverbial 觳(こく)觫(そく)と (kokusoku to) or 觳(こく)觫(そく)として (kokusoku to shite))

1. fearing for one's life