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James Legge, 1899 (public domain)
Shih Ho indicates successful progress (in the condition of things which it supposes). It will be advantageous to use legal constraints.
Shih Ho — fire and thunder — is union by gnawing: jaws with something stuck between them. Where an obstacle sits between those who must unite, the oracle's remedy is to bite through it, and its promise is successful progress through legal constraints. The lines grade the difficulty. The small offender caught early in the stocks goes free of error. The soft flesh yields, then the nose. Dried flesh meets with disagreeables; the flesh dried on the bone yields pledges of money and arrows; and at the centre the yellow gold of right judgment is found. But the one who persists, wearing the cangue and deprived of his ears, meets evil. Bite through the obstruction — firmly, justly, now.
Line 1
The first line, undivided, shows one with his feet in the stocks and deprived of his toes. There will be no error.
Line 2
The second line, divided, shows one biting through the soft flesh, and (going on to) bite off the nose. There will be no error.
Line 3
The third line, divided, shows one gnawing dried flesh, and meeting with what is disagreeable. There will be occasion for some small regret, but no (great) error.
Line 4
The fourth line, undivided, shows one gnawing the flesh dried on the bone, and getting the pledges of money and arrows. It will be advantageous to him to realise the difficulty of his task and be firm,—in which case there will be good fortune.
Line 5
The fifth line, divided, shows one gnawing at dried flesh, and finding the yellow gold. Let him be firm and correct, realising the peril (of his position). There will be no error.
Line 6
The sixth line, undivided, shows one wearing the cangue, and deprived of his ears. There will be evil.