Annotations
夫雞肋 棄之如可惜 食之無所得
“Chicken ribs seem a pity to throw away, yet yield nothing to eat. His Majesty has likened Hanzhong to them — so we are going home.”
— Yang Xiu楊修
ko무릇 닭갈비란 버리자니 아까운 듯하지만, 먹자니 얻을 것이 없는 것이다. 한중을 여기에 비기신 것이니, 왕께서는 돌아가기로 하신 것이다.
jaそもそも鶏のあばらとは、捨てるには惜しいようだが、食べても得るものがない。漢中をこれになぞらえられたのだから、王は帰還を決められたのだ。
The scene behind the words
Yang Xiu’s explanation to his colleagues as he packed his bags, having alone decoded Cao Cao’s absent-minded watchword during the Hanzhong standoff. The prediction proved exactly right — and became the pretext for his execution on charges of unsettling the army. The original text of "chicken ribs," and a lasting meditation on talent versus discretion.
Source: Jiuzhou Chunqiu (quoted in the annotations)