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战国战国 · 文 Prose

伯牙善鼓琴

Bo Ya Is Skilled in Playing the Zither (Bo Ya Shan Gu Qin)

列子

Liezi

寓言Fable 知音The Knowing Sound 音乐Music 名篇Masterpiece

伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听。
伯牙鼓琴，志在高山，钟子期曰：善哉，峨峨兮若泰山！
志在流水，钟子期曰：善哉，洋洋兮若江河！
伯牙所念，钟子期必得之。

Bo Ya was skilled in playing the zither, and Zhong Ziqi was skilled in listening. When Bo Ya played the zither, his mind being on the high mountains, Zhong Ziqi said: 'How fine, the lofty and the grand like the Mount Tai!' When his mind being on the flowing waters, Zhong Ziqi said: 'How fine, the vast and the wide like the rivers and the seas!' Whatever Bo Ya thought of, Zhong Ziqi always grasped it.

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Meaning

A fable from the 'Tang Wen' chapter of the Liezi. 'Bo Ya was skilled in playing the zither, and Zhong Ziqi was skilled in listening'—the general opening, the 'skilled in playing' and the 'skilled in listening' in parallel, the one 'skilled' running through the whole piece; 'when Bo Ya played the zither, his mind being on the high mountains, Zhong Ziqi said: how fine, the lofty and the grand like the Mount Tai! when his mind being on the flowing waters, Zhong Ziqi said: how fine, the vast and the wide like the rivers and the seas!'—the two scenes in parallel, the high mountains and the flowing waters, the Mount Tai and the rivers and the seas, the 'the mind being' of the playing and the 'how fine' of the listening, the mutual understanding; 'whatever Bo Ya thought of, Zhong Ziqi always grasped it'—the general close, the 'always grasped' the completeness of the understanding, the essence of the knowing sound. The fable, with the concise strokes, writes the perfect mutual understanding of the player and the listener, contributing the two core motifs of the 'knowing sound' and the 'high mountains and the flowing waters' to the Chinese culture.

伯牙擅长弹琴，钟子期善于听琴。伯牙弹琴时，心里想着高山，钟子期就说：好啊，巍峨高耸的样子像泰山！心里想着流水，钟子期就说：好啊，浩荡宽阔的样子像江河！伯牙心里所想的，钟子期一定能够领会到。

Appreciation

The artistic charm of the 'Bo Ya Is Skilled in Playing the Zither' lies in the creating of the extremely deep realm with the extremely short length, the miniature masterpiece of the pre-Qin fables. In the composition, the whole text presents the strict structure of the 'general-specific-general': the opening 'Bo Ya was skilled in playing the zither, and Zhong Ziqi was skilled in listening' generally rises, with the 'skilled in playing' and the 'skilled in listening' in parallel to establish the persons, the one 'skilled' running through the whole piece, setting the standard for the two verifications below; the middle in two groups of scenes separately verifies—the 'mind being on the high mountains' against the 'lofty and grand like the Mount Tai,' and the 'mind being on the flowing waters' against the 'vast and wide like the rivers and the seas,' the two scenes in parallel, the mind being of the player and the how fine of the listener in mutual response; and the close 'whatever Bo Ya thought of, Zhong Ziqi always grasped it' generally closes, the 'always grasped' the completeness of the understanding. In the language, the 'lofty and the grand' and the 'vast and the wide' the reduplicated words of the Songs of Chu style, the tone of the praise, the beauty of the sound; the whole text, with the strict structure and the sonorous language, the essence of the knowing sound written with the concise, the miniature masterpiece of the fable.

【白话串讲】列子写《伯牙善鼓琴》：“伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听”。伯牙志在高山，子期说：“善哉，峨峨兮若泰山”。志在流水，子期说：“善哉，洋洋兮若江河”。“伯牙所念，钟子期必得之”——“子期死，伯牙谓世再无知音，乃破琴绝弦，终身不复鼓”——高山流水遇知音。【意象与手法】全文仅五十余字，却情节完整、意境空灵，是先秦寓言「以少总多」的极致。结构上先总后分再总：总起立人，分写两次印证，总收定论；句式上「志在高山——峨峨兮若泰山」「志在流水——洋洋兮若江河」两两对举，复沓回环，如琴曲之双主题变奏；语言以短句与感叹词「哉」「兮」出之，音调清扬，节奏明快。【情感与主旨】故事通过伯牙与钟子期的神交，讴歌了心领神会的知音之谊，寄托了先秦道家「以意会之」的审美理想——琴声本无形，而听者能于弦外得之，正是中国艺术「得意忘言」精神的寓言化表达。【名句点睛】「峨峨兮若泰山」「洋洋兮若江河」以天地之大物状音乐之美，把无形之声化为有形之景，是通感手法的早期杰作；「伯牙所念，钟子期必得之」则凝练出「知音」一词的全部内涵，流传千古而不衰。

Background

The 'Bo Ya Is Skilled in Playing the Zither' comes from the 'Tang Wen' chapter of the Liezi. The Liezi, attributed to the Warring States man of Zheng Lie Yukou, the present version of eight chapters generally considered to be written between the Warring States and the Han-Wei, mainly propagating the Daoist thought, with more than a hundred fables, such as the Foolish Old Man Moving the Mountain, the Man of Qi Worrying about the Sky, and the Two Children Arguing about the Sun all from the book. The legend of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi was already in circulation in the pre-Qin classics: the 'Exhortation to Learning' of the Xunzi has the saying of 'Bo Ya playing the zither and the six horses raising their heads,' and the 'Original Flavor' of the Springs and Autumns of Lü completely records the story of Bo Ya playing the zither, Zhong Ziqi listening, and after Ziqi's death Bo Ya 'breaking the zither and cutting the strings, never playing the zither again all his life,' and calls 'when Zhong Ziqi died, Bo Ya broke the zither for his whole life,' the mutual understanding of the player and the listener, the source of the 'knowing sound' of the Chinese culture.

《伯牙善鼓琴》出自《列子·汤问》。《列子》旧题战国郑人列御寇撰，今本八篇一般认为成书于战国至汉魏之间，以宣扬道家思想为主，其中寓言故事多达百余则，如愚公移山、杞人忧天、两小儿辩日皆出其书。伯牙、钟子期的传说在先秦典籍中早有流传：《荀子·劝学》有「伯牙鼓琴而六马仰秣」之说，《吕氏春秋·本味》则完整记载了伯牙鼓琴、钟子期听之、子期死而伯牙「破琴绝弦，终身不复鼓琴」的故事，并称「钟子期死，伯牙破琴绝弦，终身不复鼓琴，以为世无足复为鼓琴者」。《列子》本文所取，正是这一传说中「高山流水遇知音」的核心情节。战国之世，礼崩乐坏而百家争鸣，士人既感怀才不遇、又渴求知遇之明主，「知音」遂成为时代的精神母题——伯牙子期故事恰以音乐为媒介，把「遇与不遇」的士人命运升华为审美与心灵的共鸣，故能在诸子书中反复出现，成为中国文化史上最著名的知音寓言。

Art

The art is the strict structure of the 'general-specific-general': the 'skilled in playing' and the 'skilled in listening' in parallel to establish the persons, the two scenes of the high mountains and the flowing waters in parallel to verify, and the 'always grasped' to close, the mutual understanding written with the concise—the miniature masterpiece of the pre-Qin fable.

《伯牙善鼓琴》的艺术魅力，在于以极短篇幅营造极深意境，堪称先秦寓言的微型杰作。章法上，全文呈现「总—分—总」的严整结构：首句「伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听」总起，以「善鼓」「善听」对举立人，一个「善」字贯穿全篇，为下文两次印证立下标准；中间以两组场景分写印证——「志在高山」对「峨峨兮若泰山」，「志在流水」对「洋洋兮若江河」，句式完全对称、回环复沓，如琴曲的两个乐段，主题相同而意象各异，先写山之巍峨、后写水之浩荡，由高而广、由峻而远，构成空间的延展；末句「伯牙所念，钟子期必得之」总收，以「念」字总括前文之志、以「必得之」三字断语式收束，把两次偶然的呼应升格为必然的默契。语言上，全文以四言短句为主，间以「善哉」「峨峨兮」「洋洋兮」等感叹与楚辞式语助，音节清亮，如琴声淙淙。尤妙者，全文无一字写琴声本身，只写弹者之「志」与听者之「得」，以虚写实、以意传声，正是中国艺术「大音希声」境界的缩影。

Allusions

The cultural value of the 'Bo Ya Is Skilled in Playing the Zither' lies in its contribution of the two core motifs of the 'knowing sound' and the 'high mountains and the flowing waters' to the Chinese culture. The 'high mountains' and the 'flowing waters' of the story are not only the names of the zither tunes, but have become the highest symbol of the friendship and the bosom friend of the later ages—the 'high mountains and the flowing waters' since then the synonym of the knowing sound, and the 'knowing sound' from the 'the knowing the sound of the playing' the deep friendship of the mutual understanding. The story, with the 'the mind being on the high mountains' and the 'the mind being on the flowing waters' of the player and the 'the lofty and the grand' and the 'the vast and the wide' of the listener, writing the spiritual resonance beyond the sound of the zither, and the 'whatever Bo Ya thought of, Zhong Ziqi always grasped it' the ideal of the mutual understanding, the eternal story of the knowing sound of the Chinese culture, and the 'the zither is broken and the strings are cut for the knowing sound' has become the extreme of the friendship of the Chinese literati.

《伯牙善鼓琴》的文化价值，在于它为中华文化贡献了「知音」「高山流水」两大核心母题。故事中的「高山」与「流水」不仅是琴曲之名，更成为后世友情、知己的最高象征——「高山流水」自此成为知音的代称，「知音」一词则由「知琴音」引申为「知人心」，深刻塑造了中国人的交友观。从音乐美学看，故事体现的「以意会之」正是先秦道家的审美理想：《庄子·天道》「意之所随者，不可以言传也」、《周易·系辞》「书不尽言，言不尽意」，皆主张得意忘言，而伯牙之琴、子期之听，正是「言外之意」「弦外之音」的最好例证——琴声所传者，非声音本身，而是弹者之志。从文化心理看，伯牙子期故事承载了士人对「遇合」的渴望：钟子期不过是樵夫，却能听出琴中高山流水，故知音不问贵贱、只问心灵，这打破了身份等级，张扬了精神平等，与《列子》中「以道观之，物无贵贱」的相对主义思想一脉相承。此外，「破琴绝弦」的结局（见《吕氏春秋》本）为故事增添了悲剧色彩，使「知音难遇」成为后世无数诗文的共同喟叹，从曹丕「知音之难遇」到白居易《琵琶行》「同是天涯沦落人」，皆可溯源于此。

Commentary

The influence of the 'Bo Ya Is Skilled in Playing the Zither' spans over two thousand years without decline, one of the most widely circulated fables of the Chinese culture. Since the 'Springs and Autumns of Lü' recorded the breaking of the zither of Bo Ya and the 'Liezi' elaborated the high mountains and the flowing waters, this story of the knowing sound has entered the classics, the 'Huainanzi' and the 'Shuoyuan' of the Han repeatedly cited; and in the literature, the 'high mountains and the flowing waters' and the 'knowing sound' have become the eternal motifs, the 'the string breaks for the knowing sound' of the Chinese literati, and the 'knowing sound' the highest evaluation of the bosom friend; the fable, with the concise strokes, the spiritual resonance of the player and the listener, the ideal of the friendship of the Chinese culture, the eternal classic of the fable.

《伯牙善鼓琴》的影响跨越两千余年而不衰，是中华文化中流传最广的寓言之一。自《吕氏春秋》载录伯牙绝弦、《列子》敷演高山流水，这个知音故事便进入典籍，汉代《淮南子》《说苑》屡加称引，魏晋以还更成为诗文常用的典故：阮籍《咏怀》「伯牙何所去，善琴不复鸣」、李白「钟期久已没，世上无知音」、王安石《伯牙》诗皆就此生发。在民间叙事层面，明代冯梦龙《警世通言》将其扩写为《俞伯牙摔琴谢知音》话本，使知音故事家喻户晓；清代小说《红楼梦》中黛玉论琴亦引伯牙子期。在音乐层面，「高山流水」成为古琴名曲，相传现存琴曲《高山流水》《伯牙吊子期》皆由此而来，故事与乐曲互相成全，使「知音」成为音乐美学的最高境界。现代以来，此故事入选各级语文教材，「高山流水遇知音」成为日常用语；2003年，古琴艺术被列入人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录，伯牙子期的知音传说正是其文化叙事的重要源头。一个五十余字的寓言，竟能同时滋养哲学、文学、音乐、民俗，其生命力之强，堪称中国寓言史的奇迹。

Prosody

Form Pre-Qin fable short piece (the narrative prose of the Daoist classic Liezi, with both the dialogue style and the Songs of Chu particles)先秦寓言短章（道家典籍《列子》中的叙事散文，兼有对话体与楚辞体语助）

Rhyme The whole not rhymed, the sonorous and the grand of the language in the reduplicated words and the particles of the praise: 'how fine, the lofty and the grand like the Mount Tai'全文不刻意押韵，而音韵之美天成：首句「伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听」以「琴」「听」收束，声调一平一仄、自然谐和；主体部分「志在高山」「志在流水」两组对举，句式齐整如双乐段；「善哉，峨峨兮若泰山」「善哉，洋洋兮若江河」中，「哉」「兮」两个感叹语助相间而出，声调先扬后曳，如琴声之起伏。「山」「河」虽不同韵，而「哉」「兮」的复沓已使诵读获得歌咏般的韵律感。

Tone pattern The 'skilled in playing the zither' is even, the 'the lofty and the grand like the Mount Tai' is grand, and the 'always grasped it' is firm—the whole from the establishment to the verification to the close, the mutual understanding carried by the tone句式以四言为主，问以五言、六言，节奏短促明快；语调用陈述（伯牙善鼓琴）、呼应（钟子期曰）、感叹（善哉）交替推进，两句一组、一组一转，先弹后听、先志后叹，如琴曲之问答往复，语调清扬舒展，先秦寓言声情并茂之典范。

Reading note The reduplicated words of the Songs of Chu style and the parallel scenes carry the resonance of the playing and the listening, the model of the knowing sound.《伯牙善鼓琴》的声律妙处，在「以琴声为文章之声」。全文虽为散文，却处处模拟琴曲的节奏：开篇「伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听」如琴曲引子，两句十字、节奏平稳，定下「弹—听」的双声部；主体两段如琴曲的两个主题乐段，「志在高山」起句短促，「峨峨兮若泰山」拖长收束，「志在流水」再起、「洋洋兮若江河」再收，一高一广、一峭一阔，如琴音由峻岭泻入江流，其间「善哉」二字如击节赞叹，每段一叹、回环往复；末句「伯牙所念，钟子期必得之」以八字收煞，节奏由疾转徐，如琴声渐止而余音袅袅。句法上，「峨峨兮」「洋洋兮」两个楚辞式语助的插入尤见匠心：「兮」字本为拖音之助，置于叠音词后，使两句音节顿开，如山风过岭、水声回环，把琴曲的悠扬直接移植为文章的韵律。先秦寓言本以口语短章见长，此文却以严整的对偶、复沓的句式、清亮的语助，把散文写成了可诵可歌的音乐小品，其声情与意境的高度统一，正是它两千年来为人传诵不绝的重要原因。

Line by line

伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听。

Bo Ya was skilled in playing the zither, and Zhong Ziqi was skilled in listening. (The general opening: the 'skilled in playing' and the 'skilled in listening' in parallel to establish the persons, the one 'skilled' running through the whole piece.)

伯牙擅长弹琴，钟子期善于听琴。

Bo Ya excelled at playing the qin; Zhong Ziqi excelled at listening.

首句十字，是全篇的总纲，一字不可移易。「善鼓琴」与「善听」对举，看似平分秋色，实则暗藏宾主：鼓琴之「善」在技艺，听琴之「善」在心灵，技艺可学而心灵难致，故「善听」实较「善鼓」更高一层——钟子期的价值，不在会听，而在能「知」。句法上，「伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听」以两个五言句并列，人名对人名、动词对动词、「善」字复现而「鼓琴」「听」异义，构成先秦散文中罕见的工整对偶，读来声调铿锵；「善」字既为下文「志在高山」「志在流水」的印证立下尺度，又为末句「必得之」的定论埋下伏线。全篇所述，皆此十字之展开；此十字所立，即「知音」二字之定义——一个「善」弹、一个「善」听，琴与人、人与心，从此相遇。开篇如此精炼，正是先秦寓言「立言居要」的典范。

The opening ten characters are the whole's thesis, not one to be moved. 'Skilled at playing the qin' and 'skilled at listening' set against each other, seeming balanced, yet hosting guest and host within: the skill of 'playing' is technique, the skill of 'listening' is the heart; technique can be learned, the heart cannot, so 'skilled at listening' stands one degree higher - Zhong Ziqi's value lies not in hearing, but in 'knowing.' In syntax, the two five-character lines set side by side, name against name, verb against verb, the word 'skilled' recurring with 'playing the qin' and 'listening' different in sense, a rare balanced couplet in pre-Qin prose, the cadence ringing; the word 'skilled' both fixes the measure for the later proof of 'mind on the high mountains' and 'mind on the flowing water,' and primes the closing 'he surely grasped it.' All that follows is the unfolding of these ten characters; these ten define the word 'soulmate' - one skilled player, one skilled listener, qin and man, man and heart, meeting from here. So concise an opening is the model of pre-Qin fable's 'placing the word at the vital point.'

伯牙鼓琴，志在高山，钟子期曰：善哉，峨峨兮若泰山！志在流水，钟子期曰：善哉，洋洋兮若江河！

When Bo Ya played the zither, his mind being on the high mountains, Zhong Ziqi said: 'How fine, the lofty and the grand like the Mount Tai!' When his mind being on the flowing waters, Zhong Ziqi said: 'How fine, the vast and the wide like the rivers and the seas!' (The verification: the two scenes in parallel, the high mountains and the flowing waters, the 'the mind being' of the playing and the 'how fine' of the listening, the mutual understanding.)

伯牙弹琴，心里想着高山，钟子期就说：好啊，巍峨高耸的样子像泰山！伯牙心里想着流水，钟子期就说：好啊，浩荡宽阔的样子像江河！

Bo Ya played, his mind on the high mountains; Zhong Ziqi said: Bravo! Towering as Mount Tai! When his mind turned to flowing water, Zhong Ziqi said: Bravo! Surging as the great rivers!

此段是全文的主体，两组场景对举回环，把知音之「知」写得神完气足。结构上，两组句式完全对称：前一组「志在高山」对「峨峨兮若泰山」，后一组「志在流水」对「洋洋兮若江河」，伯牙以「志」写心，子期以「善哉」起叹、以「兮」字拖长音节、以「若」字设喻作答，弹者之「志」与听者之「得」字字对应，如扣琴弦、应声而鸣。意象选择极见匠心：以「泰山」状高，写出琴音之峻拔稳重；以「江河」状广，写出琴音之浩荡奔流——山与江、高与广、静与动，两组意象构成空间与质感的双重对照，而「峨峨」「洋洋」两个叠音形容词，更以声音摹声音，赋予琴曲以可感的形象。此段的深层妙处，在「志」与「得」的瞬间对应：伯牙曲未终而子期意已晓，非懂乐理之「懂」，而是心灵之「通」，故两次「善哉」实为两次灵魂的相认，为末句「伯牙所念，钟子期必得之」作了最充分的铺垫，也把「知音」由技艺层面提升到心灵层面。

This passage is the body of the whole, two scenes set in symmetric loop, writing the soulmate's 'knowing' in full. Structurally, the two groups perfectly balanced: 'mind on the high mountains' against 'lofty like Mount Tai,' 'mind on the flowing water' against 'sweeping like the great rivers'; Bo Ya writing the heart through 'mind,' Ziqi answering with 'excellent,' the drawn-out 'oh,' the 'like' metaphor - the player's 'mind' and the listener's 'grasp' answering character by character, like plucking a string and its echo. The imagery chosen with craft: 'Mount Tai' for height, the tune's steep steadfastness; 'the great rivers' for breadth, the tune's rolling flood - mountain and river, height and breadth, stillness and motion, two groups set in double contrast of space and texture; and the reduplicated 'lofty' and 'sweeping' further rendering sound in sound, giving the music a palpable shape. The passage's deep genius lies in the instant matching of 'mind' and 'grasp': Bo Ya's tune not done, Ziqi's meaning already known - not the 'understanding' of music theory, but the 'communion' of hearts; hence the two 'excellent' are two souls' recognition, fully priming the closing 'whatever Bo Ya thought, Zhong Ziqi surely grasped it,' and lifting 'soulmate' from technique to the heart.

伯牙所念，钟子期必得之。

Whatever Bo Ya thought of, Zhong Ziqi always grasped it. (The general close: the 'always grasped' the completeness of the understanding, the essence of the knowing sound.)

伯牙心里所想的，钟子期一定能够领会到。

Whatever was in Bo Ya's mind, Zhong Ziqi was sure to grasp it.

末句八字，如琴曲收煞时的一声定弦，为全篇点睛。「伯牙所念」总括前文两「志」——念者，心之所想，较「志」更见其自然而然，弹者未必有意表白，而心声自流露于弦上；「钟子期必得之」以「必」字断然收束——前文两次印证或可视为巧合，此「必」字则把偶然升格为必然，宣告知音不是侥幸的呼应，而是注定的相知。「得之」之「得」尤为精妙：不是「闻之」（听见）、不是「知琴」（懂乐理），而是「得之」——于琴声之中取得弹者之心，如取物于囊，这是心灵层面的获得。八字之内，「念」写弹者之无心、「必」写听者之全能、「得」写两心之无间，层层推进，把「知音」二字推演到极致。若把首句「善鼓」「善听」视为乐章的起调，此句便是乐章的主旨——善鼓者以琴写心，善听者以心听琴，心与心在弦上相遇，遂成千古知音之绝唱，余韵悠长，令人回味不尽。

The closing eight characters, like the final tightening of a string at the close of a piece, the finishing stroke of the whole. 'Whatever Bo Ya thought' sums the two 'mind' above - 'thought' is the heart's own, more natural than 'mind'; the player need not mean to declare, yet the heart's voice flows of itself on the strings; 'Zhong Ziqi surely grasped it,' closing with the decisive 'surely' - the two proofs before might chance, this 'surely' elevates the accidental to the necessary, declaring the soulmate no lucky echo, but a destined knowing. The word 'grasp' is the finest: not 'heard,' not 'knew the qin,' but 'grasped' - taking the player's heart from the music as one takes an object from a pouch, a taking on the level of hearts. Within eight characters, 'thought' the player's unplanned, 'surely' the listener's all-command, 'grasped' the two hearts without seam, layer on layer, pushing the word 'soulmate' to the extreme. If the opening 'skilled at playing' and 'skilled at listening' is the piece's opening note, this line is its theme: the skilled player writes the heart through the qin, the skilled listener hears the qin with the heart, heart meeting heart on the strings, becoming the age-defying swan song of soulmates, the aftertone long, beyond savoring.

Study

Word focus

善 To be skilled in. The word of the skill: 'Bo Ya was skilled in playing the zither, and Zhong Ziqi was skilled in listening'—the one 'skilled' running through the whole piece, the skill of the playing and the skill of the listening in parallel, the basis of the knowing sound. 「伯牙善鼓琴，钟子期善听」之「善」字，是全文的第一个关键字，出现两次而含义微异。「善」本义为美、为好，引申为擅长、善于。伯牙之「善」在鼓琴，是技艺的专精——操缦按弦、得心应手之谓；钟子期之「善」在听，是心神的明澈——闻声辨意、得心知心之谓。二「善」对举，表面平分，实则听之善高于鼓之善：伯牙之善，人所可学；子期之善，性所独禀。此字亦为全文立下标准——正因二人皆「善」，故「志在高山」而子期能「得」之，「志在流水」而子期又能「得」之，「善」字为「必得之」的定论提供了前提。用字之妙，在于以同一字写两种本领，又以两种本领引出同一境界，一字两义而浑然一体；若易「善」为「工」「精」，则失其古雅圆融。先秦寓言炼字之精，于此可见一斑。

峨峨兮若泰山 The lofty and the grand like the Mount Tai. The phrase of the high mountains: the reduplicated words of the Songs of Chu style, the praise of the high mountains, the mind being of the player grasped by the listener, the verification of the knowing sound. 「峨峨兮若泰山」五字加一「兮」字，是全文最富音乐感的描写，也是通感手法的早期典范。「峨峨」为叠音形容词，状山之高峻，先秦文献多以「峨峨」形容高耸（如《诗经》「峨峨梁山」）；「兮」为楚辞式语助，拖长音节，如琴声之袅袅余音；「若泰山」以泰山——五岳之尊、众山之宗——设喻，把无形琴音化作可仰视的巍峨形象。整句的妙处有三：其一，以视觉写听觉，把琴声之高拔转化为山势之崔嵬，使抽象的音乐有了具体的形貌，这正是通感（移觉）手法在两千多年前的自觉运用；其二，「峨峨」「洋洋」两个叠音词本身即以声写声，舌齿间的铿锵与舒缓恰似琴音的高低起伏，声义相生；其三，「若泰山」的意象选择，暗合泰山在中国文化中的崇高地位，使琴音不仅可感，而且可敬。此句一出，「高山」便与「知音」永远相连，成为后世咏琴、咏友的最高喻象。

必得之 Always grasp it. The phrase of the understanding: 'whatever Bo Ya thought of, Zhong Ziqi always grasped it'—the 'always' the completeness of the understanding, the essence of the knowing sound, the general close of the fable. 「钟子期必得之」之「必得之」三字，是全篇的题眼，也是「知音」一词的最终注脚。「必」是必然，斩钉截铁，不容半点侥幸——它把前文两次「善哉」的印证从偶然的巧合提升为心灵的宿命；「得」是取得、领会，一个「得」字写尽听者与琴声、与弹者的关系——不是被动地「闻」，而是主动地「得」，如探囊取物、如以钥开锁，弹者之念在弦上，听者之心在弦外，一念既动，心即得之；「之」代指「伯牙所念」，即弹者心中那无形的高山流水。三字合观，写的是中国美学中最高级的交流——不待言说、不假思量，心与心在琴弦上直接相握。若以「知之」「闻之」易之，则「知」偏于理、「闻」偏于声，皆不如「得」之兼备占有与领会、形上与形下。此三字一出，知音故事便有了不可动摇的定论，故后世言知音，必曰「得之」，其影响深矣。