Confucius said: "If you are young and don't show off (1), you will have a husband;" It's not true to have a husband! "
To annotate ...
(1) show: rice, wheat and other crops are called shows.
translate
Confucius said, "There are cases where crops have germinated and cannot blossom; There are also cases where flowers do not bear fruit. "
Comment and analysis
This is Confucius' metaphor for a person's process from studying to being an official with the growth, flowering and results of crops. Some people are promising, but they can't stick to it all the time and finally can't achieve their goals. Here, Confucius still hopes that his students can study hard and eventually become an official.