01 / THE EARLY TEXT
The words themselves.
An interpretive English translation. Read the translation notes. Six and nine name line types; positions run from bottom to top.
隨：元亨。利貞。无咎。
Sui: Great success. A favorable determination. No blame.
初九：官有渝，貞吉。出門交有功。
Nine at the beginning: An office changes. The determination is auspicious. Going outside the gate to form connections brings achievement.
六二：系小子，失丈夫。
Six in the second place: Tied to the young boy, losing the grown man.
六三：系丈夫，失小子。隨，有求得利，居貞。
Six in the third place: Tied to the grown man, losing the young boy. In following, what is sought is obtained. Favorable to determine about remaining.
九四：隨有獲，貞凶。有孚在道，以明，何咎。
Nine in the fourth place: Following brings a capture. The determination is inauspicious. With trust on the road and clarity, what blame is there?
九五：孚于嘉，吉。
Nine in the fifth place: Trust in what is excellent. Auspicious.
上六：拘系之，乃從維之。王用亨于西山。
Six at the top: Seize and bind them; then tie them fast. The king makes an offering at the western mountain.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
When circumstances change, whom should one follow, and which existing ties must be relinquished?
A possible setting
A hunter, retainer, or ally faces different leaders. Being tied to a younger person means losing an adult man; the reverse choice brings the reverse loss. The text presents relationships with practical consequences.
How the words respond
Going outside to form connections can succeed. The second and third lines make the tradeoffs explicit. A gain in following may still be dangerous. The last line depicts binding and a royal offering at the western mountain, allowing a different setting of capture or submission.
Following, attachment, capture, and offering shift the meaning across the lines. A single modern moral does not exhaust them.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.