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.
噬嗑：亨。利用獄。
Shi He: Success. Favorable to use legal proceedings.
初九：屨校滅趾，无咎。
Nine at the beginning: Wearing a foot restraint that covers the toes. No blame.
六二：噬膚滅鼻，无咎。
Six in the second place: Biting into flesh until the nose disappears. No blame.
六三：噬臘肉，遇毒；小吝，无咎。
Six in the third place: Biting dried meat, encountering poison. Slight distress; no blame.
九四：噬乾胏，得金矢，利艱貞，吉。
Nine in the fourth place: Biting dried meat with bone, finding a metal arrow. Favorable to determine in hardship. Auspicious.
六五：噬乾肉，得黃金，貞厲，无咎。
Six in the fifth place: Biting dried meat, finding yellow metal. The determination is dangerous; no blame.
上九：何校滅耳，凶。
Nine at the top: Carrying a neck restraint that covers the ears. Inauspicious.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
How should a difficult case be judged when evidence is hard to untangle or someone obstructs order?
A possible setting
Biting through tough food provides an image for resolving an obstruction. Foot and neck restraints place the imagery alongside bodily punishment and the differing gravity of offenses.
How the words respond
The judgment explicitly favors the use of legal proceedings. The lines move from a foot restraint through flesh and dried meat, poison and metal objects, to a heavy restraint at the neck. The severity of the final result differs sharply from the beginning.
Food that resists the bite and punitive restraints bring adjudication, punishment, and removal of obstacles into one field of imagery.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.