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.
習坎：有孚，維心亨。行有尚。
Repeated Kan: There is trust; the heart alone finds passage. Action is esteemed.
初六：習坎，入于坎窞，凶。
Six at the beginning: Repeated danger. Entering a pit within the hollow. Inauspicious.
九二：坎有險，求小得。
Nine in the second place: The hollow contains danger. Seek a small gain.
六三：來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。
Six in the third place: Coming and going, danger upon danger. Peril at the resting place. Entering the pit. Do not act.
六四：樽酒簋貳，用缶，納約自牖，終无咎。
Six in the fourth place: A vessel of wine, two food vessels, using earthenware. Present the simple offering through the window. No blame in the end.
九五：坎不盈，祗既平，无咎。
Nine in the fifth place: The hollow is not full, only brought level. No blame.
上六：係用徽纆，寘于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。
Six at the top: Bound with cords, placed among thorn bushes. For three years no release. Inauspicious.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
How can someone escape repeated pits, dangerous water, or imprisonment?
A possible setting
A traveler falls into one hollow after another. Other images include plain food and drink passed through a window, binding cords, and enclosure among thorn bushes.
How the words respond
The first lines allow only modest gains amid repeated danger. The third advises against action. A simple offering or delivery through a window changes the scene. The last line describes long confinement with no release.
Pits, vessels, cords, and thorns describe entry into danger, restriction within it, and possible ways out.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.