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.
井：改邑不改井，无喪无得，往來井井。汔至亦未繘井。羸其瓶，凶。
Jing: The settlement may change, but the well does not. Neither loss nor gain. People come and go to the well. Almost reaching it, yet not bringing the rope out of the well; breaking the vessel. Inauspicious.
初六：井泥不食，舊井无禽。
Six at the beginning: A muddy well, not drunk from. No creatures at the old well.
九二：井谷射鮒，瓮敝漏。
Nine in the second place: The hollow of the well shoots water at small fish. The jar is broken and leaks.
九三：井渫不食，為我心惻，可用汲，王明，并受其福。
Nine in the third place: The well is cleared but not drunk from, causing my heart sorrow. It can be drawn from. If the king is discerning, all share its blessing.
六四：井甃，无咎。
Six in the fourth place: Lining the well with masonry. No blame.
九五：井冽，寒泉食。
Nine in the fifth place: A clear well; a cold spring to drink from.
上六：井收勿幕，有孚元吉。
Six at the top: The well is available for drawing; do not cover it. There is trust. Great good fortune.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
Is a muddy, leaking, or damaged well worth repairing, and who will be able to use it afterward?
A possible setting
A settlement may move while its well remains. People inspect mud, masonry, spring water, rope, and vessel: the components of a shared water supply.
How the words respond
The judgment warns about failing at the last moment or breaking the vessel. The lines pass from unusable mud and leaking equipment to a cleaned but neglected well, repaired walls, drinkable water, and an uncovered well available for drawing.
Neglect, repair, and use form an unusually tangible sequence of public maintenance.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.