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.
艮：艮其背，不獲其身，行其庭，不見其人，无咎。
Gen: Keeping the back still, not grasping the body. Walking in the courtyard, not seeing its people. No blame.
初六：艮其趾，无咎，利永貞。
Six at the beginning: Keeping the toes still. No blame. Favorable for a lasting determination.
六二：艮其腓，不拯其隨，其心不快。
Six in the second place: Keeping the calf still. Unable to rescue what it follows. The heart is unhappy.
九三：艮其限，列其夤，厲薰心。
Nine in the third place: Keeping the waist still, splitting the flesh along the spine. Danger scorches the heart.
六四：艮其身，无咎。
Six in the fourth place: Keeping the body still. No blame.
六五：艮其輔，言有序，悔亡。
Six in the fifth place: Keeping the jaws still. Speech has order. Regret disappears.
上九：敦艮，吉。
Nine at the top: Deeply settled stillness. Auspicious.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
If the body is constrained or the way ahead is dangerous, where should movement stop, and should an encounter be avoided?
A possible setting
Toes, calves, waist, trunk, and jaws are successively held still. Possible contexts include restraint, recovery from injury, guarding a place, or a ritual of stillness; no single setting is established.
How the words respond
Stopping at the toes brings no blame. The calf cannot rescue what it follows. Restriction at the waist becomes painful and dangerous. Later lines distinguish the whole body, ordered speech, and a settled stillness.
The passage moves through specific body parts. The later idea of inner tranquility is one interpretation of this physical material.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.