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.
未濟：亨。小狐汔濟，濡其尾，无攸利。
Wei Ji: Success. The young fox nearly crosses but wets its tail. Nothing is favorable.
初六：濡其尾，吝。
Six at the beginning: Wetting the tail. Distress.
九二：曳其輪，貞吉。
Nine in the second place: Dragging the wheel. The determination is auspicious.
六三：未濟，征凶，利涉大川。
Six in the third place: Not yet across. Advancing is inauspicious; favorable to cross the great river.
九四：貞吉，悔亡，震用伐鬼方，三年有賞于大國。
Nine in the fourth place: The determination is auspicious; regret disappears. A forceful campaign against the Guifang; after three years, rewards from the great state.
六五：貞吉，无悔，君子之光，有孚，吉。
Six in the fifth place: The determination is auspicious; no regret. The noble person's brightness. There is trust. Auspicious.
上九：有孚于飲酒，无咎，濡其首，有孚失是。
Nine at the top: With trust, drinking wine brings no blame. Wetting the head: trust loses what is proper.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
A crossing, agreement, or undertaking is almost complete. Will it fail at the last step?
A possible setting
A young fox nearly crosses the water but wets its tail. Other scenes feature a dragging wheel, a campaign against the Guifang, rewards, and drinking that goes too far.
How the words respond
The opening image warns against treating near-completion as arrival. The lines distinguish a wet tail from restraining a wheel, premature advance from a possible crossing, and a long campaign from eventual recognition. The final line sets a limit to celebration.
The last hexagram leaves the crossing unfinished. Even trust and success can be undermined by excess at the end.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.