諄諄 is well explained by Tu Mu as 乏氣聲促 “speaking with bated
breath.”
in small knots
The _Shuo Wên_ rather strangely defines 翕 by the word 起, but the
_Êrh Ya_ says 合 “to join” or “contract,” which is undoubtedly its
primary meaning. Chang Yü is right, then, in explaining it here by
the word 聚. The other commentators are very much at sea: Ts‘ao
Kung says 失志貌, Tu Yu 不眞, Tu Mu 顚倒失次貌, Chia Lin 不安貌, Mei
Yao-ch‘ên 曠職事, Wang Hsi 患其上.
or speaking in subdued tones
入入 is said to be the same as 如如.
points to disaffection amongst the rank and file.
失衆 is equivalent to 失其衆心, the subject of course being “the
general,” understood. In the original text, which seems to be
followed by several commentators, the whole passage stands thus:
諄諄翕翕徐與人言者失衆也. Here it would be the general who is talking
to his men, not the men amongst themselves. For 翕, which is the
chief stumbling-block in the way of this reading, the _T‘u Shu_
gives the very plausible emendation 𧬈 (also read _hsi_, and
defined by K‘ang Hsi as 疾言 “to speak fast”). But this is
unnecessary if we keep to the standard text.