Bilingual Sage Wisdom|孟子 仁政之③：五十步笑百步

记者 王娟 王晓莹绘画徐进实习生郭致岐

梁惠王曰：“寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣。河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内；河东凶亦然。察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者。邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？”

孟子对曰：“王好战，请以战喻。填然鼓之，兵刃既接，弃甲曳兵而走。或百步而后止，或五十步而后止。以五十步笑百步，则何如？”

曰：“不可，直不百步耳，是亦走也。”

曰：“王如知此，则无望民之多于邻国也。”

（出自《孟子·梁惠王上》）

译文：

梁惠王说：“我治理国家，可算得上尽心尽力了。河内地区闹饥荒，我就疏散一部分饥民到河东，并调拨一些粮食到河内。河东地区闹饥荒，我仍然是这样处理。看周围其他国家的君主，没有一个比我更努力的。可是尽管这样，周围国家的百姓没减少，我国百姓也没增多，这到底是什么原因呢？”

孟子回答说：“大王喜欢战争，我就以战争为例子来说吧。战鼓擂响后，双方士兵已经近身肉搏，有些士兵抛盔弃甲拖着武器逃跑，有的跑了一百步才停住，有的跑到五十步就停下了。跑了五十步的战士讥笑跑了一百步的人怯懦，可以吗？”

梁惠王说：“不行不行。虽然没跑到一百步，可他们也是一样地逃跑了，怎么有资格讥笑别人呢？”

孟子说：“大王知道了这层道理，也就不用指望您的百姓多于邻国百姓了。”

King Hui of Liang said, “Small as my virtue is, in the government of my kingdom, I do indeed exert my mind to the utmost. If the year be bad on the inside of the river, I remove as many of the people as I can to the east of the river, and convey grain to the country in the inside. When the year is bad on the east of the river, I act on the same plan. On examining the government of the neighboring kingdoms, I do not find that there is any prince who exerts his mind as I do. And yet the people of the neighboring kingdoms do not decrease, nor do my people increase. How is this?”

Mencius replied, “Your majesty is fond of war--let me take an illustration from war. The soldiers move forward to the sound of the drums; and after their weapons have been crossed, on one side they throw away their coats of mail, trail their arms behind them, and run. Some run a hundred paces and stop; some run fifty paces and stop. What would you think if those who run fifty paces were to laugh at those who run a hundred paces?”

The king said, “They should not do so. Though they did not run a hundred paces, yet they also ran away.”

“Since your Majesty knows this,” replied Mencius, “you need not hope that your people will become more numerous than those of the neighboring kingdoms.”

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