《孟子》選讀
Level 6 · 古文选读 · 390 vocabulary words
Source: 《孟子》 · Mencius
孟子曰：天时不如地利，地利不如人和。
Mencius said: favorable weather is less than favorable terrain, and favorable terrain is less than the harmony of people.
三里之城，七里之郭，环而攻之而不胜。夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣；然而不胜者，是天时不如地利也。
A city of three li with walls of seven li, besieged yet unconquered. Any siege must have had its favorable weather; that it still failed shows weather counts less than terrain.
城非不高也，池非不深也，兵革非不坚利也，米粟非不多也；委而去之，是地利不如人和也。
The walls were not low, the moat not shallow, the arms not weak, the grain not scarce; yet the defenders abandoned it and fled. This shows terrain counts less than human harmony.
故曰：得道者多助，失道者寡助。寡助之至，亲戚畔之；多助之至，天下顺之。
Thus it is said: one who has the Way has many helpers; one who loses it has few. At its extreme, even family turns against him; at the other, the whole world follows him.
释读：孟子说打仗要靠三样东西：天时、地利、人和。可最重要的不是天也不是地，是人心。得人心的，天下都帮他；失人心的，亲戚都会背叛他。
Gloss: war needs three things, said Mencius: weather, terrain, and human harmony. But the greatest is neither sky nor ground but the hearts of people.
鱼，我所欲也；熊掌，亦我所欲也。二者不可得兼，舍鱼而取熊掌者也。
Fish is what I want; bear's paw is also what I want. If I cannot have both, I give up the fish and take the paw.
生，亦我所欲也；义，亦我所欲也。二者不可得兼，舍生而取义者也。
Life is what I want; righteousness is also what I want. If I cannot have both, I give up life and take righteousness.
释读：孟子说，生命很宝贵，但还有比生命更重要的东西，那就是义。为了正义，可以连生命都不要。
Gloss: life is precious, said Mencius, but something is more precious still: righteousness. For it, life itself can be given up.
故天将降大任于是人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身，行拂乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能。
So when Heaven is about to lay a great task on a person, it first hardens their will, wearies their bones, starves their body, strips them bare, and frustrates all they do, to stir the heart, toughen the nature, and add what they could not do before.
人恒过，然后能改；困于心，衡于虑，而后作；征于色，发于声，而后喻。
People make mistakes and then can change; the heart is blocked, the thoughts tangled, and only then do they rise; it shows on the face, sounds in the voice, and only then is it understood.
入则无法家拂士，出则无敌国外患者，国恒亡。然后知生于忧患而死于安乐也。
If within a state there are no strict officials and bold advisers, and without there are no rival states and threats, such a state is sure to perish. Then we know: life is born in trouble and dies in comfort.
释读：这是《孟子》里最激励人的一段：一个人要成大事，老天会先让他吃苦。忧患让人成长，安乐让人灭亡。
Gloss: the most rousing passage in Mencius: before Heaven gives a great mission it makes one suffer first. Hardship builds; comfort destroys.
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。
The drums beat, weapons clashed, and soldiers threw down armor and fled. Some stopped after a hundred paces, some after fifty. If one who ran fifty laughs at one who ran a hundred, what then? The answer: no, he too ran; he just ran less.
释读：五十步笑百步：都是逃跑，跑得近的笑话跑得远的，其实没有区别。笑别人的人，常常犯着一样的错。
Gloss: fifty paces laughing at a hundred. Both fled; the nearer laughs at the farther, but there is no difference. Mockers often share the fault they mock.
弈秋，通国之善弈者也。使弈秋诲二人弈，其一人专心致志，惟弈秋之为听；一人虽听之，一心以为有鸿鹄将至，思援弓缴而射之。虽与之俱学，弗若之矣。
Yi Qiu was the finest Go player in the land. Set him to teach two men: one focuses wholly and hears only Yi Qiu; the other listens while dreaming a swan is coming and thinks to take a bow and shoot it. Though they study together, the second never equals the first.
释读：两个人跟同一个老师学下棋，一个专心，一个总想着打天鹅，结果差得很远。孟子说：不是聪明不聪明的问题，是专心不专心的问题。
Gloss: two students, one teacher, one game; one focuses, one dreams of swans, and the result diverges far. Not a matter of cleverness, Mencius says, but of attention.
生亦我所欲，所欲有甚于生者，故不为苟得也；死亦我所恶，所恶有甚于死者，故患有所不辟也。
Life is what I want, but there is something I want more than life, so I will not take it wrongly. Death is what I hate, but there is something I hate more than death, so some dangers I will not escape.
一箪食，一豆羹，得之则生，弗得则死。呼尔而与之，行道之人弗受；蹴尔而与之，乞人不屑也。
A basket of rice, a bowl of soup: having them means life, lacking them means death. Yet hand them over with a shout and a passerby will not take them; offer them with a kick and even a beggar will not stoop.
释读：饿肚子的人也不吃带着侮辱的饭。孟子说，人的尊严有时候比命还重要。
Gloss: even a starving man refuses food that comes with insults. Dignity, Mencius says, can outweigh life.
天时不如地利，地利不如人和。三里之城，七里之郭，环而攻之而不胜。夫环而攻之，必有得天时者矣；然而不胜者，是天时不如地利也。
Favorable weather is worth less than favorable ground, and favorable ground less than human harmony. A city three li round with walls of seven, surrounded and attacked yet unbeaten: the attackers surely had weather, yet failed, for weather counts less than ground.
释读：孟子说，打胜仗第一靠人心齐，第二靠地形好，最后才是天气好。这个道理不只用在打仗上：一家人齐心，什么事都好办。
Gloss: victory rests first on unity, then terrain, last on weather. Beyond war: a family of one mind can manage anything.
故天将降大任于是人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身，行拂乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能。
So when Heaven is about to place a great burden on someone, it first hardens his will, tires his bones, starves his body, empties his purse, and frustrates his every act, to stir his heart and strengthen his nature, adding what he could not do before.
释读：生于忧患，死于安乐。上天要把大任交给一个人，先让他吃苦。孟子这句话，两千多年里安慰了无数正在吃苦的人。
Gloss: born in hardship, dead in comfort. Before Heaven gives a great task it makes you suffer first; for two thousand years these words have comforted everyone who suffers.
老吾老，以及人之老；幼吾幼，以及人之幼。
Honor your own elders, and extend it to the elders of others; care for your own young, and extend it to the young of others.
民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻。
The people are the most important; the spirits of land and grain come next; the ruler is the lightest.
释读：两千三百年前，孟子就说老百姓最重要，皇帝最不重要。在那个全是皇帝的时代，这句话大胆得吓人。
Gloss: twenty-three centuries ago Mencius said the people matter most and the ruler least. In an age of absolute kings, those were dangerous words.
宋人有闵其苗之不长而揠之者，芒芒然归，谓其人曰：今日病矣，予助苗长矣。其子趋而往视之，苗则槁矣。
A man of Song, pained that his seedlings would not grow, pulled at them. He came home worn out and told his family: I am exhausted today; I helped the seedlings grow. His son hurried out to look: the seedlings were all dead.
释读：拔苗助长的原文就在这里。宋国人嫌苗长得慢，一棵一棵往上拔，结果苗全死了。孟子用这个故事说：做好事不能硬来，养气也一样，得慢慢来。
Gloss: here is the original pulling-the-seedlings tale. The man of Song, impatient with slow growth, pulled each sprout upward and killed them all. Mencius uses it to say: cultivation cannot be forced.
富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈，此之谓大丈夫。
Neither wealth and honor can corrupt him, nor poverty move him, nor force bend him: this is what is called a great man.
释读：有钱不变坏，没钱不改志，有武力压不弯。孟子心中真正了不起的人，就是这样的大丈夫。
Gloss: uncorrupted by wealth, unmoved by poverty, unbent by force: that is Mencius' great man.
尽信书，则不如无书。
To trust books completely is worse than having no books.
释读：把书上的话全当真，还不如不读书。孟子提醒人：读书要带自己的脑子。
Gloss: taking everything in books as true is worse than not reading. Mencius reminds us: bring your own mind to books.
得道多助，失道寡助，到今天还是中国人常说的话。两千多年前的孟子，把人心向背的道理，说得清清楚楚。
'The just have many helpers, the unjust few' is still a common saying. Two thousand years ago Mencius laid out the logic of human hearts, clear as day.