One Who Retreats Fifty Packs Mocks One Who Retreats a Hundred(成语 五十步笑百步 英文)
King Hui of the State of Wei(1) said to Mencius(2), “I have done my very best in dealing with state affairs. When there was a crop failure in Henei I moved my people to Hedong and brought back grain to Henei(3). When Hedong(4) had a famine, I did likewise. But frim my observation I don’t see the administration of our neighbouring states any better cared for than mine. Why then does their population show no decrease and ours no increase?”
“Your Highness likes to fight wars,” Mencius answered. “So please allow me to take the battle as an example. Suppose the battle drum has already been beaten and the soldiers have taken up their arms, but instead of forging ahead, the men throw away their armour and flee with their weapons trailing behind, with some coming to a halt after retreating a hundred paces and others after fifty paces. If the latter try to mock at the former, what would you say about that?”
“They are wrong, of course. They have retreated just the same, whether a hundred paces or less than a hundred,” said the prince.
“Well, since Your Highness knows that, then you can’t expect to have a greater population than your neighboring states,” concluded Mencius.
________remark__________
(1): also called Liang,a powerful state during the Warring States Period(475-221BC)
(2):(C.372-289BC),a great thinker,politician and educationlist at the time.
(3): present-day region north of the Huanghe(Yellow) River in Henan Province.
(4): present-day southem part of Shanxi Province.
五十步笑百步(chinese idioms)
有一次梁惠王召见孟子，问道：“我在位，对于国家的治理。可以说是尽心尽意的了。河内常年发生灾荒，收成不好，我就把那里的一部分老百姓迁移到收成较好的河东去，并把收成较好的河东地区的一部分粮食运到河内来，让河内发生灾荒地区的老百姓不至于饿死，有时河东遇上灾年，粮食欠收，我也是这样，把其它地方的粮食调运到河东来，解决老百姓的无米之炊。我也看到邻国当政者的做法，没有哪一个像我这样尽心尽意替自己的老百姓着想的。然而，邻国的百姓没有减少，而我的百姓也没有增多，这是什么原因呢？”
孟子回答说：“大王喜欢打仗，我就用打仗来打个比方吧！战场上，两军对垒，战斗一打响，战鼓擂得咚咚地响，作战双方短兵相接，各自向对方奋勇刺杀。经过一场激烈拼杀后，胜方向前穷追猛杀，败方就有人丢盔弃甲，拖者兵器逃跑。那逃跑的士兵中有的跑得快，跑了一百步就停下来，有的跑得慢，跑了五十步停下来了。这时，跑得慢的士兵却为自己只跑了五十步就嘲笑那些跑了一百步的士兵是胆小鬼，你认为这种嘲笑是对的吗？”
梁宪王说：“不对，他们是不过没有跑到一百步罢了，但是这也是临阵脱逃啊！”
孟子说：“大王如果明白了这其中的道理，那么就无须再希望您的国家的老百姓比邻国多了。”
比喻自己跟别人有同样的缺点错误,只是程度上轻一些,却毫无自知之明地去讥笑别人。
King Hui of the State of Wei(1) said to Mencius(2), “I have done my very best in dealing with state affairs. When there was a crop failure in Henei I moved my people to Hedong and brought back grain to Henei(3). When Hedong(4) had a famine, I did likewise. But frim my observation I don’t see the administration of our neighbouring states any better cared for than mine. Why then does their population show no decrease and ours no increase?”
“Your Highness likes to fight wars,” Mencius answered. “So please allow me to take the battle as an example. Suppose the battle drum has already been beaten and the soldiers have taken up their arms, but instead of forging ahead, the men throw away their armour and flee with their weapons trailing behind, with some coming to a halt after retreating a hundred paces and others after fifty paces. If the latter try to mock at the former, what would you say about that?”
“They are wrong, of course. They have retreated just the same, whether a hundred paces or less than a hundred,” said the prince.
“Well, since Your Highness knows that, then you can’t expect to have a greater population than your neighboring states,” concluded Mencius.
________remark__________
(1): also called Liang,a powerful state during the Warring States Period(475-221BC)
(2):(C.372-289BC),a great thinker,politician and educationlist at the time.
(3): present-day region north of the Huanghe(Yellow) River in Henan Province.
(4): present-day southem part of Shanxi Province.
五十步笑百步(chinese idioms)
有一次梁惠王召见孟子，问道：“我在位，对于国家的治理。可以说是尽心尽意的了。河内常年发生灾荒，收成不好，我就把那里的一部分老百姓迁移到收成较好的河东去，并把收成较好的河东地区的一部分粮食运到河内来，让河内发生灾荒地区的老百姓不至于饿死，有时河东遇上灾年，粮食欠收，我也是这样，把其它地方的粮食调运到河东来，解决老百姓的无米之炊。我也看到邻国当政者的做法，没有哪一个像我这样尽心尽意替自己的老百姓着想的。然而，邻国的百姓没有减少，而我的百姓也没有增多，这是什么原因呢？”
孟子回答说：“大王喜欢打仗，我就用打仗来打个比方吧！战场上，两军对垒，战斗一打响，战鼓擂得咚咚地响，作战双方短兵相接，各自向对方奋勇刺杀。经过一场激烈拼杀后，胜方向前穷追猛杀，败方就有人丢盔弃甲，拖者兵器逃跑。那逃跑的士兵中有的跑得快，跑了一百步就停下来，有的跑得慢，跑了五十步停下来了。这时，跑得慢的士兵却为自己只跑了五十步就嘲笑那些跑了一百步的士兵是胆小鬼，你认为这种嘲笑是对的吗？”
梁宪王说：“不对，他们是不过没有跑到一百步罢了，但是这也是临阵脱逃啊！”
孟子说：“大王如果明白了这其中的道理，那么就无须再希望您的国家的老百姓比邻国多了。”
比喻自己跟别人有同样的缺点错误,只是程度上轻一些,却毫无自知之明地去讥笑别人。
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