Page 188 - 《孟子》（四）中·英对照版

?孟
子

14.14

孟子曰：“民为贵，社稷［1］次之，君为轻。
是故得乎丘［2］民而为天子，得乎天子为诸侯，
得乎诸侯为大夫。诸侯危社稷，则变置。牺牲［3］
既成，粢盛［4］既洁，祭祀以时，然而旱干水溢，
则变置社稷。”

Mencius said, “The people are the most
important element in a nation; the spirits of the land
and grain are the next; the sovereign is the lightest.
Therefore to gain the peasantry is the way to become
sovereign; to gain the sovereign is the way to become
a prince of a state; to gain the prince of a state is
the way to become a great officer. When a prince
endangers the altars of the spirits of the land and
grain, he is changed, and another appointed in his
place. When the sacrificial victims have been perfect,
the millet in its vessels all pure, and the sacrifices

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