Page 298 - 《孟子》（一）中·英对照版
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子
should lose his place in the ranks three times in one
day, would you, Sir, put him to death or not?”
“I would not wait for three times to do so,” was
the reply.
Mencius said, “Well then, you, Sir, have
likewise lost your place in the ranks many times. In
bad calamitous years, and years of famine, the old
and feeble of your people, who have been found
lying in the ditches and water-channels, and the
able-bodied, who have been scattered about to the
four quarters, have amounted to several thousand.”
The governor replied, “That is a state of things
in which it does not belong to me Juxin to act.”
“Here,” said Mencius, “is a man who receives
charge of the cattle and sheep of another, and
undertakes to feed them for him;— of course he
must search for pasture-ground and grass for them.
If, after searching for those, he cannot find them,
will he return his charge to the owner? Or will he
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