Page 131 - 《孟子》（三）中·英对照版
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view to carry his doctrines into practice?”
“It was with that view,” Mencius replied,
And Wan Zhang rejoined, “If the practice of
his doctrines was his business, what had he to do
with that struggling for the captured game?”
Mencius said, “Confucius first rectified his
vessels of sacrifice according to the registers, and
did not fill them so rectified with food gathered from
every quarter.”
Wan Zhang said, “But why did he not go away?”
Mencius said, “He wished to make a trial of
carrying his doctrines into practice. When that trial
was sufficient to show that they could be practised
and they were still not practised, then he went away,
and thus it was that he never completed in any state a
residence of three years. Confucius took office when
he saw that the practice of his doctrines was likely;
he took office when his reception was proper; he took
office when he was supported by the state. In the case
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