Page 193 - 《孟子》（三）中·英对照版

告
子
上

Gongdu was unable to reply, and told the
conversation to Mencius.

Mencius said, “You should ask him, ‘Which
do you respect most, your uncle, or your younger
brother?’ He will answer, ‘My uncle.’ Ask him
again, ‘If your younger brother be personating a
dead ancestor, to which do you show the greater
respect, to him or to your uncle?’ He will say, ‘To
my younger brother.’ You can go on, ‘But where
is the respect due, as you said, to your uncle?’
He will reply to this, ‘1 show the respect to my
younger brother, because of the position which he
occupies,’ and you can likewise say, ‘So my respect
to the villager is because of the position which he
occupies. Ordinarily, my respect is rendered to my
elder brother; for a brief season, on occasion, it is
rendered to the villager.’ ”

Meng Ji heard this and observed, “When
respect is due to my uncle, I respect him, and when

171