Page 96 - 《孟子》（二）中·英对照版

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子

birds. The favourite, reporting this result, said, ‘He
is the best charioteer in the world.’ Jian said, ‘I will
make him always drive your chariot for you.’ When
he told Wang Liang so, however, Liang refused,
saying, ‘I drove for him, strictly observing the
proper rules for driving, and in the whole day he did
not get one bird. I drove for him so as deceitfully to
intercept the birds, and in one morning he got ten.
It is said in the Book of Poetry: “There is no failure
in the management of their horses; the arrows are
discharged surely, like the blows of an ax. I am not
accustomed to drive for a mean man. I beg leave to
decline the office.’ Thus this charioteer even was
ashamed to bend improperly to the will of such an
archer. Though, by bending to it, they would have
caught birds and animals sufficient to form a hill, he
would not do so. If I were to bend my principles and
follow those princes, of what kind would my conduct
be? And you are wrong. Never has a man who has

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