于是入朝见威王，曰：“臣诚知不如徐公美，臣之妻私臣，臣之妾畏臣，臣之客欲有求于臣，皆以美于徐公。今齐地方千里，百二十城。宫妇左右，莫不私王；朝廷之臣莫不畏王；四境之内莫不有求于王。由此观之，王之弊甚矣。”
王曰：“善。”乃下令：“群臣吏民能面刺寡人之过者，受上赏；上书谏寡人者，受中赏；能谤讥于市朝，闻于寡人之耳者，受下赏。”令初下，群臣进谏，门庭若市；数月之后，时时而间进；期年之后，虽欲言，无可进者。
燕、赵、韩、魏闻之，皆朝于齐，此所谓战胜于朝廷。
Zou Ji Prevailed upon the King of Qi to Welcome Remonstrance
Zou Ji, more than eight chi in stature, was handsome and smart. One morning when he had put on his dress and headgear, he looked in the mirror and asked his wife, ―who is more handsome, I or Mr. Xu in the north of the town?‖
―You are very handsome,‖ she replied. ―How can Xu compare with you?‖
Xu was a good-looking man in the State of Qi. Zou, not convinced of his wife‘s comments, asked his concubine, ―Who is more handsome, I or Mr. Xu?‖
―How can Xu be your equal?‖ she answered.
The next day a guest came to see him. In their talks Zou inquired, ―Who is more handsome, I or Mr. Xu?‖
―Xu is not so well-favored as you.‖ said the guest.
On the third day Mr. Xu came to visit him. Zou looked at him closely and admitted that he could not match him. Later he contemplated himself in the mirror, and knew that Xu was by far his superior. At night he lay in bed and thought aloud, ―My wife told me that I was handsome, because she was partial to me. My concubine told me the same, because she feared me. My guest echoed the praise, because he wanted to ask me a favour.‖
Then he went to the court and was granted an audience by the King. He said, \know for certain that I am not as personable as Mr. Xu. But my wife who was partial to me, my concubine who feared me and my guest who wanted to ask me a favour all alleged that I was the more handsome of the two. Since the State of Qi has a territory a thousand li② in circumference and possesses a hundred and twenty towns, your harem and eunuchs all flatter you, your courtiers all fear you, and people within the limits of the country all seek your favours. So I should say that Your Highness must be kept in the dark about the truth of the State.\
―Well said,‖ remarked the King. Then he issued an edict: ―Any one, be he a
courtier, an official or a commoner, shall receive a higher reword, if he criticizes us to our face, a moderate reward if he remonstrates with us by letter, and a lower reward if he expresses in public places his dissent or casts reproaches upon us, provided that they come to our ear.‖
As soon as the edict came out, the subjects vied in making remonstrance to the King, and the palace presented a scene of crowded marketplace. A few months later, this became rather occasional. With the lapse of only one year, those who wished to say something already found that nothing was left to them to add.
①
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At this news the states of Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei all paid homage to the State of Qi. This was what was called ―victory won at court‖.
From the Warring States Records
①“尺”in Chinese, the classical criterion of length; ②“里”in Chinese, the classical criterion of length.
11. 韩愈·《马说》
世有伯乐，然后有千里马。千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。故虽有名马，祇辱于奴隶之手，骈死于槽枥之间，不以千里称也。
马之千里者，一食或尽粟一石。食马者，不知其能千里而食也。是马也，虽有千里之能，食不饱，力不足，才美不外见，且欲与常马等不可得，安求其能千里也？
策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意，执策而临之，曰：“天下无马。”呜呼！其真无马耶？其真不知马也！
On Horses Han Yu
Only after Bole (1) came into the world were there horses able to gallop one thousand li. Such horses are common, but a Bole is rare. So even fine steeds, if
mishandled by slaves, will perish in their stables without being known as good horses.
A thousand-li horses may eat one bushel of grain at a meal, but if its groom does not know that this is what enables it to gallop a thousand li and fails to feed it enough, so that it lacks strength, it will not display its ability and natural gifts. Indeed, it may be no match for common horses; so how then can it gallop a thousand li?
If it is whipped and goaded on in the wrong way, too underfed to reveal its full worth, or if it neighs and the trainer treats it without understanding, then the rider may hold his whip over it exclaiming: ―There are no good horses in the word!‖ But does this mean there are truly no good horses, or that he does not understand horses?
(1) Bole: a legendary figure in the seventh century B.C, Sun Yang or Bole was an authority on horses.
12. 彭端淑·《为学》
天下事有难易乎？为之，则难者亦易矣；不为，则易者亦难矣。人之为学有难易乎？学之，则难者亦易矣；不学，则易者亦难矣。
蜀之鄙有二僧，其一贫，其一富。贫者语于富者曰：“吾欲之南海，何如？” 富者曰：“子何恃而往？” 曰：“吾一瓶一钵足矣。”
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富者曰：“吾数年来欲买舟而下，犹未能也。子何恃而往！” 越明年，贫者自南海还，以告富者。富者有惭色。
西蜀之去南海，不知几千里也，僧富者不能至而贫者至焉。人之立志，顾不如蜀鄙之僧哉？
To Learn Peng Duanshu
There is nothing difficult for us to do in the world. If we do it, the difficult thing will be easy; if we don‘t do, the easy thing will be difficult. There is nothing difficult for us to learn. If we learn it, the difficult thing will be easy; if we don‘t, the easy thing will be difficult.
There lived two monks in the western frontier of Sichuan, one poor and the other rich. One day the poor monk said to the rich one.
―I want to go to Nanhai, what do you think?‖
―On what do you depend for going there?‖ asked the rich monk. ―A bottle and a basin will suffice me,‖ answered the other.
―Well, I have been meaning to go there by boat for many years, but failed. How could you go without any support!‖
After one year the poor monk returned from Nanhai, and told his story to the rich one, who was ashamed to hear it.
It is so many thousand miles from the western frontier of Sichuan to Nanhai. The rich monk failed to go, but the poor one went. Couldn‘t we make up our minds to do something as the poor monk of the western frontier of Sichuan did?
13. 刘安·《塞翁失马》
近塞上之人，有善术者。马无敌亡而入胡，人皆吊之。其父曰：“此何遽不为福乎？”居数月，其马将胡骏马而归。人皆贺之，其父曰：“此何遽不能为祸乎？”家富良马，其子好骑，堕而折其髀，人皆吊之，其父曰：“此何遽不为福乎？”居一年，胡人大入塞，丁壮者控弦而战。近塞之人，死者十九。此独以跛之故，父子相保。故福之为祸，祸之为福，化不可极，深不可测也。
The Old Man at the Fort from Huainantse
Liu An
There was an old man at a frontier fort in the north who understood Taoism. One day he lost his horse, which wandered into the land of the Hu tribesmen. His
neighbors came to condole with him, and the man said, ―How do you know that this is bad luck?‖
After a few months, the horse returned with some fine horses of the Hu breed, and the people congratulated him. The old man said, ―How do you know that this is good luck?‖
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He then became very prosperous with so many horses. The son one day broke his legs riding, and all the people came to condole with him again. The old man said, ―How do you know that this is bad luck?‖
One day the Hu tribesmen invaded the frontier fort. All the young men fought with arrows to defend it, and nine tenths of them were killed. Because the son was a cripple, both father and son escaped unharmed.
Therefore, good luck changes into bad, and bad luck changes into good. The workings of events are beyond comprehension.
14. 庄子·《庖丁解牛》
吾生也有涯，而知也无涯，以有涯随无涯，殆已！已而为知者，殆而已矣！为善无近名，为恶无近刑。 缘督以为经，可以保身，可以全生，可以养亲，可以尽年。
庖丁为文惠君解牛，手之所触，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然響然，奏刀騞然。莫不中音：合于《桑林》之舞，乃中《经首》之会。
文惠君曰：“嘻，善哉！技盖至乎此乎？”
庖丁释刀对曰：“臣之所好者，道也，进乎技矣。始臣之解牛之时，所见无非牛者；三年之后，未尝见全牛也；方今之时，臣以神遇而不以目视，官知止而神欲行。依乎天理，批大隙，导大窾，因其固然。技经肯綮之未尝，而况大軱乎！良庖岁更刀，割也；族庖月更刀，折也；今臣之刀，十九年矣，所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间，而刀刃者无厚；以无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣。是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。虽然，每至于族，吾见其难为，怵然为戒，视为止，行为迟，动刀甚微，謋然已解，如土委地。提刀而立，为之四顾，为之踌躇满志，善刀而藏之。”
文惠君曰：“善哉！吾闻庖丁之言，得养生焉。”
Fundamentals for Nourishing Life
Zhuang Zi
There is a limit to our life, but to knowledge there is no limit. To pursue what is unlimited with what is limited is an exhausting undertaking. If we, knowing this, still seek to increase our knowledge, we will be depleted. When doing what is good, keep away from fame. When doing what is bad, avoid punishment. Following the middle course is the way of preserving the body, maintain one‘s nature, preserving health and completing one‘s natural span of life.
A cook was cutting up an ox for Wen Hui. Wherever his hand touched, his
shoulder leaned, his foot tread and his knee thrust, there was the sound of ripping and the sound of slicing, which kept time with the rhythm of the dance of Mulberry Grove and were as melodious as the music of Jingshou.
―Ah! Very good!‖ Wen Hui said, ―How did you achieve such perfection in your skill?‖
The cook put down his knife and replied, ―What I love is the Tao, which is more advanced than skills. When I first began to cup up an ox, I saw nothing but the whole ox. Three years later, I saw no more the whole ox. Now I deal with the ox in my mind
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instead of my eyes. The senses stop functioning, but the mind is activated. Following the ox‘s natural veins, my knife slips through openings between its muscles and slides through crevices in the joints. I take advantage of what is already there. The knife has never hesitated at the juncture of blood vessels, not to mention the big bones. A good cook changes his knife every year because he uses his knife to cut. An ordinary cook changes his knife every month because he uses his knife to hack. My knife has been in use for nineteen years and has cup up several thousand oxen, and yet its edge is still sharp as if it were newly whetted. There are crevices in the joints, but the blade of the knife ahs no thickness. There is certainly plenty of room for the blade of a knife
without thickness to enter the joints where there are crevices. This is why the blade of the knife that has been in use for nineteen years is still sharp as if it were newly whetted. Nevertheless, when I come to a complicated joint and see that there will be difficulty, I proceed cautiously, fixing my eyes on it, moving slowly and cutting gently until the part is quickly separated and drops like a clod of earth to the ground. Then standing with the knife in my hand, I look all around with triumphant satisfaction. I then clean the knife and put it away.‖
Wen Hui said, ―Very good! From the cook‘s words I have learned the way of nurturing life.‖
15. 《苛政猛于虎》
孔子过泰山侧，有妇人哭于墓者而哀。夫子式而听之，使子路问之，曰：“子之哭也，壹似重有忧者？”而曰：“然。昔者，吾舅死于虎，吾夫又死焉，今吾子又死焉。”夫子问：“何为不去也？”曰：“无苛政。”夫子曰：“小子识之，苛政猛于虎也。”
The Tyrant and the Tiger
Confucius once passed by the foot of the Tai Mountain. There he saw a woman crying her heart out beside a newly finished grave.
The Master stopped and listened. Then he sent Tselu over to inquire of the mourner, saying, ―Your cry as if you are in great sorrow.‖
―True!‖ the woman answered. ―First my father-in-law was killed by the tiger; then my husband was killed by the tiger; and now my son – he also died at the mouth of the tiger.‖
―Why, then,‖ the Master asked, ―didn‘t you leave the place and go somewhere else?‖
―But there is no tyrant here!‖ was the woman‘s reply.
Confucius turned to Tselu and said:‖Mark it, my lad! A tyrant is worse than a tiger.‖
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