《孟子·告子上》(节选)The Works of Mencius: Gaozi I (Excerpt)

孟子曰：“鱼，我所欲也，熊掌，亦我所欲也；二者不可得兼，舍鱼而取熊掌者也。

Mencius said， “Fish is my favorite and so is the bear’s paw. If I could not enjoy both of them， I would give up fish and choose the bear’s paw.

“生，亦我所欲也，义，亦我所欲也；二者不可得兼，舍生而取义者也。

“Life is what I desire and so is righteousness. If I could not keep both of them， I would give up life and choose righteousness.

“生亦我所欲，所欲有甚于生者，故不为苟得也；死亦我所恶，所恶有甚于死者，故患有所不辟1也。

“Life is what I desire， but there is something I desire more than life， so I will not drag out an ignoble existence. Death is what I detest， but there is something I detest more than death， so there are occasions when I will not evade the danger.

“如使人之所欲莫甚于生，则凡可以得生者，何不用也？使人之所恶莫甚于死者，则凡可以辟患者，何不为也？

“If people desire nothing more than life， why then will they not exert every possible means to preserve their lives？ If people detest nothing more than death， why then will they not exert every possible means to evade dangers？

“由是则生而有不用也，由是则可以辟患而有不为也，是故所欲有甚于生者，所恶有甚于死者。非独贤者有是心也，人皆有之，贤者能勿丧耳。

“Therefore， there are cases when one may preserve life but he chooses not to do it， and cases when one may evade a danger but he will not try it. It shows that there is something he desires more than life， and something he detests more than death. It is not virtuous people alone who have such a state of mind; everyone else possesses it， except that the virtuous people can manage not to lose it.

“一箪2食，一豆3羹，得之则生，弗得则死，嘑尔4而与之，行道之人弗受；蹴尔5而与之，乞人不屑也。

“Here is a small bamboo basket of food and a mess of pottage. Let one have it and he may live on; otherwise he may starve to death. Yet when it is offered with an insulting voice， even a tramp would not accept it. When it is given after being trodden beneath the feet， even a beggar would disdain to accept it.

“万钟6则不辩礼义而受之。万钟于我何加焉？为宫室之美、妻妾之奉7、所识穷乏者得我与？

“Nevertheless， if offered with ten thousand measures of salary grain， some will accept it without examining the moral rightness. What does ten thousand measures of salary grain mean to me？ Does it mean magnificent mansions， or the flattering service of my wife and concubines， or the gratitude from the poor acquaintances I once helped？

“乡为身死而不受8，今为宫室之美为之；乡为身死而不受，今为妻妾之奉为之；乡为身死而不受，今为所识穷乏者得我而为之，是亦不可以已乎？此之谓失其本心。”                                                                                                □

“While in the past one would rather die than accept the offer， now there are some who accept it in order to possess magnificent mansions; while in the past one would rather die than accept the offer， now there are some who accept it in order to enjoy the flattering service of their wives and concubines; while in the past one would rather die than accept the offer， now there are some who accept it in order to court appreciation from their poor acquaintances. Isn’t it time for them to quit now？ That is what we call losing the innate goodness in heart.”

（选自《孟子 大学 中庸：平解·英译》，北京出版社，2018）