| | 滕文公下: |
周霄問曰：「古之君子仕乎？」 |
| Teng Wen Gong II: |
Zhou Xiao asked Mencius, saying, 'Did superior men of old time take office?' |
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孟子曰：「仕。傳曰：『孔子三月無君，則皇皇如也，出疆必載質。』公明儀曰：『古之人三月無君則弔。』」 |
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Mencius replied, 'They did. The Record says, "If Confucius was three months without being employed by some ruler, he looked anxious and unhappy. When he passed from the boundary of a State, he was sure to carry with him his proper gift of introduction." Gong Ming Yi said, "Among the ancients, if an officer was three months unemployed by a ruler, he was condoled with."' |
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「三月無君則弔，不以急乎？」 |
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Xiao said, 'Did not this condoling, on being three months unemployed by a ruler, show a too great urgency?' |
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曰：「士之失位也，猶諸侯之失國家也。禮曰：『諸侯耕助，以供粢盛；夫人蠶繅，以為衣服。犧牲不成，粢盛不潔，衣服不備，不敢以祭。惟士無田，則亦不祭。』牲殺器皿衣服不備，不敢以祭，則不敢以宴，亦不足弔乎？」 |
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Mencius answered, 'The loss of his place to an officer is like the loss of his State to a prince. It is said in the Book of Rites, "A prince ploughs himself, and is assisted by the people, to supply the millet for sacrifice. His wife keeps silkworms, and unwinds their cocoons, to make the garments for sacrifice." If the victims be not perfect, the millet not pure, and the dress not complete, he does not presume to sacrifice. "And the scholar who, out of office, has no holy field, in the same way, does not sacrifice. The victims for slaughter, the vessels, and the garments, not being all complete, he does not presume to sacrifice, and then neither may he dare to feel happy." Is there not here sufficient ground also for condolence?' |
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「出疆必載質，何也？」 |
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Xiao again asked, 'What was the meaning of Confucius's always carrying his proper gift of introduction with him, when he passed over the boundaries of the State where he had been?' |
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曰：「士之仕也，猶農夫之耕也，農夫豈為出疆舍其耒耜哉？」 |
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'An officer's being in office,' was the reply, 'is like the ploughing of a husbandman. Does a husbandman part with his plough, because he goes from one State to another?' |
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曰：「晉國亦仕國也，未嘗聞仕如此其急。仕如此其急也，君子之難仕，何也？」 |
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Xiao pursued, 'The kingdom of Jin is one, as well as others, of official employments, but I have not heard of anyone being thus earnest about being in office. If there should be this urge why does a superior man make any difficulty about taking it?' |
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曰：「丈夫生而願為之有室，女子生而願為之有家。父母之心，人皆有之。不待父母之命、媒妁之言，鑽穴隙相窺，踰牆相從，則父母國人皆賤之。古之人未嘗不欲仕也，又惡不由其道。不由其道而往者，與鑽穴隙之類也。」 |
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Mencius answered, 'When a son is born, what is desired for him is that he may have a wife; when a daughter is born, what is desired for her is that she may have a husband. This feeling of the parents is possessed by all men. If the young people, without waiting for the orders of their parents, and the arrangements of the go-betweens, shall bore holes to steal a sight of each other, or get over the wall to be with each other, then their parents and all other people will despise them. The ancients did indeed always desire to be in office, but they also hated being so by any improper way. To seek office by an improper way is of a class with young people's boring holes.' |
