| | 告子上: |
告子曰：「食色，性也。仁，內也，非外也；義，外也，非內也。」 |
| Gaozi I: |
The philosopher Gao said, 'To enjoy food and delight in colours is nature. Benevolence is internal and not external; righteousness is external and not internal.' |
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孟子曰：「何以謂仁內義外也？」 |
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Mencius asked him, 'What is the ground of your saying that benevolence is internal and righteousness external?' |
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曰：「彼長而我長之，非有長於我也；猶彼白而我白之，從其白於外也，故謂之外也。」 |
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He replied, 'There is a man older than I, and I give honour to his age. It is not that there is first in me a principle of such reverence to age. It is just as when there is a white man, and I consider him white; according as he is so externally to me. On this account, I pronounce of righteousness that it is external.' |
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曰：「異於白馬之白也，無以異於白人之白也；不識長馬之長也，無以異於長人之長與？且謂長者義乎？長之者義乎？」 |
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Mencius said, 'There is no difference between our pronouncing a white horse to be white and our pronouncing a white man to be white. But is there no difference between the regard with which we acknowledge the age of an old horse and that with which we acknowledge the age of an old man? And what is it which is called righteousness? The fact of a man's being old? Or the fact of our giving honour to his age?' |
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曰：「吾弟則愛之，秦人之弟則不愛也，是以我為悅者也，故謂之內。長楚人之長，亦長吾之長，是以長為悅者也，故謂之外也。」 |
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Gao said, 'There is my younger brother; I love him. But the younger brother of a man of Qin I do not love: that is, the feeling is determined by myself, and therefore I say that benevolence is internal. On the other hand, I give honour to an old man of Chu, and I also give honour to an old man of my own people: that is, the feeling is determined by the age, and therefore I say that righteousness is external.' |
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曰：「耆秦人之炙，無以異於耆吾炙。夫物則亦有然者也，然則耆炙亦有外與？」 |
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Mencius answered him, 'Our enjoyment of meat roasted by a man of Qin does not differ from our enjoyment of meat roasted by ourselves. Thus, what you insist on takes place also in the case of such things, and will you say likewise that our enjoyment of a roast is external?' |
| | 告子上: |
孟季子問公都子曰：「何以謂義內也？」曰：「行吾敬，故謂之內也。」 |
| Gaozi I: |
The disciple Meng Ji asked Gong Du, saying, 'On what ground is it said that righteousness is internal?' Gong Du replied, 'We therein act out our feeling of respect, and therefore it is said to be internal.' |
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「鄉人長於伯兄一歲，則誰敬？」曰：「敬兄。」 |
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The other objected, 'Suppose the case of a villager older than your elder brother by one year, to which of them would you show the greater respect?' 'To my brother,' was the reply. |
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「酌則誰先？」曰：「先酌鄉人。」 |
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'But for which of them would you first pour out wine at a feast?' 'For the villager.' |
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「所敬在此，所長在彼，果在外，非由內也。」 |
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Meng Ji argued, 'Now your feeling of reverence rests on the one, and now the honour due to age is rendered to the other - this is certainly determined by what is without, and does not proceed from within.' |
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公都子不能答，以告孟子。孟子曰：「敬叔父乎？敬弟乎？彼將曰『敬叔父』。曰：『弟為尸，則誰敬？』彼將曰『敬弟。』子曰：『惡在其敬叔父也？』彼將曰『在位故也。』子亦曰：『在位故也。庸敬在兄，斯須之敬在鄉人。』」 |
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Gong Du 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, "I 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."' |
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季子聞之曰：「敬叔父則敬，敬弟則敬，果在外，非由內也。」 |
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Meng Ji heard this and observed, 'When respect is due to my uncle, I respect him, and when respect is due to my younger brother, I respect him; the thing is certainly determined by what is without, and does not proceed from within.' |
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公都子曰：「冬日則飲湯，夏日則飲水，然則飲食亦在外也？」 |
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Gong Du replied, 'In winter we drink things hot, in summer we drink things cold; and so, on your principle, eating and drinking also depend on what is external!' |
| | 告子上: |
孟子曰：「牛山之木嘗美矣，以其郊於大國也，斧斤伐之，可以為美乎？是其日夜之所息，雨露之所潤，非無萌櫱之生焉，牛羊又從而牧之，是以若彼濯濯也。人見其濯濯也，以為未嘗有材焉，此豈山之性也哉？雖存乎人者，豈無仁義之心哉？其所以放其良心者，亦猶斧斤之於木也，旦旦而伐之，可以為美乎？其日夜之所息，平旦之氣，其好惡與人相近也者幾希，則其旦晝之所為，有梏亡之矣。梏之反覆，則其夜氣不足以存；夜氣不足以存，則其違禽獸不遠矣。人見其禽獸也，而以為未嘗有才焉者，是豈人之情也哉？故苟得其養，無物不長；苟失其養，無物不消。孔子曰：『操則存，舍則亡；出入無時，莫知其鄉。』惟心之謂與？」 |
| Gaozi I: |
Mencius said, 'The trees of the Niu mountain were once beautiful. Being situated, however, in the borders of a large State, they were hewn down with axes and bills - and could they retain their beauty? Still through the activity of the vegetative life day and night, and the nourishing influence of the rain and dew, they were not without buds and sprouts springing forth, but then came the cattle and goats and browsed upon them. To these things is owing the bare and stripped appearance of the mountain, and when people now see it, they think it was never finely wooded. But is this the nature of the mountain? And so also of what properly belongs to man; shall it be said that the mind of any man was without benevolence and righteousness? The way in which a man loses his proper goodness of mind is like the way in which the trees are denuded by axes and bills. Hewn down day after day, can it - the mind - retain its beauty? But there is a development of its life day and night, and in the calm air of the morning, just between night and day, the mind feels in a degree those desires and aversions which are proper to humanity, but the feeling is not strong, and it is fettered and destroyed by what takes place during the day. This fettering taking place again and again, the restorative influence of the night is not sufficient to preserve the proper goodness of the mind; and when this proves insufficient for that purpose, the nature becomes not much different from that of the irrational animals, and when people now see it, they think that it never had those powers which I assert. But does this condition represent the feelings proper to humanity? Therefore, if it receive its proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not grow. If it lose its proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not decay away. Confucius said, "Hold it fast, and it remains with you. Let it go, and you lose it. Its outgoing and incoming cannot be defined as to time or place." It is the mind of which this is said!' |
