Sharing Joy with the People
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
孟子见梁惠王。王立于沼上,顾鸿雁麋鹿,曰:‘贤者亦乐此乎?’
English translation
Mencius met King Hui of Liang. Standing beside a pond and looking at the wild geese and deer, the king asked, ‘Do worthy people also take pleasure in these things?’
Original Chinese text
孟子对曰:‘贤者而后乐此;不贤者虽有此,不乐也。’
English translation
Mencius replied, ‘Only one who is worthy can truly enjoy them. Someone unworthy may possess them, yet find no joy in them.’
Original Chinese text
诗云:‘经始灵台,经之营之。庶民攻之,不日成之。经始勿亟,庶民子来。’
English translation
The Odes say: ‘Work began on the Spirit Terrace; its bounds were laid out. The people built it, and it was finished in no time. At the start there was no call for haste, yet the people came as children come to a parent.’
Original Chinese text
‘王在灵囿,麀鹿攸伏。麀鹿濯濯,白鸟鹤鹤。王在灵沼,于牣鱼跃。’
English translation
‘The king was in the Spirit Park, where the does lay at rest. The does were sleek, the white birds gleamed. The king was at the Spirit Pond, filled with leaping fish.’
Original Chinese text
文王以民力为台为沼,而民欢乐之,谓其台曰灵台,谓其沼曰灵沼,乐其有麋鹿鱼鳖。古之人与民偕乐,故能乐也。
English translation
King Wen used the people's labor to build a terrace and a pond, yet they gladly took part. They called the terrace the Spirit Terrace and the pond the Spirit Pond, and delighted in the deer, fish, and turtles there. Rulers of old shared such pleasures with their people; that was why they could enjoy them themselves.
Original Chinese text
《汤誓》曰:‘时日害丧?予及女偕亡。’民欲与之偕亡,虽有台池鸟兽,岂能独乐哉?
English translation
The Declaration of Tang says: ‘When will this sun perish? We would perish with you!’ When the people longed to perish along with their ruler, how could he enjoy his terraces, ponds, birds, and beasts alone?