The Company One Keeps
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
孟子谓戴不胜曰:“子欲子之王之善与?我明告子:有楚大夫于此,欲其子之齐语也,则使齐人傅诸?使楚人傅诸?”
English translation
Mencius said to Dai Busheng, “Do you want your king to become good? Let me make this plain. Suppose a nobleman of Chu wanted his son to learn the speech of Qi. Would he employ a man of Qi to teach him, or a man of Chu?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“使齐人傅之。”
English translation
Dai replied, “I would have a man of Qi teach him.”
Original Chinese text
曰:“一齐人傅之,众楚人咻之,虽日挞而求其齐也,不可得矣。引而置之庄岳之间数年,虽日挞而求其楚,亦不可得矣。子谓薛居州,善士也,使之居于王所。在于王所者,长幼卑尊皆薛居州也,王谁与为不善?在王所者,长幼卑尊皆非薛居州也,王谁与为善?一薛居州,独如宋王何?”
English translation
Mencius said, “If one man of Qi taught him while many people of Chu kept shouting around him, you could beat him every day and still never make him speak Qi. Take him and let him live for several years amid Zhuang and Yue in the capital of Qi: you could beat him every day to make him speak Chu, and still fail. You say Xue Juzhou is a good man, so you have him live at court. If everyone there, high and low, young and old, were like Xue, whom could the king join in doing wrong? If no one there were like Xue, whom could he join in doing right? What can one Xue Juzhou do for the King of Song by himself?”