五十步笑百步
One who retreats fifty paces mocks one who retreats a hundred
梁惠王曰：“寡人之于国也，尽心焉耳矣。河内凶，则移其民于河东，移其粟于河内。河东凶亦然。察邻国之政，无如寡人之用心者。邻国之民不加少，寡人之民不加多，何也？”
During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the King of the State of Wei liked war very much. He often fought with other states over trivial matters.
One day he asked Mencius: “I love my people very much and you can’t say I’m not doing my best to run the country. For instance, I migrate the people from famine-stricken areas to abundant areas. And I always transport grains from rich areas to poor areas, so that my people don’t go hungry even in years of famine. But the population hasn’t grown any. As I see it, the other kings do not administer their states as diligently as I and they do not care about their people as much as I do. But their population hasn’t decreased nor has mine increase. I’m wondering why?”
孟子对曰：“王好战，请以战喻。填然鼓之，兵刃既接，弃甲曳兵而走。或百步而后止，或五十步而后止。以五十步笑百步，则何如？”
Mencius replied: “Your Majesty likes to fight wars. Let me use war as an example. Suppose in the battlefield, as soon as war drums begin thundering and both sides cross swords, some soldiers flee for their lives. Some have run one hundred steps backward, some fifty steps. Then the ones who have retreated fifty paces laugh at those who have retreated one hundred paces, calling them cowards mortally afraid of death. Does Your Majesty think this is reasonable?”
梁惠王曰：“不可。直不百步耳，是亦走也。”
“Of course not,” the king said. “Those who run fifty steps backward are as timid as those who run one hundred. The only difference is they haven’t run back as far.”
孟子曰：“王知如此，则无望民之多于邻国也。”
Then Mencius said: “Since Your Majesty knows the truth of it, you shouldn’t expect more growth in your state’s population over the others. Although Your Majesty does better than other kings in some aspects, you are more fond of wars than them. Frequent wars have brought great sufferings to your people. Thus you are essentially making no difference between yourself and the other kings.”
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