ping the people be done under the rule of a benevolent man?" 21. "Therefore an intelligent ruler will regulate the livelihood of the people, so as to make sure that, above, they shall have sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and, below, sufficient wherewith to support their wives and children; that in good years they shall always be abundantly satisfied, and that in bad years they shall escape the danger of perishing. After this he may urge them, and they will proceed to what is good, for in this case the people will follow after that with ease. 22. "Now, the livelihood of the people is so regulated, that, above, they have not sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and, below, they have not sufficient wherewith to support their wives and children. Notwithstanding good years, their lives are continually embittered, and, in bad years, they do not escape perishing. In such circumstances they only try to save themselves from death, and are afraid they will not succeed. What leisure have they to cultivate propriety and righteousness? 23. "If your Majesty wishes to effect this regulation of the livelihood of the people, why not turn to that which is the essential step to it? 24. "Let mulberry-trees be planted about the homesteads with their five mow, and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk. In keeping fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be neglected, and persons of seventy years may eat flesh. Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm with its hundred mow, and the family of eight mouths that is supported by it shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools,--the inculcation in it especially of the filial and fraternal duties, and gray-haired men will not be seen upon the roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It never has been that the ruler of a State where such results were seen,-the old wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering neither from hunger nor cold,-did not attain to the Imperial dignity." BOOK I. KING HWUY OF LEANG. PART II. CHAPTER I. 1. Chwang Paou, seeing Mencius, said to him, "I had an audience of the king. His Majesty told me that he loved music, and I was not prepared with anything to reply to him. What do you pronounce about that love of music?" Mencius replied, "If the king's love of music were very great, the kingdom of Ts'e would be near to a state of good govern ment." 2. Another day, Mencius, having an audience of the king, said, "Your Majesty, I have heard, told the officer Chwang, that you love music; was it so?" The king changed colour, and said, "I am unable to love the music of the ancient sovereigns; I only love the music that suits the manners of the present age." 3. Mencius said, "If your Majesty's love of music were very great, Ts'e would be near to a state of good government! The music of the present day is just like the music of antiquity, in regard to effecting that." 4. The king said, "May I hear from you the proof of that?" Mencius asked, "Which is the more pleasant, -to enjoy music by yourself alone, or to enjoy it along with others?" "To enjoy it along with others," was the reply. "And which is the more pleasant,-to enjoy music along with a few, or to enjoy it along with many?" y?" "To enjoy it along with many." 5. Mencius proceeded, "Your servant begs to explain what I have said about music to your Majesty. 6. "Now, your Majesty is having music here.-The people hear the noise of your bells and drums, and the notes of your fifes and pipes, and they all, with aching heads, knit their brows, and say to one another, 'That's how our king likes his music? But why does he reduce us to this extremity of distress?-Fathers and sons cannot see one another. Elder brothers and younger brothers, wives and children, are separated and scattered abroad. Now your Majesty is hunting here. The people hear the noise of your carriages and horses, and see the beauty of your plumes and streamers, and they all, with aching heads, knit their brows, and say to one another, 'That's how our king likes his hunting! But why does he reduce us to this extremity of distress?-Fathers and sons cannot see one another. Elder brothers and younger brothers, wives and children, are separated and scattered abroad.' Their feeling thus is from no other reason, but that you do not give the people to have pleasure as well as yourself. The 7. "Now your Majesty is having music here. people hear the noise of your bells and drums, and the notes of your fifes and pipes, and they all, delighted, and with joyful looks, say to one another, 'That sounds as if our king were free from all sickness! If he were not, how could he enjoy this music?' Now, your Majesty is hunting here. The people hear the noise of your carriages and horses, and see the beauty of your plumes and streamers, and they all, delighted, and with joyful looks, say to one another, 'That looks as if our king were free from all sickness! If he were not, how could he enjoy this hunting?' Their feeling thus is from no other reason but that you cause them to have their pleasure as you have yours. 8. "If your Majesty now will make pleasure a thing common to the people and yourself, the Imperial sway awaits you." II. 1. The king, Seuen, of Ts'e asked, "Was it so, that the park of king Wan contained seventy square le?" Mencius replied, "It is so in the records." 2. "Was it so large as that?" exclaimed the king. "The people," said Mencius, "still looked on it as small.” The king added, "My park contains only forty square le, and the people still look on it as large. How is this?" "The park of king Wan," was the reply, "contained seventy square le, but the grass-cutters and fuelgatherers had the privilege of entrance into it; so also had the catchers of pheasants and hares. He shared it with the people, and was it not with reason that they looked on it as small? 3. "When I first arrived at the borders of your State, I enquired about the great prohibitory regulations, before I would venture to enter it; and I heard, that inside the border-gates there was a park of forty square le, and that he who killed a deer in it, was held guilty of the same crime as if he had killed a man.-Thus those forty square le are a pitfall in the middle of the kingdom. Is it not with reason that the people look upon them as large?" III. 1. The king Seuen of Tse, asked saying, "Is there any way to regulate one's maintenance of intercourse with neighbouring kingdoms?" Mencius replied, "There is. But it requires a perfectly virtuous prince to be able, with a great country, to serve a small one,as, for instance, Tang served Ko, and king Wan served the Kwan barbarians. And it requires a wise prince, to be able, with a small country, to serve a large one,-as the king Tae served the Heun-yuh, and Kow-tseen served Woo. 2. "He who with a great State serves a small one, delights in Heaven. He who with a small State serves a large one, stands in awe of Heaven. He who delights in Heaven, will affect with his love and protection the whole empire. He who stands in awe of Heaven, will affect with his love and protection his own kingdom. 3. "It is said in the Book of Poetry, 'I fear the Majesty of Heaven, and will thus preserve its favouring decree.' 4. The king said, "A great saying! But I have an infirmity ;-I love valour." 5. "I beg your Majesty," was the reply, "not to love small valour. If a man brandishes his sword, looks fiercely, and says, 'How dare he withstand me?'-this is the valour of a common man, who can be the opponent only of a single individual. I beg your Majesty to greaten it. 6. "It is said in the Book of Poetry, To consolidate the prosperity of Chow, To meet the expectations of the empire.' This was the valour of king Wan. King Wan in one burst of his anger, gave repose to all the people of the Empire. 7. "In the Book of History it is said, 'Heaven having produced the inferior people, appointed for them rulers and teachers, with the purpose that they should be assisting to God, and therefore distinguished them throughout the four quarters of the empire. Whoever are offenders, and whoever are innocent, here am I to |