The Pot Calling the Kettle Black五十步笑百步

Micky

“五十步笑百步”最早见于《孟子·梁惠王上》，比喻自己跟别人有同样的缺点或错误，只是程度上轻些，可是却讥笑别人。

One day， King Hui of Liang met Mencius and said， “What a mess thepolitical state of our neighbouring countries is in！ When they govern their states，they never think of the people. And I helped the people with disasters. I alsoallocate them food for calamity relief. I have really done my best to govern mycountry.”

As Mencius heard this， he nodded in agreement. King Hui of Liang went onto say， “Yet my population has not increased and our neighbouring countries’population has not decreased. What exactly is the reason？”

Mencius thought this over and replied， “Please let me take an 1）illustrationfrom war. On the battlefield， the two armies are locked in a stalemate， but thereis surely to be either victory or defeat. The defeated soldiers， throwing awaytheir 2）helmets and 3）armour， flee for their lives. Some of them flee 50 stepsand then stop， while others flee 100 steps and stop. Then， those who flee 50steps laugh at those who flee 100 steps for their cowardice. Do you think it isright to laugh？”

Upon hearing this， King Hui of Liang said， “Of course not. No matterwhether they flee 50 steps or 100steps， they are deserters just thesame.”

Mencius smiled and said， “Since you understand this truth， you cannotexpect your population to be larger than that of your neighbouring countries.”

1） illustration n 故事；實例2） helmet n. 头盔3） armour n. 盔甲；装甲

一天，梁惠王见到孟子，说：“邻国的政治多么糟糕！ 他们治国从不为老百姓着想！而我不仅帮老百姓赈灾，还调拨粮食救济他们。对治理国家，我是尽自己最大的努力了。”

孟子听后连忙点头表示同意。梁惠王接着说：“可是，我的百姓人数却没有增加，而邻国的百姓人数也没有减少。这究竟是什么原因？”

孟子想了想回答说：“请允许我用战争中的故事举个例子。战场上，两军对峙，相持不下，但是一定会有胜负。溃败的士兵丢盔弃甲，纷纷逃命。其中，有的人逃五十步就停下来，而有的人逃一百步也停了下来。这时候，逃五十步的人嘲笑逃一百步的人胆小。您说这种嘲笑对不对？”

梁惠王听后，说“： 当然不对，不管逃五十步，还是逃一百步，一样是逃兵啊！”

孟子笑着说道：“既然您明白这个道理，那么您也就不要希望您的百姓会比邻国多了。”

Fill in the blanks：

King Hui of Liang helped the people with disasters and allocate them_________for calamity relief.

Know More

This story ridicules people who are unaware of their own flaws and feelsuperior to others. When looking at things， we should look at its nature and overallsituation， not superficial and partial.

这个故事讽刺了那些没有意识到自己的缺点并觉得自己比别人优越的人。我们看事物要看到本质和大局，不能只看表面的、片面的。

参考答案：

food