1.13 [13] 景公怒封人（祝之）〔之祝〕不逊晏子谏

齐景公因典守封疆的官员祝词出言不逊而发怒，晏子进谏

【原文】

景公游于麦丘，问其封人曰：“年几何矣？”对曰：“鄙人之年八十五矣。”公曰：“寿哉！子其祝我。”封人曰：“使君之年长于胡，宜国家。”公曰：“善哉！子其复之。”〔封人〕曰：“使君之嗣寿皆若鄙（臣）〔人〕之年。”公曰：“善哉！子其复之。”封人曰：“使君无得罪于民。”公曰：“诚有鄙民得罪于君则可，安有君得罪于民者乎？”晏子谏曰：“君过矣！彼疏者有罪，戚者治之；贱者有罪，贵者治之；君得罪于民，谁将治之？敢问：桀、纣，君诛乎？民诛乎？”公曰：“寡人固也。”于是赐封人麦丘以为邑。

【今译】

齐景公到麦丘巡游，问当地典守封疆的官员说：“您多大年纪啦？”官员回答说：“我八十五岁了。”景公说：“您高寿啊！请您为我祈祷吧。”官员说：“祝愿您比胡公还要长寿，以利于国家。”景公说：“说得好！请您再次为我祈祷吧。”官员说：“祝愿您的子孙都能像我一样长寿。”景公说：“说得好！请您接着说。”官员说：“祝愿您不要得罪百姓。”景公说：“只有百姓得罪国君才对，哪有国君得罪百姓的呢？”晏子进谏说：“国君您说错了！那些国君疏远的人犯了罪过，亲近的大臣会惩治他们；地位低的人犯了错误，地位高的人会惩治他们；国君得罪了百姓，谁来惩治他呢？请问：夏桀、商纣这样的国君，是被国君诛灭了呢？还是被百姓诛灭了呢？”景公说：“是我孤陋寡闻了。”于是把麦丘赐给这位典守封疆的官员作食邑。

Duke Jing went on a pleasure excursion to Maiqiu^[2] and asked a villager:^[3] “How old are you?”

He answered: “Your humble servant is eighty-five.”

The Duke said: “O,what a long life. Would you bless me?”

The villager said: “May your years increase to a long life that w ill be good for the state,my Lord.”^[4]

The Duke said: “Excellent. Would you bless me again?”

The villager said: “May your descendants,my Lord,all live as many years as your humble servant lived.”

The Duke said: “Excellent. Would you bless me again?”

The villager said: “May you,my Lord,not offend the people.”

The Duke said: “I grant you that there have been cases where people of low status have offended the ruler. But how can there be a case of a ruler offending the people?”

Yanzi remonstrated: “You are w rong,my Lord. When those who are distant from the ruler commit an offense,they are punished by those who are close to the ruler. When the low ly people comm it an offense,the noble punish them. When a ruler offends the people,who w ill punish him? I presume to ask: Were Jie and Zhou executed by rulers or by the people?”

The Duke said: “I have been obstinate.” Thereupon,he granted the city of Maiqiu as a fiefdom to the villager.

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注释

[1]Item 1.13 [13] ↔ Hanshi waizhuan,10.1/71/; Xinxu,4.18/21/20.

[2]M aiqiu 麦丘 is located in present Shandong province in Shanghe district. On the historical maps of China it appears only from the Warring States period (480–221) onwards. It did not exist in the Chunqiu period (722–480). This is the first of several occurrences of the author’s artificial topography,which suggests a later provenance for these traditions.

[3]封→邦 (JS,49/3).

[4]JS,49/7,suggests that hu 胡 denotes here Duke Hu 胡 公,w ho reigned in Qi between 893–860. In that case,the sentence would translate: “May you,my Lord,live longer than Duke Hu.”