CHAPTER XV
1. The duke Wan of T＇ang asked Mencius, saying, ＇T＇ang is a small State. Though I do my utmost to serve those large kingdoms on either side of it, we cannot escape suffering from them. What course shall I take that we may do so?＇
斯, 池—＇these＇,=your ＇moats＇. 效死,—效=致, as that is used in Analects, I. vii, et al. A good deal must be supplied here in the translation, to bring out Mencius＇s counsel.
CHAPTER 14. A PRINCE, THREATENED BY HIS NEIGHBOURS, WILL FIND HIS BEST DEPENCE AND CONSOLATION IN DOING WHAT IS GOOD AND RIGHT.
Mencius was at his wit＇s end, I suppose, to give duke Wăn an answer. It was all very well to tell him to do good, but the promise of a royal descendant would hardly be much comfort to him. The reward to be realized in this world in the person of another,and the reference to Heaven, as to a fate more than to a personal God,—are melancholy. Contract Psalm xxxvii. 3,—＇Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.＇1. 薛 was the name of an ancient principality,adjoining T＇ăng. It had long been incorporated with Ch＇î, which now resumed an old design of fortifying it,—that is, I suppose, of repairing the wall of its principal town, as a basis of operations against T＇ăng.2. See chap. iii, and also the next. 去之岐山下,—it is best to take 之 here as the verb,=往.
3. 君子,—generally, ＇a prince＇. 垂统,—统, ＇the end of a cocoon, or clue＇, ＇a beginning＇. 若夫, the 夫 is not a mere expletive, but is used as in Analects, XI. ix. 3,et al., ＇as to this—the accomplishing＇, &c. 疆, the 3rd tone, is the verb.
CHAPTER 15. TWO COURSES OPEN TO A PRINCE PRESSED BY HIS ENEMIES:—FIGHT OR DEATH.
1. Compare chap. iii. 属,—read chû, the 4th tone, ＇to assemble＇, ＇meet with＇. 耄,—＇a sexagenarian＇. 二三子,
Mencius replied, ＇Formerly, when king T＇âi dwelt in Pin, the barbarians of the north were constantly making incursions upon it. He served them with skins and silks, and still he suffered from them. He served them with dogs and horses, and still he suffered from them. He served them with pearls and gems, and still he suffered from them. Seeing this, he assembled the old men, and announced to them, saying, "What the barbarians want is my territory. I have heard this,— that a ruler does not injure his people with that wherewith he nourishes them. My children, why should you be troubled about having no prince? I will leave this." Accordingly, he left Pin, crossed the mountain Liang, built a town at the foot of mount Ch＇î, and dwelt there. The people of Pin said, "He is a benevolent man. We must not lose him." Those who followed him looked like crowds hastening to market.
2. ＇On the other hand, some say, "The kingdom is a thing to be kept from generation to generation. One individual cannot undertake to dispose of it in his own person.
—see Analects, VII, xxii, et al. 何患乎无君 seems to mean:—＇If I remain here, I am sure to die from the barbarians. I will go and preserve your ruler for you.＇So the paraphrast in the 备旨. The 日讲, however,says:—＇My children, why need you be troubled about having no prince? When I am gone, whoever can secure your repose, will be your prince and chief. I will leave this, an go elsewhere.＇归市 is different rather from the same phrase in chap. vii. There it means trader, here market-goers generally.
2. This paragraph is to be understood as spoken to a ruler, in his own person.
Let him be prepared to die for it. Let him not quit it."3. ＇I ask you, prince, to make your election between these two courses.＇