《晏子使楚》中英对照
2016-10-31 16:22阅读：
晏子使楚
楚王设宴招待齐国特使晏子。为了羞辱晏子，席间，排好的两个衙役押着一个犯人从宴会厅前路过。楚王故问犯人犯的是什么罪，是哪里人？衙役说是齐国人，犯的偷窃罪。楚王回头问晏子：“齐国人天生就喜欢偷东西吗？”晏子站起来，郑重其事地说：“桔子生长在淮河以南便是桔子，生长在淮河以北，便味道酸涩变成了枳子。之所以如此，只因水土不同。现如今齐国人生长在齐国不偷东西，但到了楚国就有偷窃的毛病，是不是楚国的水土容易养成偷东西的习惯呢？“
先秦 晏婴 《晏子春秋》
The Ambassador to the State of Chu
The king of Chu entertained Yanzi, the
ambassador to the State of Qi, with a banquet. To insult the State
of Qi in Yanzi's presence, at the height of the banquet, two pretty
officials who escorted a convict bound with rope passed by hte
banquet hall, as planned. Purposely, the king of Chu asked
the
m what crimes that man committed and where he was from. One of the
officials answered that the convict was a robber, from the State of
Qi. The king of Chu turned around and said to Yanzi,' Is it the
nature character of the people of Qi to be hardened bandits?'
Getting up from the table, Yanzi replied,'
Your majesty, I heard that the orange trees which grow on the
southern bank of river Huai produce only acidy and pucker fruits
when transplanted to the northern bank of Huai. Though the two
sorts of trees are the same, their fruits taste quite different
from each other. That is the result of different natural
environment and climate. People in my state never engage in robbery
but only begin to commit crimes when they are in the State of Chu.
Would you say this is also because of the change of the natural
environment?'
From Yanzi's Spring and
Autumn Annuals
by Yan Ying,
the Pre-Qin Period
