Han Fei Zi

Translation: During the Warring States Period, there was a man in Chu State who sold spears and shields. He first boasted that his shield was very strong, saying, "No matter what you use, it can't be broken!" Then, he boasted that his spear was very sharp, saying, "No matter what, it can be broken!" People in the market questioned him, "What will happen to your shield if you use your spear to pierce it?" The man couldn't answer. Everyone laughed at him. It is impossible for an unbreakable shield and a spear that can't pierce the shield to coexist. This story warns people: It is unlikely that an unbreakable shield and an indestructible spear can coexist in the world. This man in Chu State exaggerated the role of the spear and shield unilaterally, and as a result, he was unable to justify himself. It is a metaphor for saying and doing things that are inconsistent and cannot justify themselves. You should think twice before doing anything or speaking. 译文：在战国时期，楚国有个卖矛和盾的人，他先夸耀自己的盾很坚硬，说：“无论用什么东西都无法破坏它！”然后，他又夸耀自己的矛很锐利，说：“无论什么东西都能被其破坏！”，市场上的人质问他：“如果用你的矛去刺你的盾，它们将怎么样？”，那个人无法回答。众人嘲笑他。无法被刺穿的盾牌和没有刺不破盾的长矛，是不可能共同存在的。这个故事告诫人们：世上不大可能共同存在牢不可破的盾和没有无坚不摧的矛，这个楚国人片面地夸大了矛与盾的作用，结果出现无法自圆其说的局面。比喻说话做事前后抵触，不能自圆其说。做事说话皆应三思而后行。 《古代寓言·自相矛盾》 楚有鬻盾与矛者。誉之曰：“吾盾之坚，物莫能陷也。”又誉其矛曰：“吾矛之利，于物无不陷也。”或曰：“以子这矛，陷子之盾，何如？”其人弗能应也。——《韩非子》 The Man who Sold Spears and Shields In the state of Chu lived a man who sold shields and spears."My shields are strong," he boasted, "that nothing can pierce…

Translation: King Xuan of Qi sent people to play the 竽, and he wanted 300 people to play together. Nan Guo asked to play the 竽 for King Xuan of Qi, and King Xuan of Qi was very happy. The government treated him the same as those hundreds of people. After King Xuan of Qi died, his son King Min of Qi (Min Wang) inherited the throne. King Min of Qi liked to listen to solo performances one by one, so Nan Guo ran away. The story of the fake 竽 tells us that fraud will not stand the test of time and will eventually be exposed. If a person is like Mr. Nan Guo who can't play the 竽, has no real ability and only relies on pretending to fool people, he can fool others for a while when others don't know the truth, but there will always be a day when the truth comes out. 译文：齐宣王派人吹竽，一定要三百人一起吹。南郭处士请求给齐宣王吹竽，齐宣王很高兴。官府给他的待遇和那几百人一样。齐宣王死后，他的儿子齐愍王(愍王)继承了王位。齐愍王喜欢听一个一个地独奏，南郭处士就逃跑了。滥竽充数的故事告诉人们：弄虚作假是经不住时间的考验，终究会露出马脚的，一个人如果像不会吹竽的南郭先生那样，没有真本事，只靠装样子糊弄人，在别人还不了解真相的时候，能够蒙混一阵子，但是总有真相大白的一天。 《古代寓言·滥竽充数》 齐宣王使人吹竽，必三百人。南郭处士请为王吹竽。宣王说之，廪食以数百人。宣王死，湣王立，好一一听之。处士逃。——《韩非子》 The Man Who Pretended he could Play Reed Pipes When Prince Xuan of Qi called for reed pipe music, he would have three hundred men playing at the same time. Then a scholar named Nanguo asked for a place in…

Zengzi's wife was going to the market, and her child followed her and cried softly. The mother said to him, "Go back first, I will kill a pig for you when I get home." When his wife came back from the market, she saw Zengzi trying to catch the pig and kill it. His wife stopped him and said, "I was just joking with a child." Zengzi said, "You can't joke with children. Children should listen to their parents' teachings. Now you are deceiving him, which is to teach him to cheat. If a mother deceives her child, the child will no longer believe her. This is not the right way to educate a child." Zengzi then boiled the pig. This story shows that we should be honest and trustworthy in life and not deceive others. 译文：曾子的妻子要到集市去，她的孩子边跟着她边小声哭，母亲对他说：“你先回去，等我回家后再杀猪给你吃。”妻子刚从集市回来，就看见曾子要抓住猪把它杀了，妻子阻止他说：“刚才只不过是和小孩子开玩笑罢了。”曾子说：“孩子是不能和他随便开玩笑的。孩子是要听从父母的教导。如今你欺骗他，就是教他学会欺骗。母亲欺骗孩子，孩子就不会再相信母亲，这不是教育孩子该用的方法。”曾子于是就把猪煮了。这个故事说明了要用诚实守信的人生态度，不可欺骗别人。 《古代寓言·曾参杀猪》 曾子之妻之市，其子随之而泣。其母曰：“女还，愿反为女杀彘。”妻适市来，曾子欲捕彘杀之。妻止之曰：“特与婴儿戏耳。”曾子曰：“婴儿非也戏也！婴儿非有知也，待父母而学者也，听父母之教。今子欺之，是教子欺也。母欺子，子而不信其母，非以成教也。”遂烹彘也。——《韩非子》 Why Zeng Shen Killed the Pig One day, when Zeng Shen's wife was going to the market, their son cried and clamoured to go with her."Go back now!" she wheedled him. "When I get home we'll kill the pig for you."Upon her return, she found Zeng Shen about to kill the pig. She hastily stopped him."I didn't really mean it," she…

Translation: When King Zhou used ivory chopsticks, Jizi was scared. Because Jizi thought that if he used ivory chopsticks, he would definitely stop using pottery cups and use cups made of rhinoceros horns instead; if he used ivory chopsticks and jade cups, he would definitely stop eating coarse grains and vegetables and eat delicacies from the mountains and the sea; delicacies from the mountains and the sea must not be eaten in a thatched cottage wearing coarse cloth short clothes, but must be eaten in a spacious house and high pavilions wearing luxurious clothes. I was afraid of the ending, so I felt scared when I saw the beginning. Five years later, King Zhou built a wine pool and a meat forest, set up the torture of burning people with fire, and thus destroyed the country. So when Jizi saw the ivory chopsticks, he knew that a great disaster would befall the world. So it is said: "People who can predict the future development from small things can be called smart." This fable reveals a profound truth of strong foresight through the story of Jizi's worry that King Zhou would become more and more out of control and even lead…

Translation: Someone was painting for the King of Qi. The King asked him, "What is the most difficult thing to paint?" He said, "Dogs and horses are the most difficult to paint." The King of Qi asked again, "What is the easiest thing to paint?" He said, "Ghosts and monsters are the easiest. Dogs and horses are familiar to people. They will appear in front of you sooner or later. You can't just paint them similarly, so they are difficult to paint; ghosts and monsters are invisible and will not appear in front of people, so they are easy to paint."Meaning: Making up stories and writing and painting randomly is the simplest thing; but to truly understand objective things and express them appropriately is not an easy thing. 译文：有人为齐王作画，齐王问他：“画什么最难？”他说：“狗、马最难画。”齐王又问：“画什么最容易？”他说：“画鬼怪最容易。狗、马是人们所熟悉的，早晚都出现在你面前，不可仅仅画得相似而已，所以难画;鬼怪是无形的，不会出现在人们面前，所以容易画。”寓意：胡编乱造，胡写乱画，这是最简单的事；但要真正认识客观事物，并恰如其分地表现它，就不是一件容易事了。 《古代寓言·画什么东西最难》 客有为齐王画者，齐王问曰：“画孰最难者？”曰：“犬马最难。”“孰最易者？”曰：“鬼魅最易。”夫犬马，人所知也，旦暮罄于前，不可类也，故难；鬼神，无形者，不罄于前，帮易之也。——《韩非子》 Painting Ghosts There was an artist who worked for the prince of Qi."Tell me," said the prince, "What are the hardest things to paint?""Dogs, horses, and the like," replied the artist."What are the easiest?" asked the prince."Ghosts and monsters," the artist told him. "We all know dogs and horses and see them every day; but it is hard to make an exact likeness of them. That is why they…

Translation: There was a farmer in Song State who had a stump in his field. One day, a fast-running wild rabbit hit the stump, broke its neck and died. So the farmer put down his farm tools and stood by the stump day and night, hoping to get another rabbit. However, he could not get the rabbit again, and he was ridiculed by the people of Song State. This story is used to criticize those who do not know how to adapt and stick to dogmatic thinking. 译文：宋国有个农民，他的田地中有一截树桩。一天，一只跑得飞快的野兔撞在了树桩上，扭断了脖子死了。于是，农民便放下他的农具日日夜夜守在树桩子旁边，希望能再得到一只兔子。然而野兔是不可能再次得到了，而他自己也被宋国人耻笑。此故事用于批判那些不知变通，死守教条的思想方法。 《古代寓言·守株待兔》 宋人有耕田者。田中有株。兔走触株，折颈而死。因释其耒耒而守株，冀复得兔。兔不可复得，而身为宋国笑。——《韩非子》 Waiting for a Hare to Turn up There was a peasant in the state of Song. One day a hare dashed up, knocked against a tree in his field, broke its neck and fell dead. Then the peasant put down his hoe and waited by the tree for another hare to turn up. No more hares appeared, however; but he became the laughing-stock of the state.Han Fei Zi

Translation: There was a guest who wanted to teach the King of Yan how to live forever. The King of Yan sent someone to learn it, but the guest died before the person could learn it. The King of Yan was furious and killed the person. The King of Yan did not know that the guest had deceived him, but instead thought that the person learned too late and punished him. Believing in incorrect things and punishing ministers who have not committed any crime are all disasters caused by lack of careful investigation. Moreover, people are most concerned about themselves. If the guest could not make himself immortal, how could he make the King of Yan live forever? A warning to people: Desire makes people blind and stupid. Only by staying out of things can you be objective. Without investigation, you have no right to speak. 译文：有一个要教燕王学习长生不死方法的客人，燕王派人学习它，派去学习的人还没有学成，这个客卿就死了。燕王大怒，杀了派去学习的人。燕王不知道是客卿欺骗自己，反而认为学习的人学成太晚而惩罚了他。相信不正确的东西，责罚没有罪过的臣子，都是缺乏仔细考察造成的祸患。况且人所迫切关心的莫过于他自己，那个客人不能让自己不死，又怎么能够让燕王长生呢？告诫人们：欲望使人盲目，使人愚蠢，置身事外才能客观，没有调查就没有发言权。 《古代寓言·长生不老的仙方》 客有教燕王为不死之道者，王使人学之，所使学者未及学，而客死，王大怒诛之。王不知客之欺已，而诛学者之晚也，夫信不然之物，而诛无罪之臣，不察之患也，且人所急无如其身，不能自使其无死，安能使王长生哉！——《韩非子》 A Recipe for Immortality A stranger informed the Prince of Yan that he could make him immortal, and the prince bade one of his subjects learn this art; but before the man could do so the stranger died. Then the prince, in great anger, executed his subject.He failed to see that…