这个故事有三个版本。第一个版本说的是吕伯奢不在，吕伯奢的儿子和吕伯奢家里的那些客人看见曹操带着钱财很多，起了歹心，要抢劫曹操，而且拉走了他的马，这个时候曹操起来拔出剑来把这些人杀了。这个叫做正当防卫。这个故事记载在什么史书里面？在《魏书》里，《魏书》是他们魏国人写的史书，所以也不一定靠得住，因为曹操是他们的太祖啊，那他们可能要给曹操打一个圆场，这个也很难讲。
There are three versions of this story. The first version says that Lv Boshe is absent. When Lv Boshe’s son and the guests in Lv Boshe’s family saw that Cao Cao was carrying a lot of money, they became malicious and wanted to rob Cao Cao, and took away his horse. At this moment, Cao Cao stood up and drew his sword to kill these people. This is called self-defense. What historical book is this story recorded in? In “The Book of Wei”, “The Book of Wei” is a historical book written by their Wei people, so it is not necessarily reliable, because Cao Cao is their ancestor, so they may want to make a round for him, which is also difficult to explain.
那么第二个记载是说，曹操住在吕伯奢家里面听见吕伯奢的孩子在那弄锅碗瓢盆，有声音，曹操自己又是受董卓通缉追拿的罪犯，他起了疑心，“疑其图己”，把吕伯奢一家杀了。这个叫做误杀。
The second record is that Cao Cao lived in Lv Boshe’s house and heard Lv Boshe’s children playing with pots and pans. There was a sound. Cao Cao himself was a criminal wanted by Dong Zhuo and killed the Lv Boshe family. He became suspicious and “suspected his own intentions.”. This is called manslaughter.
第三个版本，差不太多，也是说曹操怀疑吕伯奢的家里人要害自己，然后把他们一家都杀了。杀了以后，曹操凄怆曰：宁我负人，毋人负我。我们现在来看第三种情况，就算我们相信曹操是误杀了吕伯奢一家人，也说了那句话，看看是个什么样的场景。是曹操怀疑这些人要害自己，当然这个疑心太重了一点，太过分了，然后把他一家人杀了。杀了以后发现是误杀，然后凄怆曰，“凄怆”这两个字很重要，就是杀错了人，然后，唉，他也是很难过的，算了算了，宁肯我辜负别人，不可以别人辜负我啊。我们体察一下这个语境，曹操说这个话是一种自我安慰、自我排解，所以很勉强地为自己的错误行为做了一个辩护。而到了《三国演义》里面他变成了理直气壮，而且把“宁我负人，毋人负我”前面加了天下两个字，这个就大不一样了。曹操当时说这个话只是就事论事，虽然我错了，我错杀了人家我对不起人家，我现在也没有办法，我现在走投无路，也只好是宁肯我对不起人家，不要让人家对不起我了。这里面应该说他还保留了一部分善意在里面，而到了《三国演义》变成理直气壮说我对不起天下人，不可以天下人对不起我，那就是一个大大的奸贼。
The third version, which is not much different, also means that Cao Cao suspected that Lv Boshe’s family wanted to harm him, and then killed them all. After killing him, Cao Cao said sadly, “It’s better for me to disappoint than for others to disappoint me.”. Let’s now look at the third scenario. Even if we believe that Cao Cao mistakenly killed the Lv Boshe family, we also said that sentence to see what kind of scenario it was. It was Cao Cao who suspected these people were trying to harm himself. Of course, this suspicion was too strong and excessive, and he killed his family. After killing, it was discovered that it was a manslaughter, and then mournful said, “The word ‘mournful’ is very important, that is, to kill the wrong person. Then, alas, he is also very sad. Forget it, I would rather let others down than let them down.”. Let’s take a closer look at this context. Cao Cao said this as a form of self comfort and self resolution, so he reluctantly defended his wrong behavior. In “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, he became more upright and forceful, and added the word “world” to the front of “it’s better for me to betray others than for others to betray me.” This makes a big difference. “Cao Cao said this only on the basis of the facts. Although I was wrong, I wrongly killed someone else and I’m sorry for them, I can’t help it now. I have no choice but to accept that I’m sorry for them rather than let them apologize for me.”. It should be said that he also retained some goodwill in it, and by the time “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” became a legitimate statement that I am sorry to the world, and that I cannot be sorry to the world, that is, a great traitor.
所以曹操的奸险歹毒这一点，应该说是有疑问的。但是即便如此，《三国演义》的毛批还说了这样的话，他说什么呢，他说“此亦孟德之过人处也”。他说即便是这样，这也是曹操比一般人不一样的、超过我们的地方！他说为什么呢，他说如果换了别人一定说，宁肯天下人都对不起我，不可以我对不起天下人的。他说换了别人都会这样说，但是实际上怎么样呢？实际上他们干的就是曹操的勾当，只有曹操一个人坦率地说出了这个话。那么也就是毛批认为，曹操虽然奸诈，但是奸诈里面也有坦诚，他至少敢把奸诈的话公开地说出来，他是真小人，不是伪君子。所以他说这是曹操超过其他人的地方，因为这个世界上伪君子实在是太多了。
Therefore, there should be doubt about Cao Cao’s treacherous and vicious nature. However, even so, Mao Pi in “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” also said such things. What did he say? He said, “This is also Meng De’s extraordinary place.”. He said that even so, this is where Cao Cao is different from ordinary people and surpasses us! He said why? He said that if someone else had changed, they would have said that everyone in the world would rather be sorry for me than I could be sorry for everyone in the world. He said that other people would say that if they changed, but what actually happened? In fact, what they did was Cao Cao’s business, and only Cao Cao spoke out frankly. Mao Pi believed that although Cao Cao was treacherous, there was also honesty in his treachery. He at least dared to speak out his treacherous words publicly. He was a real villain, not a hypocrite. So he said this is where Cao Cao surpasses others, because there are so many hypocrites in this world.
奸诈当中有真诚，恰恰是曹操性格的一个特征。曹操这个人是奸诈的，这一点是不可否认的，但是他也有坦诚的一面，甚至有可爱的一面。我们就来看看曹曹性格当中矛盾的地方。
Sincerity is a characteristic of Cao Cao’s character. “Cao Cao is a treacherous person, which cannot be denied, but he also has a candid side, even a lovely side.”. Let’s take a look at the contradictions in Cao Cao’s character.
