2.3 [28] 景公逐得斬竹者囚之晏子諫

齊景公追逐抓到砍伐自己竹子的人將其囚禁，晏子進諫

【原文】

景公樹竹，令吏謹守之。公出，過之，有斬竹者焉，公以車逐，得而拘之，將加罪焉。晏子入見，曰：“君亦聞吾先君丁公乎？”公曰：“何如？”晏子曰：“丁公伐曲（沃）〔城〕，勝之，止其財，出其民。公（曰）〔日〕自蒞之，有輿死人以出者，公怪之，令吏視之，則其中〔有〕金與玉焉。吏請殺其人，〔收〕其人丁。公曰：‘以兵降城，以眾圖財，不仁。且吾聞之，人君者寬惠慈眾，不身傳誅。’令舍之。”公曰：“善！”晏子退，公令出斬竹之囚。

【今譯】

齊景公種了一片竹林，命人小心看管。有一次景公外出，路過竹林，看見有人正在砍竹子，景公驅車追趕，抓住了砍竹子的人，準備治他的罪。晏子來見景公，說：“您聽聞過先代國君丁公的事跡嗎？”景公說：“丁公有什么事跡？”晏子說：“丁公征伐曲城，取得了勝利，他下令禁止攜帶財物外出，只允許百姓出城。丁公每天親自到城頭巡視，有人用車子拉著死人的棺材出城，丁公感到很奇怪，就命令官吏去查看，發現棺材中裝滿了黃金和美玉。官吏請求殺掉這個人，沒收他的財物。丁公說：‘用武力占領城池，靠人多奪取財物，這樣做不仁厚。況且我還聽說，當國君的人應該對百姓寬厚仁慈，施以恩惠，不應該親自傳令殺人。’于是下令釋放了那個人。”景公說：“好！”晏子退走之后，景公下令釋放砍竹子的囚犯。

Duke Jing had bamboo planted and ordered officials to guard it carefully. When the Duke went out and passed by the bamboo,he spotted someone cutting it down. The Duke in his carriage pursued the man,caught and arrested him,and was ready to punish him.

W hen Yanzi entered for an audience w ith the Duke,he said: “M y Duke,have you heard of our former ruler,Duke Ding?”^[2]

The Duke said,“What about him?”

Yanzi replied: “A fter Duke Ding attacked and defeated the town of Qu,he ordered that all property should remain in the city,while the population was made to leave. The Duke personally supervised this every day. Among the people departing was someone carting away a corpse. The Duke considered it strange. He ordered the officials to look into this matter,and they found gold and pieces of jade in the cart. The officials wanted to kill the man and confiscate his gold and pieces of jade.^[3] The Duke said: ‘Subduing a city w ith armed force,and conniving^[4] in large numbers against property is inhumane. Furtherm ore,I have heard that a ruler should be generous,merciful,and kind to the multitude,and that he should not issue arbitrary^[5] orders of execution.’ Then he ordered the man to be released.”

The Duke said: “Well argued.”

Yanzi w ithdrew and the Duke ordered the release of the prisoner who cut down the bamboo.

---

注釋

[1]Item 2.3 [28] ? Item,7.9 [179].

[2]Duke Ding succeeded Duke Tai (r. 1122–1078 BCE) and reigned in Qi between 1077–1051 BCE.

[3]人丁→ 金玉 (YZCQ-ICS,12,n. 9).

[4]圍→圖 (YZCQ-ICS,12,n. 10).

[5]不身傳誅→身不妄誅 (YZCQ-ICS,12,n. 11).