Tuesday 15 April 2008

Forest of anecdotes 2 - the king and the charioteer

秦 武 王 令 甘 茂 擇 所 欲 為 於 僕 與 行 事 , 孟 卯 曰 : 『公 不 如 為 僕 。 公 所 長 者 、 使 也 , 公 雖 為 僕 , 王 猶 使 之 於 公 也 。 公 佩 僕 璽 而 為 行 事 , 是 兼 官 也 。 』

King Wu of Qin ordered Gan Mao to choose whether he wanted to become a charioteer or a minister. Meng Mao told him: “You should better be a charioteer. Anyway, you have to serve those above you. Even if you are a charioteer, the king will still ask you to serve him. You will wear the charioteer insigna on your belt, yet act as a minister, and therefore you will hold the two positions.”

Note
King Wu of Qin reigned in the beginning of the 7th century BC, Gan Mao was one of his ministers. The post of charioteer (driver of the king’s chariot) was a very important one.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Woah! I really admore you, you're making such a good job!!
I could never get over classical Chinese, too difficult for me. I love to read the Classics, but I generally do it with an English translation on a side. :)
I'll come back whenever I can to read your translations.