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 them 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
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