提要

「嚴以律己、寬以待人」是中華民族的道德傳統。孟子曰：「愛人者，人恆愛之；敬人者，人恆敬之」。也就是說，與他人相處，能關心、尊重他人者，同樣也能得到他人的關心與尊重，群體之間才能相處融洽。

Once upon a time, a King ruled most of the world. He was nice to his people, most of the time. Nevertheless, he could not tolerate mistakes. The king always used heavy penalties to those who tried to cheat him or made any mistakes.

One summer, the minister was discussing with the king about agricultural produce. The summer was hotter than the previous year. The minister told the king that they could dry the grains and seeds during the summer to preserve them for future use. The king agreed and they dried the grains in the empty land.

After a few days, a sudden rainfall destroyed the dried grains that were spread in the fields. Around 25 percent of the grains were spoiled and became unusable.

The king became very angry and decided to punish the minister for his wrong guidance. It was the first mistake made by the minister. The minister was like a second skin to the King and provided appropriate guidance in all respects.

The king had 10 dogs and those who were punished were thrown to be chased by those ferocious dogs.

The minister was shocked to hear his punishment. He argued and pleaded with the king, "It was just one mistake that I made. Besides, we have enough food to serve the people for more than a year and we need not worry! I served you for over 10 years with no flaws, and now you are punishing me severely!"

The king gave him 10 grace days to fulfill all his desires, except he cannot ask for pardon before he was thrown to the dogs.

Minister hit on a good idea in this moment of desperation. He went to the security who guarded the dogs. He told him that he wished to feed the dogs for the next few days. The surprised security guard agreed to his request, as he was ordered to fulfill the wishes of the minister.

During the following 10 days, the minister pampered the 10 dogs like a baby! He fed them delicious foods, played with them, and took good care of them.

The 11th day arrived. The minister was thrown to the dog as ordered by the king. Instead of the dogs trying to attack the minister, they licked his hands and played with him. The King was speechless in shock.

The minister told the king, "My honor, I was with the dogs just for 10 days, now they are so kind to me. However, I was with you for 10 years, serving you all the time! Can you forgive my one mistake now?"

The king suddenly realized his misjudgment and apologized to the minister.

說明

曾有一位統治著世界大部分地區的國王，多數時候，他都善待他的人民。然而，他不能容忍任何錯誤；這位國王總是對那些企圖欺騙他或犯錯的人，重重處罰。

某個夏天，部長與國王討論農作收成。夏天一年比一年熱，部長建議國王，他們可以在夏季晒乾穀物和種子，準備來年使用。國王同意了，於是他們在空曠的土地上曝晒五穀。

沒想到幾天後，突如其來的降雨，毀了散在田間的糧食。大約百分之二十五的穀物淋溼變質了，變得無法使用。

國王非常生氣，決定懲罰部長的錯誤指導，這是部長第一次犯錯。經常隨侍國王左右的部長，通常對大小事都適時提供建議。

國王有十隻狗，而犯錯者受到的懲罰，就是讓那些兇猛的狗追著跑。

部長對他將受的懲罰感到震驚。他懇求國王：「這次是我失算了，但現有的食物足夠讓人民吃個一年多，我們可以不必擔心；我為國王服務了十多年，沒有任何缺失，但是你現在要這麼嚴厲地罰我！」

國王給部長十天的寬限期，他要什麼都行，但就是不能要求赦免「讓兇猛的狗追著跑」這件事。

急中生智的部長想出一個好主意，他去找看管狗的警衛，說他希望能在接下來的幾天裡餵狗。驚訝的警衛同意他的要求，因為他接到的命令是「配合部長的要求」。

在接下來的十天裡，部長像寵愛孩子般照顧這十隻狗，餵牠們美味的食物、和狗狗一起玩耍，呵護備至。

到了第十一天，遵照國王的命令，部長被扔進了狗群之中，但狗兒非但沒有發動攻擊，反而跑來舔他的手、與他玩耍。國王吃驚得說不出話來。

部長對國王說：「尊貴的王，我和狗在一起只相處了十天，現在牠們對我非常友善；而我和你在一起十年了，一直忠心為你服務。現在你能原諒我的一個錯誤嗎？」

國王突然醒悟自己的誤判，並向部長道歉。