《古代寓言·献鸠》（中英对照）

邯郸之民，以正月之旦献鸠于简子，简子大悦，厚赏之。

客问其故。

简子曰：“正旦放生，示有恩也。”

客曰：“民知君之欲放之。竞而捕之，死者众矣。君如欲生之，不若禁民勿捕。捕而放之，恩过不相补矣。”

简子曰：“然。”

——《列子》

Presenting Doves

It was the custom in Handan to catch doves to present to the prince on New Year’s Day, for this pleased him so much that he gave rich rewards. Someone asked the prince the reason for this custom.

“I free the doves at New Year to show my kindness,” he said.

“Since your subjects know you want doves to set free, they all set about catching them,” objected the other. “And the result is that many doves are killed. If you really want to save the doves, you had better forbid people to catch them. As things are, you catch them to free them, and your kindness cannot make up for the damage you do.”

The prince agreed with him.

Lie Zi