汉英对照《三字经》

人之初，性本善。性相近，习相远。

At the beginning of life,
Man is good in nature.
Human nature is alike,
Habits make them different.

苟不教，性乃迁。教之道，贵以专。

For lack of communication,
The nature is in alteration;
And the nurture of the young,
Better be maintained for long.

昔孟母，择邻处。子不学，断机杼。

Once Mencius' mother
Chose the best neighborhood for her son; (1)
When her son played truant,
She cut the threads on the loom. (2)

(1)Mencius (372 BC-289BC), a great thinker during the Warring States period. According to historical records, Mencius was very young when his father died. In order to train him in sound surroundings, his mother Zhang moved their home three times.Originally they lived near a graveyard, where she found her son imitating the acts of mourning.She thought is was bad for her son's upbring, and then she moved the home to the town and live near a butcher's. There, however, she found her son imitating the acts of killing pigs and sheep. It was not a proper environment for her son, either. At last, the mother and son moved again and lived near a school, where young Mencius began to imitate the scholars' behavior and study. THe mother was very pleased with this, and she decided to settle down there. This is the famous story of "Three Moves by Mencius' Mother".

(2)One day, seeing young Mencius run back home playing truant, his mother, who was weaving at the loom, became so angry that she cut off all the threads on the loom. She said to her son,"I'm weaving inch by inch, and if I cut off the threads now, I can no longer weave a piece of cloth. Your learning is the same as weaving cloth. If you fail to accumulate your knowledge day by day, you'll never succeed." Young Mencius was deeply soory for his deed, and began to make great efforts in his studies, so much so, that he became a great thinker as well as a sage, second only to Confucius.

窦燕山，有义方。教五子，名俱扬。

Another case is Dou Yanshan,
Who was wise in family education.
He raised his five sons,
And all of them were blessed with fame. (1)


(1) Dou Yanshan,  a famous historical figure in the period of Five Dynasties. His real name was Dou Yujun. Since he lived at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, he was also called Dou Yanshan. He had five sons, whom he raised in such a wise way that all of them became high government officials. This is the well-known story of  "Five Sons, All Ascend".

养不教，父之过。教不严，师之惰。

Rear children without instructing them,
And the father should be blamed;
Teach in a slack and lazy way,
And the teacher should be criticized.

子不学，非所宜。幼不学，老何为？

If a pupil plays truant,
It proves to be improper.
If a child fails to learn,
What can he be when getting old?

玉不琢，不成器。人不学，不知义。

Without being carved and polished,
A jade can't be a work of art.
If one does not learn,
He'll not know human virtues.