刘基·《躁人》英译

晋、郑之间有躁人焉，射不中则碎其鹄，奕不胜则啮其子。人曰：“是非鹄与子之罪也，盍亦反而思之乎？”弗喻。卒病躁而死。郁离子曰：“是亦可以为鉴矣。夫民犹鹄也，射之者我也，射得其道则中矣；兵犹子也，行之者我也，行得其道则胜矣。致之无艺，用之无法，至于不若人而不胜其愤，恚非所当恚，乌得而不死？”

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An Impetuous Person

Liu Ji

An impetuous person lived somewhere between the Kingdom of Jin and the Kingdom of Zheng during the Warring States Period. If he missed the target while shooting, he smashed it. If he lost a chess game, he gnawed the pieces. Someone told him, “It’s not the fault of the target or the chess pieces. What about blaming yourself?” He did not pay attention to this and finally died of anger. Yu Li Zi commented, “One should consider this. People are like a target which can only be hit in a certain way; soldiers are like chess pieces led to win a battle in an appropriate way. When one handles matters badly, feels humiliated and resents what one should not resent, how can one avoid one’s end?”