Geng Zhuzi felt wronged and complained, "I have not made more mistakes than others. Why did you give me such a going-over?"
Upon hearing this, Mo Zi said, "If you were driving a swift horse and a goat to ascend the Mt. Taihang, which one you would whip, the horse or the goat?"
Geng Zhuzi replied, "The swift horse, of course." Mo Zi then asked, "Why the swift horse? Because the swift horse is worth whipping, the goat is not." Geng Zhuzi answered.
"You are like the horse, not the goat, and worth reproaching. That is why I reproached you."
有一次,墨子嚴厲地責(zé)備他的門徒耕柱子。
耕柱子覺得委屈,抱怨說:“我可沒有比別人犯更多的錯,您為什么要這樣苛責(zé)我呢?”
墨子聽到以后說:“假如要駕著好馬和羊上太行山,如果是你,你是鞭打馬好還是鞭打羊好呢?”
耕柱子回答:“我當(dāng)然要鞭打好馬。”墨子問:“你為什么要鞭打好馬而不鞭打好羊呢?”耕柱子回答說:“因為好馬值得責(zé)打,而羊不值得。”
墨子說:“我責(zé)備你是因為你像馬而不像羊,值得批評呀。”