不遠千里 (Bù yuǎn qiān lǐ)
(1) To make light of traveling a thousand li’s
(2) To go to the trouble of traveling a long distance
Source: “Mencius – King Hui of Liang, Upper Book”. Mencius met King Hui of Liang. The king said: “Sir! You minded not the long distance (thousand li‘s) in coming here, surely you must have brought something that could benefit our state?”
Explanation: “To go to the trouble of traveling a long distance” is a metaphor for not being afraid of [taking on] a long journey.
Story: King Hui of Liang met Mencius and said enthusiastically: “Sir, you minded not the long distance (thousand li’s) in coming here to our State of Wei, surely you must have brought something that could benefit our state?”
Mencius replied: “Your Majesty, why do you talk about benefits from the outset? It is enough to have righteousness and benevolence. If a ruler says ‘what can benefit our state?’, a high official says ‘what can benefit our fief?’, and scholars and the common folks say ‘what can benefit ourselves?’, then from top to bottom everyone is pursuing his [own] personal interests, and this is dangerous.” Mencius continued to speak thus: “In a state capable of dispatching ten thousand chariots, it must surely be the high official capable of dispatching one thousand chariots that plots to kill their king; in a second-class state capable of dispatching one thousand chariots, it must surely be the high official capable of dispatching one hundred chariots that plots to kill their king. The high official from a large state could obtain one thousand chariots from those ten-thousand [belonging to the state], the high official from a second-class state could obtain one hundred chariots from those thousand [belonging to the state]. It can be said that these high officials have quite a few personal properties [chariots], however, they will always never be satisfied. Therefore Your Highness must not praise personal interests again.”
When King Hui of Liang heard this, he became very emotional, and anxiously asked: “What do you think we should do then?” Mencius said: “Someone who has never emphasized benevolence will abandon his parents, who has not emphasized righteousness will disrespect his lord. Therefore, Your Highness needs only emphasize benevolence and righteousness, and [should] not have use for personal benefits.”
—– VOCABULARY —–
亦 yì – also [[diệc: cũng, cũng là; lại; chỉ có, chỉ, chẳng qua; đã, rồi; suy cho cùng, rốt cuộc; dù cho, tuy nhiên]]
某 mǒu – some; a certain; sb or sth indefinite; such-and-such [[mỗ: đại từ nhân vật không xác định; tiếng tự xưng]]
畏 wèi – to fear [[úy: sợ; kính phục, nể phục; dọa nạt; oán ghét, oán hận]]
熱情 rè qíng – cordial; enthusiastic; passion; passionate; passionately [[nhiệt tình]]
何必 hé bì – there is no need; why should
追逐 zhuī zhú – to chase; to pursue vigorously
逐 zhú – to pursue; to chase; individually; one by one [[trục: đuổi theo; xua đuổi, đuổi đi; đi tìm, truy cầu; tranh giành, tranh đoạt; cùng theo; dần dần, lần lượt, từng cái]]
輛 liàng – classifier for vehicles [[lượng: lượng từ – cỗ xe, đơn vị dùng cho xe]]
必定 bì dìng – to be bound to; to be sure to [[chắc chắn, nhất định, tất nhiên]]
仍 réng – still; yet; to remain [[nhưng: noi theo, chiếu theo; vẫn, cứ, như cũ; luôn luôn, nhiều lần; nên, rồi, vì thế]]
觸動 chù dòng – to touch; to stir up (trouble or emotions); to move (sb’s emotions or worry)
觸 chù – to touch; to make contact with sth; to stir up sb’s emotions [[xúc: húc, đâm; chạm biết, đụng chạm; cảm động, động đến tâm; can phạm, mạo phạm; khắp]]
焦急 jiāo jí – anxiety; anxious
焦 jiāo – burnt; scorched; charred; worried; anxious; coke [[tiêu: bị cháy, bị sém lửa; vàng gần như đen (màu sắc); khô, giòn; cong queo, nhăn nheo; cháy khét, cháy đen; lo buồn, khổ não]]
從來 cóng lái – always; at all times; never (if used in negative sentence) [[luôn luôn, lúc nào cũng]]
遺棄 yí qì – to leave; to abandon
棄 qì – to abandon; to relinquish; to discard; to throw away [[khí: quên, bỏ]]
尊重 zūn zhòng – to esteem; to respect; to honor; to value; eminent; serious; proper [[tôn trọng, tôn kính, kính trọng]]
夠 gòu – enough (sufficient); enough (too much); (coll.) (before adj.) really; (coll.) to reach by stretching out [[cú: đủ (số lượng); đủ, đạt tới (trình độ); nhàm chán, ngán, ngấy]]