one day, seated in the ancestral hall, king hui of liang saw a man leading an ox pass by. he asked, "where are you taking the ox?"
the man leading the ox stopped and answered: "i am taking it to be slaughtered1 and will use its blood to paint the bell."
as king hui heard this, he felt pity for the ox and said: "how can that be done? you are too cruel. let it go at once. it is not guilty. how can you kill it? i cannot bear to see it panistricken, shedding2 tears and trembling before its death."
the man leading the ox asked: "do you mean that i shall let the ox go and not paint the bell? is that it?"
king hui answered: "what are you saying? how can you not paint the bell! let the ox go, but use a sheep instead."
一天，梁惠王坐在庙堂上，看到堂下有一个人牵着一头牛走过，便*：“你把牛牵到哪里啊？”
牵牛的人停了下来回答说：“我要把这头牛牵去*掉，用它的血来涂钟。”
惠王听了，便对牛十分怜悯，说：“那怎么行呢！你们太残忍了，赶快把牛放掉。它没有罪，怎么能*掉呢？我不忍心看到牛临死前恐惧、流泪、战栗的样子。”
牵牛的人*：“您的意思是要我把牛放了，不必再涂钟了，是吗？”
惠王回答说：“你在说什么？钟怎么能不涂呢！把牛放了，换只羊吧。”
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