Guarding the Way守道
聖王之立法也，其賞足以勸善，其威足以勝暴，其備足以必完法。治世之臣，功多者位尊，力極者賞厚，情盡者名立。善之生如春，惡之死如秋，故民勸極力而樂盡情，此之謂上下相得。上下相得，故能使用力者自極於權衡，而務至於任鄙；戰士出死，而願爲賁、育；守道者皆懷金石之心，以死子胥之節。用力者爲任鄙，戰如賁、育，中爲金石，則君人者高枕而守已完矣。
When the sage king sets up law, his rewards are enough to urge men to good, his awe is enough to overcome violence, and his provision is enough to keep the law whole for certain. Among the ministers of a well-ordered age, the man with much merit stands high, the man who spends his strength to the end is richly rewarded, and the man who gives all his feeling has his name established. Good comes to life as in spring and evil dies as in autumn, so the people press on to spend their strength to the end and are glad to give all their feeling. This is what is called those above and those below gaining each other. Because those above and those below gain each other, the man who uses his strength can be made to spend himself to the end upon the balance and to strive to reach Ren Bi, the fighting soldier goes out to death and wishes to be a Meng Ben or a Xia Yu, and those who guard the Way all hold a heart of metal and stone and would die in the fidelity of Wu Zixu. When the men who use their strength are Ren Bi, when their fighting is like Meng Ben and Xia Yu, and when their hearts are metal and stone, then he who stands above others may lay his pillow high, and his guard is already whole.
古之善守者，以其所重禁其所輕，以其所難止其所易，故君子與小人俱正，盜跖與曾、史俱廉。何以知之？夫貪盜不赴谿而掇金，赴谿而掇金則身不全。賁、育不量敵則無勇名，盜跖不計可則利不成。明主之守禁也，賁、育見侵於其所不能勝，盜跖見害於其所不能取，故能禁賁、育之所不能犯，守盜跖之所不能取，則暴者守愿，邪者反正。大勇愿，巨盜貞，則天下公平，而齊民之情正矣。
Those of old who guarded well used what men hold heavy to forbid what they hold light, and used what is hard to stop what is easy. Therefore the gentleman and the small man were alike upright, and Dao Zhi along with Zeng Shen and Shi Qiu were alike honest. How do we know it? Even a greedy thief will not leap into a mountain stream to pick up gold, for if he leaps into the stream to pick up gold his body will not stay whole. Meng Ben and Xia Yu, if they do not measure the enemy, win no name for courage, and Dao Zhi, if he does not reckon what can be done, gains nothing. When the enlightened ruler keeps his prohibitions, Meng Ben and Xia Yu are set upon where they cannot overcome, and Dao Zhi is harmed where he cannot take. Therefore he forbids what Meng Ben and Xia Yu cannot violate and guards what Dao Zhi cannot take, and then the violent grow careful and the crooked turn back to the straight. When great courage is careful and the great thief is honest, then all the world is fair and even, and the feeling of the common people is set right.
人主離法失人，則危於伯夷不妄取，而不免於田成、盜跖之禍。可也？今天下無一伯夷，而姦人不絶世，故立法度量。度量信，則伯夷不失是，而盜跖不得非。法分明，則賢不得奪不肖，強不得侵弱，衆不得暴寡。託天下於堯之法，則貞士不失分，姦人不徼幸。寄千金於羿之矢，則伯夷不得亡，而盜跖不敢取。堯明於不失姦，故天下無邪；羿巧於不失發，故千金不亡。邪人不壽而盜跖止。如此，故圖不載宰予，不舉六卿；書不著子胥，不明夫差。孫、吳之略廢，盜跖之心伏。人主甘服於玉堂之中，而無瞋目切齒傾取之患；人臣垂拱於金城之内，而無扼捥聚脣嗟唶之禍。服虎而不以柙，禁姦而不以法，塞僞而不以符，此賁、育之所患，堯、舜之所難也。故設柙，非所以備鼠也，所以使怯弱能服虎也；立法，非所以備曾、史也，所以使庸主能止盜跖也；爲符，非所以豫尾生也，所以使衆人不相謾也。不獨恃比干之死節，不幸亂臣之無詐也；恃怯之所能服，握庸主之所易守。當今之世，爲人主忠計、爲天下結德者，利莫長於此。故君人者無亡國之圖，而忠臣無失身之畫。明於尊位必賞，故能使人盡力於權衡，死節於官職。通賁、育之情，不以死易生；惑於盜跖之貪，不以財易身，則守國之道畢備矣。
If a ruler leaves the law and loses his men, he stands in more danger than Bo Yi's never taking wrongly can answer for, and he does not escape the calamity of a Tian Cheng or a Dao Zhi. Will that do? Today there is not one Bo Yi in the world, and crooked men are never cut off from any age, and so law and measure are set up. When the measure is trustworthy, Bo Yi does not lose his rightness and Dao Zhi cannot do wrong. When the divisions of law are clear, the worthy cannot rob the unworthy, the strong cannot encroach on the weak, and the many cannot bully the few. Entrust the world to the law of Yao, and the upright officer does not lose his portion and the crooked man does not court luck. Hang a thousand in gold upon the arrow of Yi, and Bo Yi cannot lose it and Dao Zhi does not dare to take it. Yao was clear in never letting a crooked man slip, and so there was no wickedness in the world. Yi was skilled in never letting a shot go wide, and so the thousand in gold was not lost. The wicked man does not live long, and Dao Zhi comes to a stop. When it is like this, pictures do not carry Zai Yu and do not hold up the six ministers, and writings do not set down Wu Zixu and do not make Fuchai plain. The stratagems of Sun Wu and Wu Qi fall away, and the heart of Dao Zhi lies down. The ruler wears his robes at ease within a hall dressed in jade, with no worry of men glaring and grinding their teeth to overturn and seize. The minister folds his hands within walls of metal, with no calamity of gripping the wrist, pursing the lips, and sighing. To subdue a tiger without a cage, to forbid crookedness without law, to block falsehood without tallies, is what Meng Ben and Xia Yu worry over and what Yao and Shun found hard. Therefore a cage is set up not to guard against rats, but to let the timid and the weak subdue a tiger. Law is set up not to guard against Zeng Shen and Shi Qiu, but to let an ordinary ruler stop a Dao Zhi. Tallies are made not to forestall a Wei Sheng, but to keep the many from cheating one another. He does not lean on Bi Gan alone dying for his fidelity, nor hope that a rebel minister will be without deceit. He leans on what even the timid can subdue and holds fast to what an ordinary ruler can easily guard. In the world of today, for one who plans loyally for a ruler and binds virtue for all the world, no benefit runs longer than this. Therefore he who stands above others has no design that loses the state, and the loyal minister has no plan that loses his life. He is clear that high station is rewarded for certain, and so he can make men spend their strength to the end upon the balance and die in fidelity at their posts. He fathoms the feeling of Meng Ben and Xia Yu, and so death is not traded for life. He sees through the greed of Dao Zhi, and so goods are not traded for the body. Then the way of guarding a country is fully provided.