人之初性本善性相近习相远
Menattheirbirth,
arenaturallygood.
Theirnaturesaremuchthesame;
theirhabitsbecomewidelydifferent.
苟不教性乃迁教之道贵以专
Iffollishlythereisnoteaching,
thenaturewilldeteriorate.
Therightwayinteaching,
istoattachtheutmostimportance
inthoroughness.
昔孟母择邻处子不学断机杼
Ofold,themotherofMencius
choseaneighbourhood
andwhenherchildwouldnotlearn,
shebroketheshuttlefromtheloom.
窦燕山有义方教五子名俱扬
TouoftheSwallowHills
hadtherightmethod
Hetaughfiveson,
eachofwhomraisedthefamilyreputation.
养不教父之过教不严师之惰
Tofeedwithoutteaching,
isthefath!er\'sfault.
Toteachwithoutseverity,
istheteacher\'slaziness.
子不学非所宜幼不学老何为
Ifthechilddoesnotlearn,
thisisnotasitshouldbe.
Ifhedoesnotlearnwhileyoung,
whatwillhebewhenold?
玉不琢不成器人不学不知义
Ifjadeisnotpolished,
itcannotbecomeathingofuse.
Ifamandoesnotlearn,
hecannotknowhisdutytowardshisneighbour.
为人子方少时亲师友习礼仪
Hewhoisthesonofaman,
whenheisyoung,
shouldattachhimselftohisteachersandfriends;
andpractiseceremonialusages.
香九龄能温席孝於亲所当执
Hsiang,atnineyearsofage,
couldwarm(hisparent\'s)bed.
Filialpietytowardsparents,
isthattowhichweshouldholdfast.
融四岁能让梨弟於长宜先知
Jung,atfouryearsofage,\'Y\')
couldyieldthe(bigger)pears.
Tohehaveasayoungerbrothertowardselders,
isoneofthefirstth!ingstoknow.
首孝弟次见闻知某数识某文
Beginwithfilialpietyandfraternallove,
andthenseeandhear.
Learntocount,
andlearntoread.
一而十十而百百而千千而万
unitsandtens,
thentensandhundreds,
hundredsandthousands,
thousandsandthentensofthousands.
三才者天地人三光者日月星
Thethreeforces,
areheaven,earthandman.
Thethreeluminaries,
arethesun,themoonandthestars.
三纲者君臣义父子亲夫妇顺
Thethreebonds,
aretheobligationbetweensoverignandsubject,
thelovebetweenfatherandchild,
theharmonybetweenhusbandandwife