King Xuan of Qi asked Mencius, “Is it true that (Zhou dynasty) King Wen’s park was thirty five kilometre in circumference?” Mencius replied, “It is so written in the historical records.” The king asked, “Was it really that large?” Mencius said, “And yet the people still found it too small.”
The king said, “My park is only twenty kilometre in circumference, yet the people find it too large. Why is this?”
Mencius said, “King Wen’s park was thirty five kilometre in circumference, but woodcutters and herders could enter it, as could hunters after pheasants and hares. He shared the park with the people. Isn’t it reasonable that the people found it too small? I have heard that on the outskirts of your capital there is a park of twenty kilometre in circumference. If anyone kills a deer there, they are punished as if they had killed a human being. So this area of twenty kilometre in circumference amounts to a great trap set right in the middle of the state. Isn’t it also reasonable that the people find it too large?”
Origin: “Mencius – King Hui of Liang, Part II”
#37 园林的大小
齐宣王问孟子：“据说文王的园林方圆七十里，真有这回事吗？”孟子回答：“史书上有这样的记载。”宣王问：“真有那么大吗？”孟子说：“百姓还觉得太小了呢。”
齐宣王说：“我的园林方圆只有四十里，百姓还觉得太大，这是为什么呢？”
孟子说：“文王的园林方圆七十里，割草砍柴的人可以进去，打野鸡野兔的人也可以进去，他是与百姓共同使用这块地方。百姓觉得它小，不是很合理吗？我听说，您的都城郊区也有个方圆四十里的园林，谁要是杀了里面的麋鹿，就会被处以杀人一样的重罪。那么这方圆四十里的场地，简直就是在国家中设下了一个大陷阱。百姓觉得它太大，不也是很合理吗？”
出自《孟子·梁惠王下》