During the Warring States period, King Hui of Liang kept thinking of ways to make his state prosperous and his people’s lives stable. But after some years, the king noticed that few people joined the State of Liang and his population had not increased by much. Feeling puzzled, he asked Mencius, “I spend more effort improving the lives of my people than other kings do. Why is my population not increasing? ”

Mencius replied, “My king, there were once two deserters upon a battlefield. One ran a hundred steps, and the other ran fifty steps. The soldier who ran fifty steps called the other soldier a coward. What do you think? ”

King Hui replied, “How could he mock the other soldier? Though he did not run as far as the other soldier, it does not change the fact that he was a deserter himself! ” 

Mencius said, “Though you conscientiously rule the kingdom, you are no different from the other kings who like to wage war on other states. This is why people do not want to move to the State of Liang, and why your population is not increasing. ” 

Moral of the story: When seeing other people’s flaws, it is important to self-reflect and ask yourself if you have the same problem too.

戰國時代，梁惠王想了很多方法，要讓國家富強，人民生活安定。但是幾年過去了，別國的百姓搬到梁國來的人數不多，梁國的人民也沒有大量增加。他覺得很奇怪，就問孟子：「我比別的國君更認真治國，為什麼人口都還是差不多？」

孟子回答：「大王，如果在戰場上，有一個人逃了一百步，另一個人逃了五十步。結果逃了五十步的人嘲笑逃了一百步的人膽小怕死，您覺得怎麼樣？」

梁惠王說：「怎麼能這樣嘲笑呢！那個人只是沒有逃到一百步，但是同樣都是逃跑啊！」

孟子說：「大王您雖然很認真治國，但是您跟別的國君一樣都喜歡發動戰爭，所以別國的百姓怎麼會搬到梁國來呢？梁國的人民又怎麼會增加呢？」

寓意：只看到別人的缺點，不知道自己也有同樣的問題。