Morality, Courage and Self-Respect Earns Respect from Others

发挥道德勇气，自重人重

(Originally in Chinese)

A man joined the army and was immediately assigned to serve a captain. The captain was very severe and required lower ranking soldiers to strictly obey his commands without any reservation. Of course, the inherent duty of a soldier is to absolutely obey command. One day, the captain told the soldier to paint his residence. After painting it, he told the soldier to wash the brush. However, the soldier could not find a cleaning rag to wipe the brush. The captain pointed to a stack of clothes nearby that belonged to other soldiers, and told the new soldier to take one and wash the brush. At that time, the young soldier faced a dilemma; he did not know how to handle the situation. If he obeyed the captain’s command, he would have to steal clothing for use as a cleaning rag. Stealing from others, once found out, would be a violation of law. However, disobeying a command from a superior officer would violate the military law.



以前有一位军人才刚去当兵，就被配去侍候一位上尉，这位长官生性很严厉，对部下也是「令出如山」，必须绝对遵守，本来军人的本分就是绝对「服从」。有一天，这位上尉叫那个新兵去油漆他的住处，油漆完毕以后，又叫新兵把刷子洗干净，可是新兵找不到抹布可以擦洗刷子。这个上尉就叫那位新兵到一旁放着其它军人衣服的地方，随便拿一件来清洗刷子。这时候这位小兵感觉非常为难，不知该怎么办？因为如果他服从上司的命令，就必须去偷别人的衣服来当抹布，偷取别人的东西，一旦被发现，也是犯法，但是不服从命令也同样犯了违反军令。



After struggling with his thoughts, he decided not to steal the clothing. So answering the captain with a firm voice he said: “I will not do that.” His captain was very surprised that he dared to disobey his command, and immediately asked him: “Why won’t you do it?” The new soldier did not answer, and only looked at his superior with a decisive facial expression that conveyed his determination not to steal. The captain then knew that the soldier had made a firm decision, so he did not say anything more.



经过一番挣扎思考以后，他决定不去偷别人的衣服，就以坚决的语气回答他的上司：「我不去！」他的上司很惊讶他竟敢不服从命令，立刻问他说：「你为什么不去？」可是这位新兵也没有回答什么，只是用很坚决的表情看着他的长官，显示他不去偷别人东西的决心，这时候那位上尉知道新兵的意愿已定，也就不再说什么。

To be respected by others, you must have the attitude to earn that respect. If you respect yourself, others will naturally respect you. Since the military law also barred stealing, the new soldier set a firm resolution not to steal under any circumstance.



所以要获得别人尊敬，必须先要具有赢得别人尊敬的态度，自己如果能自重，别人自然会尊敬你。因为在军法中，也同样规定禁止偷取别人的东西，所以这位新兵下定决心，无论如何不去犯偷盗。



However, it was not easy for him to make such a decision at that time, because the duty of a soldier is to “obey.” But his “morality” caused him to make a reasonable and courageous decision for himself. Our free will gives us choice, and we can do whatever we want. That is why heaven and hell are created by us. No one can force us to do anything.



但是对他来说，当时要下这种决心，一定也很不容易，因为军人的职责就是「服从」，可是他的「道德心」替他做了一个合理、勇敢的决定。人有自由意志可以做选择，要做什么就做什么，所以天堂、地狱都是我们自己造的，没有人可以勉强我们做。