A Child About to Fall into a Well

When you see a stranger in danger and your heart jumps, what are you thinking in that moment?

Original

孟子曰：「人皆有不忍人之心。……所以謂人皆有不忍人之心者，今人乍見孺子將入於井，皆有怵惕惻隱之心。非所以內交於孺子之父母也，非所以要譽於鄉黨朋友也，非惡其聲而然也。」

In plain words

Mencius said: “Everyone has a heart that cannot bear the suffering of others. ... Why do I say so? Suppose someone suddenly sees a small child about to fall into a well. Anyone would feel alarm and distress. Not because they hope to get in with the child's parents, not because they want praise from neighbours and friends, and not because they dislike the sound of the child's cries.”

Key words

乍見zhà jiànTo see suddenly, with no warning.
怵惕chù tìAlarm; a jolt of fear.
惻隱cè yǐnDistress on another's behalf; compassion.

Reading it step by step

The last two pages said there is a small demand for goodness in the human heart. But a demand can't be seen or touched. How can anyone show it's there? Mencius doesn't argue. He sets a scene: a well, and a small child crawling toward its edge.

First: everything turns on "suddenly." You see it without warning, with no time to prepare and no time to calculate. When we do good on an ordinary day, we can't help weighing it: is it worth it, will anyone notice? But in that one second, before the calculator comes out, the heart has already clenched. Try it the other way round. Anyone's heart lurches when a stranger nearly steps in front of a car. But if you knew he was a villain, you might feel a quiet satisfaction, as when the bad guy is caught at the end of a film. That is already a judgement, made after thinking. What Mencius wants us to look at is the second before any calculation.

Second: three "nots." In one breath Mencius rules out three motives. Not to get in with the parents. Not to win a good name. Not because the crying would be unpleasant. The last one is sharp. An American professor used to teach that everyone is selfish. One day a beggar on the street was wailing so loudly that he handed over a few dollars. A student walking behind him pounced: "Aren't you an egoist?" "Still am," said the professor. "The noise was unbearable, and money made it stop." Mencius closed that exit more than two thousand years earlier. Take away profit, reputation and self-comfort, and what remains is simply this: I cannot bear it.

not for connectionsnot to befriend the parents

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not for praisenot for a good name

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not to stop the noisenot because the crying is unpleasant

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Remove every calculation: what's left is “I can't bear it.”

Third: alarm and distress are two feelings. Alarm is the jolt: danger is right here, and it could happen to anyone. Distress is the ache: I can't stand to watch it happen. Both rise together, the most natural response a person has. But notice: Mencius says everyone has this heart. He does not say everyone reaches out. The heart is the beginning. The hand still has to move.

Wells are rare now, but their edges are everywhere: a child darting toward traffic, an old man slumped on a station platform, a disaster in a city you'll never visit. When your heart jumps, don't rush to push it down or tell yourself it's none of your business. That is the best thing in you speaking up. Even stopping to ask "are you all right?", or giving a little to a distant relief fund, is the hand following the heart.

"Human nature leans toward good" is not a slogan. It's a picture: a heart moves first, and a hand follows.

One line to carry

The heart moves first. Let the hand follow.

Today's question

When did your heart last jump for a stranger? Did your hand follow?

Quick check

Why does Mencius stress seeing it “suddenly”?

Next pageFour SproutsPage 11

II · Goodness Is No Fantasy — Human nature leans toward good; sincerity sets it moving

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