《欲加之罪，何患无辞》成语英译与典故

九十四、欲加之罪，何患无辞

故事发生在公元前651年的秋天，

晋国的献公刚死去，

国家无主人心乱。

献公的儿子好几个，

到底由谁来“接班”？

宫廷内部有争斗，

一时半会尚未完。

有个公子叫奚齐，

献公疼爱心眼偏。

昏庸的献公临终时，

曾叫人把大夫荀息唤，

把自己的打算说给荀息听，

要荀息辅佐奚齐好好干。

还有个大夫叫里克，

对这种做法有意见。

他想让公子重耳继王位，

对荀息这人他看不惯。

晋献公死后奚齐即位没几天，

里克便杀死了奚齐要造反。

荀息又立了公子卓，

里克又杀死了新王手不软。

荀大夫孤掌难鸣也自杀，

晋国一时闹大乱。

过不久公子夷吾又即了位，

可在位的时间也很短。

到后来公子重耳回了国，

决心彻底绝内患。

他要把里克先处死，

里克当然有意见。

重耳说：“你废除过奚齐和公子卓，

不杀你恐怕我将来也有那一天！”

里克说：“如果我不那样做，

主公你怎么会有现在这一天。

看起来你想要治我的罪。

没有理由也照样办！”

里克自知难免死，

只得自杀赴黄泉。

到后来里克的话变成语，

比喻那些害人的人，

想害人就随意干。

“欲加之罪，何患无辞”，

就是定罪名时不容他人来分辩。

If You Are Out to Condemn Someone，You Can Always Trump up a Charge

This story took place in the autumn of 651 B.C.when Duke Xian of the State of Jin died.The country went into chaos for losing its ruler.Duke Xian had several sons，but who was the qualified heir that would inherit the throne？There was a conflict in the court，which couldn't be ended very quickly.One of the princes was named Xi Qi，and he was Duke Xian's favourite.When the muddle⁃headed Duke was dying，he had minister Xun Xi called for.He told Xun Xi his intention，and asked Xun Xi to carefully assist Xi Qi.Another minister named Li Ke，was oppossed to the decision.He would like Prince Zhong Er to take the throne，and Xun Xi minded this man quite a lot.Only a few days after Duke Xian's demise and Xi Qi's taking the throne，Li Ke killed Xi Qi and held an uprising.Xun Xi then helped Prince Zhuo to the throne.Li Ke then killed the new duke without mercy.Minister Xun was put back in the corner and committed suicide，and then the State of Jin plunged into chaos.Before long Prince Yi Wu mounted the throne，but he only remained on it for a very short time.Then Prince Zhong Er came back from outside the state，and re⁃solved to put the State in order.He intended to put Li Ke to death，which made Li Ke very sad.Zhong Er said“you have deprived Princes Xi Qi and Zhuo，and I am afraid that someday you'll deprive me，too.”

Li Ke said，“if I hadn't done that，how would it have come to you now.So it seems to me that if you are out to punish me，you can just do it for no reason at all.”Li Ke knew that he must die，and he commit⁃ted suicide at last.

Later on，what Li Ke had said became an idiom，denoting those who want to do harm to others，could do as they please.To condemn someone，you can al⁃ways trump up a charge.Trump up a charge allowing no explanations.