乡愿详释

Detailed Explanation of a Hypocrite (XIANG YUAN)

已定稿

孔子说：“乡愿，德之贼也”，乡者，民间。愿，谨慎老实。
Confucius said: "your good, careful people in the villages (XIANG YUAN) are the thieves of virtue." Here XIANG means folk, and YUAN means careful and honest.
所谓乡愿，就是老好人。墙头草，伪善者，
The so-called XIANG YUAN is a hypocrite, who tries never to offend anybody, and bends with the wind like grass on the top of a wall.
之所以成为乡愿，其实是为了避免让自己陷入任何的麻烦，不惜靠昧着良心来成全自己的人际关系。
The reason why one has become a hypocrite, in fact, is to avoid getting himself into any trouble, Even at the cost of betrayal of conscience to perfect their interpersonal relationships.

说到底，就是自私。After all, it's selfishness.
乡愿之人是有一定社会影响和舆论能力的、有一定的仲裁权威的、有此位而不具此德之人，
Hypocrites are those who have certain social influence and public opinion ability, have certain arbitration authority, and have this position but do not have this virtue.

他们不去追求公正，不去坚守原则，而是一味搞折中主义，八面玲珑、见风使舵，四方讨好，明哲保身，看似忠诚廉洁，其实，随波逐流，迎合媚俗、趋炎附势，是“在其位不谋其政”的、不作为的一种。
They do not pursue justice, do not adhere to the principles, but blindly engage in eclecticism, exquisite in all aspects to act according to the wind, please all sides and protect themselves. They seem to be loyal and honest. In fact, they go with the stream, cater to kitsch and timeserver, which is a kind of inaction of "holding onto their jobs while failing to fulfill their responsibilities ".

他们抹煞了是非，混淆了善恶，不主持正义，不抵制坏人坏事，所以，孔子把这种窃据“有德者之位”的乡愿列为坏德之人，
They obliterate right and wrong, confuse good and evil, do not uphold justice, and do not resist bad people and bad things. Therefore, Confucius classifies people like this who steal "the position of the virtuous" as people of bad virtue.

他俨然以有德者自居，不仅不能践行美德，还会淆乱美德之名，抹黑真正的道义，并使真正的美德者及美德行为被边缘化。
He seems to regard himself as a virtuous person. Not only fail to practise virtue, but also confuse the name of virtue, smear true morality, and marginalize the truly virtuous and their actions.
“后果非常严重，影响特别恶劣”。 "The consequences are very serious and the impact is particularly bad".
这种似德非德而乱乎德的拉票主义者，乃德之“贼”也。世人对之不可不辨啊。
This kind of vote canvassers who look moral but actually immoral to confuse morality are the "thieves" of virtue. The world can't help but recognize them.

备注
翻译 蔡金城
校对 Koala