英漢對照「三字經」

人之初　性本善　性相近　習相遠
Men at their birth,
are naturally good.
Their natures are much the same;
their habits become widely different.

苟不教　性乃遷　教之道　貴以專
If follishly there is no teaching,
the nature will deteriorate.
The right way in teaching,
is to attach the utmost importance
in thoroughness.

昔孟母　擇鄰處　子不學　斷機杼
Of old, the mother of Mencius
chose a neighbourhood
and when her child would not learn,
she broke the shuttle from the loom.

竇燕山　有義方　教五子　名俱揚
Tou of the Swallow Hills
had the right method
He taugh five son,
each of whom raised the family reputation.

養不教　父之過　教不嚴　師之惰
To feed without teaching,
is the father's fault.
To teach without severity,
is the teacher's laziness.

子不學　非所宜　幼不學　老何為
If the child does not learn,
this is not as it should be.
If he does not learn while young,
what will he be when old ?

玉不琢　不成器　人不學　不知義
If j ade is not polished,
it cannot become a thing of use.
If a man does not learn,
he cannot know his duty towards his neighbour.

為人子　方少時　親師友　習禮儀
He who is the son of a man,
when he is young,
should attach himself to his teachers and friends;
and practise ceremonial usages.

香九齡　能溫席　孝於親　所當執
Hsiang, at nine years of age,
could warm (his parent's) bed.
Filial piety towards parents,
is that to which we should hold fast.

融四歲　能讓梨　弟於長　宜先知
Jung, at four years of age,
could yield the (bigger) pears.
To hehave as a younger brother towards elders,
is one of the first things to know.

首孝弟　次見聞　知某數　識某文
Begin with filial piety and fraternal love,
and then see and hear .
Learn to count,
and learn to read.

一而十　十而百　百而千　千而萬
units and tens,
then tens and hundreds,
hundreds and thousands,
thousands and then tens of thousands.

三才者　天地人　三光者　日月星
The three forces,
are heaven, earth and man.
The three luminaries,
are the sun,the moon and the stars.

三綱者　君臣義　父子親　夫婦順
The three bonds,
are the obligation between soverign and subject,
the love between father and child,
the harmony between husband and wife.

曰春夏　曰秋冬　此四時　運不窮
We speak of spring and summer,
we speak of autumn and winter,
These four seasons,
revolve without ceasing.