王聞之，令皆拘二子，將殺之。
As the two princes went along, they saw an old man with a basket balanced on his head.
大夫辭曰：「取畚信有罪，然殺之非其罪也，君若何殺之？
They asked him for the basket, but he refused to give it up, so they hit him and seized the basket.
」言卒，丈人造軍而言曰：「鄧為無道，故伐之。
When King Wen heard of this, he ordered that the princes be seized and was about to have them killed.
今君公之子之搏而奪吾畚，無道甚於鄧。
His officers spoke on the princes’ behalf, saying, “Seizing the basket was indeed a crime, but killing them does not fit the crime—why do you wish to kill them?” At the conclusion of this speech, the old man came to the army headquarters and said, “Deng acted improperly, so you have attacked Deng.
」呼天而號。
But now your princes have beaten me and seized my basket.
君聞之，群臣恐。
This is to act more improperly than Deng.” He raised his face to the sky and wept loudly.
君見之，曰：「討有罪而橫奪，非所以禁暴也；恃力虐老，非所以教幼也；愛子棄法，非所以保國也。
The king heard it, and his officers were afraid.
私二子，滅三行，非所以從政也。
The king allowed him an audience and said, “To seize goods lawlessly in the course of punishing an offending state is no way to prevent violence; to rely on force to mistreat the elderly is no way to instruct the young; to cast aside the law out of love for one’s sons is no way to protect the state; and to engage in such practices out of partiality to two princes is no way to carry out statecraft.
丈人舍之矣，謝之軍門之外。」
Please pardon my offense, old sir; I will atone for it in front of the gates of this encampment [i.e., I will have the offenders executed].