One day, seated in the ancestral hall, King Hui of Liang saw a man leading an ox pass by. He asked: "Where are you taking the ox?"

The man leading the ox stopped and answered: "I am taking it to be slaughtered and will use its blood to paint the bell."

As King Hui heard this, he felt pity for the ox and said: "How can that be done? You are too cruel. Let it go at once. It is not guilty. How can you kill it? I cannot bear to see it panic-stricken, shedding tears and trembling before its death."

The man leading the ox asked: "Do you mean that I shall let the ox go and not paint the bell? Is that it?"

King Hui answered: "What are you saying? How can you not paint the bell! Let the ox go, but use a sheep instead."

一天，梁惠王坐在廟堂上，看到堂下有一個人牽著一頭牛走過，便問道：“你把牛牽到哪兒去啊?”

牽牛的人停下來回答說：“我要把這頭牛牽去殺掉，用它的血來涂鐘。”

惠王聽了，對牛十分憐憫，說：“那怎么行呢!你們太殘忍了，趕快把牛放掉。它沒有罪，怎么能把它殺掉呢?我不忍心看到牛臨死前驚恐、流淚、戰栗的樣子?！?/p>

牽牛的人問道：“您的意思是要我把牛放了，不必再涂鐘了，是嗎?”

惠王回答說：“你在說什么?鐘怎么能不涂呢!把牛放了，就換只羊吧!”