One day Mencius asked Dai Busheng, "If a high official of the state of Chu stays here and he wants his son to learn the Qi language. Should he be taught by a person from Qi, or a person from Chu?"

　　Dai Busheng replied, "He should be taught by a person from Qi."

　　Mencius said, "Yes it is good for him to be taught by a person from Qi. But he is surrounded by his fellowmen speaking the Chu language with a whip1, it will still be difficult for him to master the Qi language. But if you let him live in the neighbourhoods of the state of Qi for several years, then it will be impossible for you to force him, even with a whip, to speak the Chu language again."

　　有一天，孟子問(wèn)戴不勝說(shuō)：“如果有一個(gè)楚國(guó)大夫在這里，想要他的兒子學(xué)齊國(guó)話，那么，應(yīng)該讓齊國(guó)人教他呢，還是讓楚國(guó)人教他？”

　　戴不勝回答說(shuō)：“應(yīng)該讓齊國(guó)人教他。”

　　孟子說(shuō)：“一個(gè)齊國(guó)人教他固然不錯(cuò)，可是他的許多楚國(guó)同胞整體和他說(shuō)楚國(guó)話，就算每天用鞭子督促他，想讓他學(xué)好齊國(guó)話也是很困難的；可要是把他帶到齊國(guó)的街巷之間住上幾年，那時(shí)你就是天天鞭打他，強(qiáng)迫他再說(shuō)楚國(guó)話，也是不可能的。”