English Original
One year during the Eastern Han Dynasty, a severe famine struck Henan.
One night, a thief sneaked into the home of Chen Shi and hid himself on a roof beam. Aware of the intruder, Chen Shi calmly got out of bed, gathered his children and grandchildren, and addressed them sternly: "One must always exercise self-restraint and strive for self-improvement, regardless of circumstance. Evil men are not born evil. It is only through a failure to restrain themselves that they develop bad habits and gradually become corrupt. The gentleman on the beam is a perfect example of this."
Deeply ashamed upon hearing these words, the thief promptly jumped down from the beam, knelt, kowtowed, and begged for forgiveness.
Chen Shi then enlightened him, saying: "Judging by your appearance, you do not seem like a wicked man. Perhaps poverty has driven you to steal. You must examine your conscience carefully and turn over a new leaf."
He immediately instructed someone to bring two bolts of white silk and gave them to the thief as a gift. The thief kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude.
From that time on, thefts became very rare in that locality.
中文翻译
东汉某年，河南一带发生了严重的饥荒。
一天夜里，一个小偷潜入陈寔家中，躲藏在屋梁上。陈寔察觉后，不慌不忙地起身，将儿女子孙召集到房中，严厉地说道："一个人无论在什么情况下，都要克制自己，勉励自己。坏人并非天生就坏，而是因为平时不约束自己，养成了恶习，才逐渐变坏的。梁上那位君子正是如此。"
躲在梁上的小偷听了这番话，深感惭愧，连忙跳下地来，磕头认错求饶。
陈寔开导他说："看你的相貌，并不像坏人。你这样做，恐怕也是被贫困所迫。但你应当深刻反省，改过自新。"
接着，他马上叫人取来两匹白绢赠送给小偷。小偷不停地磕头道谢。
从此以后，这个地方就很少发生偷盗的事情了。