投鼠忌器

There is a story in "Hanshu" telling of a rich man, who being a lover of antique and had a large collection. Among them was a rare vase made of jade¹（翡翠）. The vase of exquisite²（精致的） workmanship and of historical value and he loved it dearly. 

 

One night he noticed a mouse passing near the precious vase. The mouse jumped into the vase and was trying to eat some food which the man had carelessly left there. The sigh infuriated（激怒） the man and in a fit of rage he threw a stone at the mouse. For sure, the mouse was killed, but the precious vase was broken also. The loss of the vase pained the man greatly and he deeply regretted his own thoughtlessness, which bought him this unrecoverable loss. 

 

He now realized that any one, who cares for the present and overlooks consequences is apt to bring disasters upon himself. So he exclaimed to warn people by saying do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse.

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