Once, the King of the State of Wu wanted to invade the State of Chu.

 

The King of Wu warned his ministers: "If anyone should dare to dissuade¹ me from invading Chu again, I will put him to death."

 

One young hanger-on of his wanted to dissuade him but didn't dare. He carried a slingshot, and for three consecutive² days paced up and down in the King's back garden. The dew wetted his clothes all through.

 

One day, the King of Wu called him: "The dew has wetted your clothes to such a state. Why should you bear such hardship?"

 

The young man replied: "There is a cicada on a tree in this garden. The cicada is high above, chirping³ leisurely⁴ and taking in the dew freely, not knowing that a mantis⁵ is right behind it. The mantis, pressing its body close in a concealed⁶ place, is intent on catching⁷ the cicada, not knowing that a siskin is hiding right behind it. The siskin is stretching out its neck to peck at the mantis, not knowing that a man carrying a slingshot is under it. These three small creatures make every effort only to get the benefit before them but ignore entirely⁸ the disaster behind."

 

Having heard the young man's words, the King of Wu suddenly saw the light and said: "What you said is right!"

 

Consequently, the King of Wu dropped his plan to invade the State of Chu.

 

一次，吴王要进攻楚国。

 

吴王警告他的大臣们说：“有谁再敢来劝阻我进攻楚国，我就处死他。”

 

吴王的门客中有一个年青人，想去劝阻但又不敢。他怀里揣着弹弓，一连三个早晨在吴工的后花园里徘徊，露水湿透了他的衣服。

 

一天，吴王叫住他：“露水把你的衣服湿成这个样子，你何必吃这个苦呢？”

 

年青人回答说：“这个园子里，有一棵树，树上有一只蝉。蝉高高在上，悠闲地叫着，自由自在地吸着露水，却不知道有一只蝗螂在它身后呢！蝗螂把身子紧紧地贴在隐蔽的地方，只想去捕蝉，却不知道有一只黄雀早已躲在它的身后呢！黄雀正伸长了脖子想去啄蝗螂，却不知道在它下面正有人拿着弹弓呢！这三只小生物，只是力求得到它们眼前的利益，却全不管它们身后隐伏着祸患啊！”

 

吴王听了年青人的话后，恍然大悟说：“你说得好啊！”

 

于是，吴王就不再进攻楚国了。

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