Ye Gong was well-known for his fondness for dragons: In the house where he lived, dragons were painted on the walls and carved on the pillars and the four walls of his bedroom. There were dragons everywhere, up and down, front and back, with each dragon baring its teeth and brandishing¹ its claws.

 

In the heavens there was a real dragon. It was very happy to hear that Ye Gong was so fond of dragons.

 

One day, the sky suddenly darkened, and then came wind, thunder and rain. The real dragon flew to Ye Gong's home. It poked² its head into the window in the south and coiled its tail to the window in the north, rocking and rattling³ the whole house.

 

At the sight of this real dragon, Ye Gong was frightened out of his wits. He trembled all over and hurriedly hid himself.

 

So it turned out that what Ye Gong liked was painted and carved fake dragons but not real ones.

 

叶公喜欢龙，已经出了名了。他住的屋子里，墙上画着龙，柱子上雕着龙，卧室四面的墙壁上也刻着龙，上上下下，前前后后，到处都是龙，一条条张牙舞爪。

 

天上有一条真的龙，听说叶公这样喜欢龙，高兴极了。

 

有一天，天空突然暗了下来，又是刮风，又是打雷，又是下雨，真龙飞到了叶公的家里。它把头伸进了南面的窗口，把尾巴绕到了北面的窗口，把整个屋子摇得格格直响。

 

叶公看到这条真龙，一下子吓得魂飞魄散，浑身发抖，急忙躲了起来。

 

原来，叶公喜欢的只是那些画着、雕着的假龙，而不是真龙！

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