In the past, a man of the State of Chu intended to go to the State of Zheng to sell pearls.

 

First he used rare lily magnolia to make a small exquisite¹ case which he fumigated² with the delicate fragrance³ of osmanthuses and Chinese prickly ashes. Furthermore, the case was inlaid with emerald-green jadeite, and adorned⁵ with attractive rosy⁶ jade⁴. The whole case was decorated in an extremely exquisite way.

 

A man of the State of Zheng saw this exquisite case and liked it very much. He bought it with a great deal of money, but he returned the pearl in the case to the man of Chu.

 

Later, people ridiculed⁷ the man of Chu by saying that he was good at selling cases, but not good at selling pearls.

 

To go too far in the pursuit of form just like letting a presumptuous⁸ guest usurp⁹ the host's role, which brings about opposite results.

 

从前，有个楚国人准备到郑国卖珍珠。

 

他先用名贵的木兰做了一只精巧的小匣子，又用幽香的牡桂和花椒把匣子熏了一下，并且在匣子上面镶了碧绿的翡翠，还嵌上引人注目的玫瑰石，整个匣子装演得十分考究。

 

有个郑国人看到这只精美的匣子，非常喜欢，就用重金买了下来。但是，他却把匣子里的珍珠退还给了那个楚国人。

 

后来，人们都嘲笑这个楚国人，说他很善于卖匣子，却不善于卖珍珠。

 

过分追求形式，反而会喧宾夺主，效果适得其反。

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