One day, Confucius led his disciples¹ to the State of Chu. When crossing a stretch of forest, they saw a hunchbacked old man standing² under a tree, catching³ cicadas with a bamboo stick. With each stroke he caught one cicada, just as easily as picking it up at will. Confucius asked: "You are very skillful at catching cicadas. You must have followed some pattern."

 

"That's right!”the old man answered. "The cicada is a clever little insect. It would fly away at the mere⁴ rustling⁵ of leaves in the wind. Therefore, to catch cicadas, one must, first of all, train one's hand to hold the bamboo stick without shaking. When 2 pellets are put on the top of the bamboo stick and do not fall off, one has certain assurance in catching cicadas; when 3 pellets are put there and do not fall off, only one cicada out of ten can manage to escape; when 5 pellets are put there and do not fall off, then catching cicadas is as easy as picking them up at will."

 

He then added: "But that is not enough. One must be good at hiding oneself. Now I am standing under a tree, just like half of a tree stump⁶, with my arm stretching out like part of a withered⁷ twig⁸. Last of all, one must be attentive⁹. When I am catching cicadas, I don't think at all of the vastness of the universe, nor do I look at the numerous things around. I only see the two wings of the cicada. No matter what happens, nothing will distract my attention. As I manage to accomplish all these, I can be so skillful at catching cicadas."

 

Hearing this, Confucius turned to his disciples and said: "Whatever you do, only when you persevere¹⁰ with concentrated attention and devotion, can you achieve the acme¹¹ of perfection. This is the truth that this hunchbacked old man has taught us."

 

一天，孔子带着弟子去楚国。穿过一片树林的时候，他们看到一位驼背老人站在树下，手拿竹竿捕蝉，一粘一只，就像随手拾来一样容易。孔子问：“您捕蝉捕得这么熟练，一定掌握了什么规律吧？”

 

老人回答说：“是啊！蝉是一种非常乖巧的小虫。一有风吹草动，它就飞掉了，所以要捕蝉，首先要练得手拿竹竿不晃动。一直练到在竹竿顶端放两颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕蝉就有了一定的把握；当放三颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕十只蝉只会逃走一只；当放五颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕蝉就像随手拾取一样容易了。”

 

又说：“不过，这还不够，还必须善于隐蔽自己。我现在站在树下，就像是半截子树桩；伸出去的手臂，就像是一段枯萎的树枝。最后，还必须用心专一。我捕蝉时，根本不想天地多么广大，也不看众多万物，只看见蝉的两只翅膀，不管发生什么情况，都不会分散我的注意力。因为我能够做到这些，所以捕蝉才会这样熟练。”

 

孔子听了，回头对他的弟子说：“无论做什么事情，只有锲而不舍，专心致志，才能达到这样出神人化的境界。这就是这位驼背老人告诉我们的道理。”

点击收听单词发音