Legends hold that Shu was the king of the south sea.  Hu was the king of the North Sea, and Hun Dun was the king of the center.

 

Shu and Hu often visited Hun Dun's kingdom, and Hun Dun always gave them a feast. Shu and Hu decided¹ to reciprocate（报答，互换） his hospitality. They consulted with each other, saying, "Every person has seven apertures⁴ (eyes, nose, ears and mouth) to see, hear, eat, and breathe, but Hun Dun does not have any. Let's drill the seven apertures（孔径，开口） for him."

 

Then they drilled an aperture³ each day, and on the seventh day, they completed the seven apertures but Hun Dun died.

 

传说故事中，南海的君王叫做“倏”，北海的君王叫做“忽”，中央的帝王叫做“浑沌”。

 

倏和忽经常在浑沌的国土上见面，浑沌总是很热情地款待它们。倏和忽准备报答浑沌，两人商量说：“人人都有七窍，用来听、吃饭、呼吸，唯独浑沌没有，我们试着给他凿出七窍来吧。”

 

于是它们一天凿出一个孔窍，到了第七天，七窍是凿成了，但浑沌也死了。

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