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，还必须善于隐藏自己。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：“无论做什么时候，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