One day, King Tang, the founder¹ of the Shang Dynasty, saw a man arranging a net on all sides and praying to the deity²: "Let those that fly down from the sky, those that come out of the ground, and those that come running from all directions all run into my met!"

 

Tang said: "Well, isn't this catching³ the whole lot in one net?"

 

Tang went forward and took away the net on three sides, leaving only one side there. Then he said to the man: "Now please pray again! You can say thus: In the past, the spiders have spun⁴ nets. Now people have learned to make nets too. You birds and animals, those that want to turn left can go to the left; those that want to turn right can go to the right; those that want to fly can soar; those that want to get into holes can get intoholes. I only catch those that are doomed⁵ to die."

 

The much-told tale of King Tang's leaving the net open on three sides spread far and wide at once. When the people of the states south of the Han River heard of it, they all said: "King Tang of Shang bestows⁶ favour even upon birds and animals. He is so lenient⁷ that he is truly a benevolent⁸ man."

 

Thereupon, all the 40 small states of the time had a heartfelt admiration⁹ for Tang and pledged ther allegiance to the Shang Dynasty.

 

一天，商朝开国君主汤看见一个人四面布下了天罗地网，正在向神祷告: “从天上飞下来的，从地下钻出来的，从四面八方跑过来的，都撞到我的网里来吧！”

 

汤说：“咦！这不是一网打尽了吗？”

 

汤上前收掉了三面的网，只留下一面的网。然后，他对那人说：“请你重新祷告吧！你可以这样说：过去，蜘蛛织出了网，现在人们也学会了织网。你们这些鸟兽，想往左边的就往左边走开；想往右边的就往右边走开；想高飞的就高飞；想钻洞的就钻洞；我仅仅捕捉那些命里注定要死的。”

 

商汤网开三面的佳话，一下子传开了。汉水以南各国知道后，都说：“商汤对禽兽也这样恩赐，这样宽恕，真是个仁慈的人。”

 

于是，当时的四十个小国家都心悦诚服地归顺了商汤。

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