Shortly after King Zhao of the State of Yan came to the throne, he went to visit Guo Kui, an able and virtuous¹ scholar, and asked for his advice on how to govern the state and make it strong, and how to avenge² his father and wipe off the shame of the state. Guo Kui told him the story of "Buying Bones with 1,000 Pieces of Gold".

 

In ancient times, there was a king very fond of horses that could cover 1,000 1i a day. He sent many people, sought many means and spent lots of money to buy such horses. Yet three years had passed, and no such horses were available.

 

One day, a guard volunteered to help and said to the king: "I am willing to buy a thousand-li steed for Your Majesty³."

 

The king was pleasantly surprised. He asked: "You? Can you make it?"

 

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured," replied the guard.

 

The king complied with his request and let him go on his mission.

 

The guard sought for the horse wholeheartedly. He spent three months, and after much effort found out the whereabouts of such a horse. But when he hastened there, the horse had already died. Without the least hesitation⁴, he bought the bones of the horse with 500 pieces of gold, and returned to report to the king.

 

On seeing the horse bones the guard had actually bought, the king flew into a rage. "You! What I want is a live horse, but you have bought the bones of a dead horse. What is the use? You have wasted 500 pieces of gold. What punishment do you think you deserve?"

 

The guard replied calmly: "Your Majesty, this is to let the general public know that Your Majesty is willing to pay a high price for even a dead thousand-li horse, let alone a live one. All the people in the world will know that Your Majesty wishes to buy a thousand-li horse sincerely. Your Majesty, don't be angry. Just wait and the horse you want will come very soon."

 

As the guard had expected, the king bought three thousand-li horses within one year.

 

燕国国君燕昭王即位后不久，去拜访贤士郭魄先生，向他请教如何治国图强，为先王报仇，为国雪耻。郭魄给燕昭王讲了一个“千金买骨”的故事。

 

古时候，有一位国君，他非常喜欢千里马。他派了很多人，想了不少办法，花了许多钱去买马。可是，三年过去了，千里马仍然没有买到。

 

一天，一个卫士自告奋勇，对国君说:“我愿意为大王买马。”

 

“你!”国君又惊又喜，“你能行吗？”

 

“请大王放心！”

 

国君答应了他的请求，让他去了。

 

卫士一心一意寻找千里马，花了三个月的时间，好不容易打听到了一匹千里马的下落。但是，等他赶到那儿的时候，这匹千里马已经死了。卫士毫不犹豫，花了五百金买下了这副千里马的骨头，回来报告国君。

 

国君一看买回来的竟是马骨，气得暴跳如雷，骂道：“你！我要的是活马。可是，你买回来的却是死马骨头，有什么用？白白糟蹋了五百金，该当何罪？”

 

卫士不慌不忙地回答说：“大王，我是为了让老百姓知道，大王连死的千里马也肯花大价钱买，何况活的千里马呢？天下的人都会知道，大王是真心诚意要买千里马。大王，您不要生气，您等着吧！不久，您要的千里马一定会来的。”

 

果然，不出卫士所料，一年不到，国君就买到了三匹千里马。

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