King Chulin, the king of the state of Chu, was very found of officials with slender waists.

 

So in order to curry¹ favor with（巴结，拍马屁） the king, all the officials strived to control the amount of food they had. Some of them even had only one meal a day.

 

And they would take a deep breath before they fasten their clothes cinctures. As a result of doing this, they could only stand up with the support of their hands against the wall.

 

One year later, all the court officials became wan² and sallow（气色不好的） and looked terrible.

 

楚国的国君灵王是非常喜欢腰身纤细苗条的朝臣。

 

于是，大臣们为了讨好他，都拼命控制自己的饭量，甚至每天只吃一顿饭。

 

他们系衣带之前，都要长叹一口气，然后才束紧腰带，这样一来往往要扶着墙壁才能站起来。

 

一年之后，满朝文武都因节制饮食而变得枯黄瘦瘪，不堪入目。

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