There was a rich man who was both good-looking and wise. For this he won everybody's admiration¹.

 

A fool learnt about this and whenever he met the rich man, he would call him "My big brother". He reasoned that since the man had a lot of money, as "younger brother" he would be able to use some of it when necessary.

 

Later on, the rich man lost his fortune. The fool no longer called him "big brother". His neighbours asked him, "How foolish you are. Why did you call him big brother when you needed his money but stopped doing so when he became indebted?"

 

And what was the fool's reply? "I called him my big brother because I wanted his money. Of course he never was my big brother so when he fell into debt², I naturally stopped calling him that."

 

从前有一个人，容貌、举止端正，富有智慧，又有很多钱财。

 

世间所有的人，没有不称赞他的。当时有个愚蠢的人，看见他有这样的地位，便说他是“我的兄长”。愚人之所以这样做，是因为这个人很有钱，愚人需要用钱的时候就可以向他借用，所以才称之为“兄长”。

 

后来愚人看见这个人给别人还债，他就说：“这人不是我的兄长。”周围的人对他说：“你真是个愚蠢的人，为什么你在需要钱的时候，就说他是你的兄长，看到他负债时，又说他不是你的兄长了呢？”

 

愚人回答：“我想得到他的钱财，所以才认他为兄长，实际上他并不是我的兄长。如果他欠了债，我就不需要再这样称呼他了，所以我现在说他不是我的兄长。”

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