One day, Hui Zi met Zhuang Zi and told him this story:

 一天，惠子見到莊子，講了這樣一件事:

    "King Hui bestowed upon me some bottle gourd seeds which I planted in the earth. Soon afterwards a big gourd which could hold 5 dan of rice really grew in the field. Never before have I seen such a big gourd, so I was very happy. But it couldn't solve any of my practical problems. I was so disappointed that I smashed it.

    “惠王賜給我大葫蘆的種子。我把它種在地里，不久，真的結(jié)了個(gè)很大的葫蘆，恐怕裝得下五石谷子。我也是第一次看到這么大的葫蘆，高興極了。但它卻解決不了我一點(diǎn)兒實(shí)際問(wèn)題，一氣之下，我把它砸碎了。”

    When Zhuang Zi heard this, he felt very sorry and said:

    莊子聽了，十分,碗惜地說(shuō):

    "It's really a pity that you smashed such a good gourd so rashly."

    “您這樣輕易地把這么好的葫蘆打碎了，實(shí)在是太可惜了。”

    Hui Zi couldn't wait for Zhuang Zi to finish to ask:

    惠子不等莊子把話說(shuō)完，搶著問(wèn)道:

    "You feel it is a pity, then what would you use it for?"

    “您覺得可惜，您想用它做什么呢?”

    Zhuang Zi calmly told Hui Zi a story:

    莊子心平氣和地給惠子講了一個(gè)故事:

    "There was a man in our State of Song who could make medicine for preventing chilblains. For generations his family bleached and washed cotton wadding for others for a living. Someone heard of this and visited their house. He was willing to pay 100 catties of gold to buy the secret prescription handed down from their ancestors. The whole family discussed this matter: `I think we had better sell it to him. We have bleached and washed for others for generations with pitiful income. If we sell the prescription now, we can get a large sum of money at once. We mustn't miss this opportunity!’Consequently, the whole family agreed to sell the prescription."

    “我們宋國(guó)有一個(gè)人，會(huì)制作防止凍瘡的藥。他家祖祖輩輩靠給人漂洗棉絮為生。有人聽說(shuō)后就登門拜訪，愿出百斤黃金買他家的祖?zhèn)髅胤健Ｈ乙坏郎塘窟@件事:‘我看還是賣給他吧!咱們世世代代為人漂洗，收人少得可憐;現(xiàn)在如果能賣掉藥方，一下子就能得到一大筆錢，不能錯(cuò)過(guò)這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)啊!’于是，全家同意賣掉秘方。”

    Zhuang Zi continued:

    莊子接著說(shuō):

    "The man who got the prescription felt as if he had gotten 1,000 pieces of gold. He went to the King of Wu to sell his idea. At the time, the State of Yue invaded the State of Wu. The King of Wu sent the man to lead his troops into battle.

    “那個(gè)人得了秘方，像得了千金寶貝，就去游說(shuō)吳王。這時(shí)，越國(guó)侵犯吳國(guó)，吳王便派他去帶兵迎戰(zhàn)。

    "It was winter then, and the weather was very cold. The armies of the State of Yue and the State of Wu fought on water. As the Wu army had this secret prescription, not a single soldier in the army suffered from frostbite of hands or feet. In the end, they totally vanquished the Yue army. For this, the King of Wu rewarded that man generously and offered him a high post.

    “當(dāng)時(shí)，正是冬天，天氣十分寒冷。越、吳兩軍在水上交戰(zhàn)。吳軍因?yàn)橛辛诉@個(gè)秘方，全軍上下沒有一個(gè)人手腳凍裂，最后大破越軍。為此，吳王大大獎(jiǎng)賞了那個(gè)人，又封他做了大官。

    "Some people use the medicine for preventing chilblains to get high posts and titles, while others only use it to bleach and wash cotton wadding for others. Why? This is because some people can put inferior timber to big use whereas others put fine timber only to petty use."

    “能防止手足凍裂的凍瘡藥，有的人用它來(lái)封官進(jìn)爵;有的人則只能用來(lái)為人漂洗棉絮。這是為什么?這是因?yàn)橛腥诵〔拇笥茫腥藚s大材小用的緣故。”

    Zhuang Zi stopped at this point, thought for a while, then continued again:

    說(shuō)到這兒，莊子停了下來(lái)，想了想又接著說(shuō):

    "Sir, you should also learn to utilize your large gourd. I think, instead of using the gourd as a ladle for water, it would be better to use it as a yao zhou (floating aid) to cross rivers and seas. Won't it be better than the present state?"

    “先生，您也應(yīng)該學(xué)會(huì)利用大葫蘆呀!我以為用作瓢舀水，倒不如把它用作腰舟渡江河湖海，不是比現(xiàn)在更好嗎?”

    After hearing this, I}ui Zi nodded repeatedly and admitted that Zhuang Zi was wiser than he. He said with a sigh:

    惠子聽了連連點(diǎn)頭，承認(rèn)莊子比自己高明。他感嘆說(shuō):

    "It seems that I am a person with a muddled head after all."
 

    “看來(lái)，我還是個(gè)心眼不開竅的人呀!”
 

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