買櫝還珠的歷史典故-中國歷史故事英文版中英對照
Getting the casket and returning the pearl
買櫝還珠
A man from the state of Chu wanted to sell a precious pearl in the state of Zheng. He made a casket for the pearl out of the wood from a magnolia tree, which he fumigated with spices. He studded the casket with pearls and jade, ornamented it with red gems and decorated it with kingfisher feathers. A man of the state of Zheng bought the casket and gave him back the pearl.
有個楚國人想在鄭國出售一顆珍貴的珍珠。他用木蘭為珍珠作了個匣子，用香料把匣子熏香，還用珠，玉，紅寶石來加以裝飾，并插上了翠鳥的羽毛。一個鄭國人買走了這個匣子，卻把珍珠還給了他。
Too luxuriant decoration usually supersedes what really counts. This man from Chu certainly knew how to sell a casket but he was no good at selling his pearl. And the man of Zheng didn't know which is really valuable.
過于華麗的裝飾往往會喧賓奪主。那個楚國人知道如何賣掉匣子，卻不擅長出售珍珠。至于買匣子的鄭國人，他根本不懂什么才是真正有價值的。
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