鄭人買履 / 郑人买履
Zhèng rén mǎi lǚ
“Zheng man buy shoe”
Man of Zheng buys shoes
This is a fable having a dig at sticklers.
A man from the State of Zheng* was going to the market to buy a pair of shoes.
He took a measurement of his foot and placed it on a chair. He then forgot to take it with him to the market, so he went back home for it. By the time he returned to the marketplace, the vendors had left.
Someone said to him, “Why didn’t you try out the shoes with your own feet?” He said, “I’d rather go by the measurement recorded.”
*State of Zheng: one of the states during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 – 476/403 BC), in modern-day Henan Province in Central China.
The original text
鄭人有欲買履者，先自度其足，而置之其坐。至之市，而忘操之。已得履，乃曰：「吾忘持度。」反歸取之。及反，市罷，遂不得履。人曰：「何不試之以足？」曰：「寧信度，無自信也。」《韓非子·外儲說左上》。
(鄭人有欲買履者 一作：鄭人有且置履者)
郑人有欲买履者，先自度其足，而置之其坐。至之市，而忘操之。已得履，乃曰：“吾忘持度。”反归取之。及反，市罢，遂不得履。人曰：“何不试之以足？”曰：“宁信度，无自信也。”《韩非子·外储说左上》。
(郑人有欲买履者 一作：郑人有且置履者)
No comments:
Post a Comment