失斧疑鄰 / 失斧疑邻
shī fǔ yí lín
“lose axe suspect neighbour”
This is a saying from an ancient Chinese story by philosopher 列子 Liè Zǐ of The Warring States period, 475-221 B.C..
A man who had lost his axe suspected his neighbour’s son. Every time he looked at the neighbour’s son, the latter had all the body language of a thief.
A bit later, the man found his axe. The next time he saw the neighbour’s son, the latter no longer looked like a thief.
So his brain had been leading his eyes astray then.
It happens often enough, doesn’t it? I myself was guilty of judging an old man by his unkempt appearance and the fact that his flies were undone in this episode: https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2012/07/smell-london.html.
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