中國寓言故事雙語版 第110期:一葉障目

In the State of Chu, there was a man whose family was very poor.

楚國有個人，家裏非常貧苦。

Even at night he often dreamt of striking it rich, but he never worked hard.

他晚上做夢也想發筆橫財，但是他從來不好好勞動。

One day, when he was leafing through the book Huainan Zi,he came across a line saying:“When the mantis preys on the cicada, it relies entirely upon a leaf to conceal its body.” He thought that if one could get such a leaf, one could become invisible.

一天，他翻閱《淮南子》，讀到書中這樣一句話:蛙螂捕蟬，全靠有一片能遮身的樹葉。他想，人要是能得到這片樹葉，就能隱身了。

Thereupon, he ran into the woods, looking for just such a leaf among the branches.

於是，他就跑到樹林裏，朝樹枝上尋找這樣的樹葉。

He had searched a long time before he discovered a mantis hiding itself behind a leaf and waiting to catch a cicada.

他找了很長時間，終於發現有一隻膛螂躲在一片樹葉的後面，準備捕蟬。

He climbed up the tree at once, and plucked the he was in such a big hurry that,out of carelessness,the leaf dropped to the ground.

他急忙爬上樹，摘下那片樹葉。可是，他心急火燎，一不小心，手裏的樹葉掉到了地上。

There were many, many fallen leaves on the ground. How could he identify the leaf he had plucked?

地上本來就有許許多多落葉，他怎麼能分清楚哪片是他摘下的葉子，

So he had to put all the leaves into a bamboo basket and carry them home.

只好將所有的落葉裝進竹筐，揹回家中。

As soon as he got home,he held up one leaf after another in turn to cover his eye,and kept asking his wife:

一到家，他就輪番着一片一片地舉起樹葉，遮住自己的眼睛，不停地問妻子:

“Can you see me?”

“你看得見我嗎?”

In the beginning, his wife always answered:“Yes, T can.”

開始時，妻子一直回答:“看得見。”

After a long time, she began to feel weird: What was the matter with her husband today?

時間長了，妻子感到很奇怪:

Why did he keep Holding up a leaf and asking her the same question?

今天丈夫怎麼了，爲什麼老是這樣舉起樹葉問她?

He did this over and over again for one whole day.

他這樣反反覆覆，折騰了整整一天。

In the end, his wife got impatient and humoured him by saying:“No, I can’t.”

最後，他妻子不耐煩了，便隨口敷衍了一句:“看不見!

Hearing this, he became wild with joy. He turned and ran out to the street.

哪知道他一聽，欣喜若狂，轉身跑到大街上，

Holding the leaf in one hand, he grabbed with the other hand the goods in a shop.

一手舉着樹葉.一手去撈店鋪裏的東西。

But before he could withdraw his hand, he was caught on the spot and handed over to the local yamen.

可是他的手還沒來得及縮回，就被人當場抓住，扭送到衙門裏去了。