Four idiom stories
3 min readHis Spear against His Shield
A man of the state of Chu had a spear and a shield for sale. He was loud in praises of his shield.
“My shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it through.”
He also sang praises of his spear.
“My spear is so strong that it can pierce through anything.”
“What would happen,”he was asked,”if your spear is used to pierce your shield?”
It is impossible for an impenetrable shield to coexist with a spear that finds nothing impenetrable.
Aping a Beauty
Xi shi was a famous beauty of the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period. Once she had a pain in her bosom, so she had a frown on her face when she went out. An ugly girl who lived nearby saw her and thought she looked very beautiful. Therefore when she went home, she also put her hands on her bosom and had a frown on her face.
When the rich men in the neighborhood saw her, they shut their doors tightly and did not go out. When the poor men saw her, they took thier wives and children away and gave hera wide berth.
She only knew Xi shi’s frown looked beautiful but she did not know the reason for its beauty.
Marking the Boat for a Dropped Sword
A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river in a boat. His sword fell into the water.
Immediately he made a mark on the boat.
“This is where my sword fell off,”he said.
When the boat reached the bank, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.
The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look fora sword?
Blessing or Blame
Long ago, near the frontier lived an old man. One day he found his horse missing. It was said that the horse was seen running outside the border of the country. The neighbors came to comfort him for the unfortunate loss. But the old man was unexpectedly calm and said,”It doesn’t matter; it may not be a bad event, on the contrary,I think it can be a good thing.”
One night the old man heard some noise of horses and got up to see what was going on. To his surprise, he saw a beautiful horse together with his own horse. It was clear that his horse had brought a companion home. Hearing the news, the neighbors all came to say congratulation on his good luck. At the greetings, however, the old man was very calm and thoughtful. He said,”It is true that I got a new horse for nothing, but it is hard to say whether it is good or bad. It may be an unlucky thing.”
What he said was testified right. The son of the old man was very fond of the horse broughthome, and one day, when he was riding the horse, he fell down from the horseback and his left leg was badly injured. Since then he was never able to walk freely.”Nothing serious,”the old man said,”perhaps it is a good thing.”
A year later, many of the youth there were recruited to fight in a war and most of them died.
The son of the old man was absolved from the obligation for his disability, so he escaped death.
