Chen Yaozi, Duke Kang Su was unsurpassed in archery, and he had a very high opinion of himself.

康肃公陈尧咨，射箭技术举世无双，他本人也自命不凡。

One day, when he was shooting arrows in his own garden, an old oil peddler happened to pass by. The old man laid down his shoulder pole with its load, stood to one side, watched askance for a long while and didn't go away.

一天，他在自己的花园里射箭。有个卖油的老头儿正好路过这里，放下担子，站在一旁，斜着眼睛看了好久仍不离去。

When the old man saw him hit the target every time, he didn't cheer, but only nodded slightly. Duke Kang Su asked:

老头儿见他箭箭射中，并不喝彩，只是微微点头。康肃公问:

"Do you know archery too? Isn't my skill excellent?"

"你也懂得射箭吗?难道我的本领还不高明吗?"

The old man said:

老头儿说:

"This is nothing, only skillful technique."

"这没什么，只不过是手法熟练而已。"

Duke Kang Su was angry and rebuked him loudly:

康肃公很恼火，大声斥责说:

"How dare you belittle my archery skill?"

"你怎么敢小看我的射箭技术!"

The old man replied unhurriedly:

老头儿不慌不忙地回答说:

"I know this from pouring oil."

"我是通过打油得知的。"

As he spoke, he put a bottle gourd on the ground, and a copper coin with a hole in its centre on the mouth of the bottle gourd. Then he slowly poured oil into the bottle gourd with a ladle. The oil, like a thin string, went straight into the bottle gourd through the hole in the copper coin without staining the coin at all.

说着，他拿了一只葫芦放在地下，又把一枚有孔的铜钱放在葫芦口上，然后用勺慢慢地往葫芦里灌油。只见油像一条细线一样，从铜钱眼里注人葫芦，铜钱却一点也没有沾油。

The old man smiled and said:

老头儿笑了笑说:

"This is nothing either, only skillful technique."

"我这也没什么，只是手法熟练罢了!"

编辑:Liuxuepaper.Com