Meng Chang Jun was a famous counsellor of the State of Qi.
孟嘗君是齊國(guó)有名的謀士。
One day, he wanted to leave his native country to be an official in the State of Qin. His subordinates all advised him not to go, but Meng Chang Jun wouldn't listen to them. At this time, a man told him such a story.
一天，他想離開祖國(guó)，到秦國(guó)去做官。他的部下都勸他不要去，孟嘗君不聽。這時(shí)，有人對(duì)他講了這樣一個(gè)故事:
"Once when I was passing the Zi River, I heard in my dream a man made of mud talking with a wooden puppet by the river bank.
“有一次，我經(jīng)過淄河的時(shí)候，夢(mèng)里聽見一個(gè)泥人和個(gè)木偶在河邊談話。
The wooden puppet said to the mud man:
木偶對(duì)泥人說:
`You were formerly a lump of earth, now made into a man of mud. But if it rains and the water in the river rises, you will surely be damaged by the water.'
‘你原是一塊泥土，現(xiàn)在做成泥人了�？墒�，如果天下起雨來，河里漲了水，那時(shí)候，你一定會(huì)給水沖壞的!’
The man made of mud replied:
泥人回答木偶說:
`If I were damaged by the water, I would not be afraid, but would only return to my original state and dissolve into earth. But you? You were carved from the peach tree in the garden. If it rains heavily and the water in the river rises, you will be in no position to decide for yourself and can only float away with the river current. Since you cannot decide for yourself, then you will never be able to return to your original place."'
‘我要是給水沖壞了，我也不怕，因?yàn)槲抑皇腔貜?fù)了我的原狀，化成泥土罷了�？墒牵隳�，你原來是用園里的那株桃樹雕出來的。要是天下起大雨來，河里漲了水，那時(shí)，你自己也做不得主，一定會(huì)隨河水漂去。既然你自己做不得主，就決不能再回到原地方來了。”
After Meng Chang Jun heard this story of the conversation between the mud man and the wooden puppet, he changed his mind and decided not to go to the State of Qin.
孟嘗君聽了故事中泥人和木偶的一番對(duì)話，改變了主意，決定不去秦國(guó)了。