In the past, an old man named Huang Gong in the State of Qi was very particular about being modest and humble, and he liked to be praised by people for his modesty and humbleness.

　　從前，齊國有一位名叫黃公的老人，為人很講究謙讓，也很喜歡人家稱贊他品行謙卑。

　　Huang Gong had two sweet young daughters. They were as beautiful as flowers, with elegant and graceful carriages, and could be called unsurpassed beauties. Huang Gong confined them to their isolated boudoir, and forbade them to show their faces in public.

　　黃公有兩個妙齡女兒，長得花容月貌，談吐嫻雅，堪稱天姿國色。黃公將她倆藏在深閨高閣之中，不準拋頭露面。

　　Whenever someone congratulated Huang Gong for having nice daughters by cupping one hand in the other before the chest, he always shook his head repeatedly and said:

　　有人拱手稱賀，黃公卻總是連連搖頭:

　　"My daughters are ugly, plain, coarse. and stupid, not worth mentioning."

　　“小女貌丑質(zhì)陋，粗俗蠢笨，不足掛齒!”

　　From then on, people believed this to be true. The reputation of Huang Gong's two daughters being ugly spread around. Though they had reached marriageable age, no one called to ask for their hands.

　　長此以往，眾人都信以為真。黃公兩個女兒的丑陋的名聲便也傳揚開來。盡管她們早已到了婚嫁年齡，卻沒有一個人上門求婚。

　　There was a rascal in the State of Wei whose wife had died. He had no money to remarry, so he called at Huang Gong's house to propose marriage. As expected, Huang Gong agreed. After the wedding ceremony, when the veil of the bride was removed, the rascal saw a lady of unsurpassed beauty and was extremely happy.

　　衛(wèi)國有個無賴，老婆早死了，一直沒有錢再娶，只好跑到黃公門上來求婚，黃公果然同意。等到婚禮完畢，揭開頭紗一看，竟是一位絕代佳人，無賴高興得不得了。

　　News spread around fast. Not until then, did people realize that Huang Gong had been overmodest and had deliberately described his daughters as ugly. Thereupon, many distinguished families came to propose marriage to the second daughter. Thereafter Huang Gong's house became as crowded as a market place.

　　消息不脛而走。這時候，人們才知道:原來是黃公過于謙虛，故意把自己女兒說得丑陋。于是，許多名門望族紛紛前來爭聘他的第二個女兒。從此，黃公家門庭若市。