Long, long ago, King Wei of the State of Chu trusted Song Yu very much, but he often heard others say bad things against Song Yu.

　　很早很早以前，楚國的楚威王很信任宋玉，可是他又經(jīng)常聽到別人講宋玉的壞話。

　　One day, King Wei of Chu asked Song Yu:

　　有一天，楚威王問宋玉:

　　"Have you ever done anything unfitting to your position? Otherwise, why do officials and people say bad things against you?"

　　“先生是不是做過一些不得體的事情呢?不然，為什么官員與老百姓都說你的壞話呢?”

　　Song Yu quickly kowtowed and said:

　　宋玉連忙磕頭說:

　　"Yes, it may be so. I hope Your Majesty will forgive my wrongdoings and allow me to finish what I have to say."

　　“是的，也許會有吧。希望大王原諒我的罪過，讓我把話說完。”

　　Then he continued:

　　接著，他說:

　　"I hear that there is a singer who often sings in the capital. In the beginning, he always sings the "Song of the Rustic Poor", and several thousand people sing with him. When he sings the song "Picking Vetches at Yangling", several hundred people sing with him; when he sings the song "Spring Snow", only over ten people sing with him. Finally, when he sings an even more refined song, only very few people in the whole state can sing with him. Therefore, the more refined the song he sings, the fewer people can join him."

　　“我聽說，有一位歌唱家，經(jīng)常在國都演唱。一開始他總是唱‘下里巴人’，能跟著他一起唱的有幾千人。然后，他再唱一支‘陽陵采薇’，能跟著他一起唱的有幾百人。當他唱‘陽春白雪’的時候，能跟著他一起唱的就只有十幾個人。最后，當他唱起一種更加高雅的樂曲時，全國能跟著他一起唱的人就寥寥無幾了。所以，樂曲越高雅，能和著一起唱的人就越少。”