During the Warring States Period, King Xuan of the State of Qi loved to listen to the yu (an ancient wind instrument), especially in the ensemble.

　　戰(zhàn)國時期齊國的齊宣王喜歡欣賞吹竿，特別愛聽合奏。

　　In the palace, there was a band of fully 300 yu players. King Xuan of Qi often ordered this band to play for him.

　　王宮里，專門有個吹竿的樂隊，足足有三百人。齊宣王常常叫這個三百人的樂隊為他演奏。

　　A man named Nan Guo could not play the yu. But when he learned of King Xuan's hobby, he volunteered his service and bragged about how well he could play. He asked for permission to play for the king with other players. King Xuan was very glad to hear this and granted his request.

　　有一個名叫南郭的人，不會吹竿。但是，當他了解了齊宣王的這個嗜好以后，就毛遂自薦，吹噓自己吹竿吹得如何好，請求跟別的樂師一道為大王演奏。齊宣王聽了非常高興，批準了他的要求。

　　Thereupon, in each performance he would mingle with others, put on an act, play at random, and swindled the same amount of remuneration as paid to others. In this way, he drifted along till King Xuan of Qi died.

　　于是，每次演奏時，他混在里面，裝模作樣，胡亂地吹奏一番，卻騙得了跟別人同樣的報酬。就這樣，他一直混到齊宣王去世。

　　After King Xuan of Qi died, King Min succeeded to the throne.

　　齊宣王死后，滑王繼位。

　　Under his father's influence, King Min also loved to listen to the yu. The only difference was that he liked to listen to solos, not ensembles. King Min proclaimed that the players must perform one by one for him.

　　齊洛王受父親的影響，也喜歡欣賞吹竿。不同的是，齊滑王只愛聽獨奏，不愛聽合奏。滑王宣布，吹竿的樂師必須一個一個地為他演奏。

　　When Nan Guo heard of this, he was afraid. He knew he could not drift along any longer, so he sneaked away that very night.

　　南郭先生一聽就害怕了，知道自己再也混不下去，只好連夜溜走了。