King Chulin, the king of the state of Chu, was very found of officials with slender waists.
So in order to curry1 favor with（巴结，拍马屁） the king, all the officials strived to control the amount of food they had. Some of them even had only one meal a day.
And they would take a deep breath before they fasten their clothes cinctures. As a result of doing this, they could only stand up with the support of their hands against the wall.
One year later, all the court officials became wan2 and sallow（气色不好的） and looked terrible.
楚国的国君灵王是非常喜欢腰身纤细苗条的朝臣。
于是，大臣们为了讨好他，都拼命控制自己的饭量，甚至每天只吃一顿饭。
他们系衣带之前，都要长叹一口气，然后才束紧腰带，这样一来往往要扶着墙壁才能站起来。
一年之后，满朝文武都因节制饮食而变得枯黄瘦瘪，不堪入目。
