A man was about to go away on a long journey. He told his servant, "You keep an eye on the gate and look after the donkey."
After the master had left, the servant heard someone playing music in the neighborhood. Unable to restrain himself, he wanted to go there and listen. Feeling ill at ease, he roped the gate onto the donkey's back and made it carry the gate all the way to the site of the show.
With the servant gone, all the valuables in the house were stolen by thieves. When the master returned he asked, "Where are my valuables?" The servant replied, "Master, you only told me to keep on the gate and the donkey with the leash1. Apart from them, l know nothing of the whereabouts of your things."
The master declared, "l left you here to guard the gate precisely2 for the sake of looking after my valuables. With all my valuables gone, what is the good of having a gate?"
有一个人即将要出门远行，他吩咐仆人说：“你好好守着门，并且看管住大门和驴子。”
主人出门后，正好这时有邻里人家在奏乐，这个仆人很想去听，不能安心地看守房子。于是他便用绳索把门系在驴背上，赶着驴来到奏乐的地方，去听音乐演奏。
这个仆人离开之后，主人家中的财务全都被贼偷去了。主人回来，问这个仆人说：“财宝到哪儿去了？”仆人便回答说：“主人您先前吩咐我看守门和驴子。除了这些东西之外，我就什么也不知道了。”
主人又说：“我留你守门，正是为了看住财物。财物既然已经丢失了，还要门做什么用呢？”
