Once, the King of the State of Wu wanted to invade the State of Chu.
The King of Wu warned his ministers: "If anyone should dare to dissuade1 me from invading Chu again, I will put him to death."
One young hanger-on of his wanted to dissuade him but didn't dare. He carried a slingshot, and for three consecutive2 days paced up and down in the King's back garden. The dew wetted his clothes all through.
One day, the King of Wu called him: "The dew has wetted your clothes to such a state. Why should you bear such hardship?"
The young man replied: "There is a cicada on a tree in this garden. The cicada is high above, chirping3 leisurely4 and taking in the dew freely, not knowing that a mantis5 is right behind it. The mantis, pressing its body close in a concealed6 place, is intent on catching7 the cicada, not knowing that a siskin is hiding right behind it. The siskin is stretching out its neck to peck at the mantis, not knowing that a man carrying a slingshot is under it. These three small creatures make every effort only to get the benefit before them but ignore entirely8 the disaster behind."
Having heard the young man's words, the King of Wu suddenly saw the light and said: "What you said is right!"
Consequently, the King of Wu dropped his plan to invade the State of Chu.
一次，吴王要进攻楚国。
吴王警告他的大臣们说：“有谁再敢来劝阻我进攻楚国，我就处死他。”
吴王的门客中有一个年青人，想去劝阻但又不敢。他怀里揣着弹弓，一连三个早晨在吴工的后花园里徘徊，露水湿透了他的衣服。
一天，吴王叫住他：“露水把你的衣服湿成这个样子，你何必吃这个苦呢？”
年青人回答说：“这个园子里，有一棵树，树上有一只蝉。蝉高高在上，悠闲地叫着，自由自在地吸着露水，却不知道有一只蝗螂在它身后呢！蝗螂把身子紧紧地贴在隐蔽的地方，只想去捕蝉，却不知道有一只黄雀早已躲在它的身后呢！黄雀正伸长了脖子想去啄蝗螂，却不知道在它下面正有人拿着弹弓呢！这三只小生物，只是力求得到它们眼前的利益，却全不管它们身后隐伏着祸患啊！”
吴王听了年青人的话后，恍然大悟说：“你说得好啊！”
于是，吴王就不再进攻楚国了。
