The original text and translation of mantis catching cicada and yellowbird.

From Liu Xiang's Talking about Zheng Yuanjian in the Western Han Dynasty.

The king of Wu wanted to cut down the thorns and told him, "Those who dare to remonstrate will die!" There are few obedient boys in the shed, and they dare not remonstrate, so they swim around the backyard with pills, exercise bullets and show their clothes. If so, it is three denier. The king of Wu said, "Why are you dressed like this?"

He said, "There are trees in the garden, and there are cicadas on the trees. The cicada sings and drinks dew, and I don't know that mantis is behind. " Mantis committed to cicada, I don't know yellowbird beside; Yellowbird craned its neck and tried to peck mantis, but didn't know the projectile was under it. All three of them want the former benefits, regardless of the later troubles. "The prince said," good! "Is to stop it soldiers.

Translation:

He Lv, the king of Wu, wanted to crusade against Chu and said to the ministers around him, "Whoever dares to persuade me not to send troops, I will kill them all!" One of the servants of the king of Wu wanted to remonstrate with him, but he didn't dare. He wandered around the backyard with a projectile and a slingshot in his hand, and the dew wet his clothes. So after a few days. The king of Wu said, "Why did you get your clothes so wet?"

The young man replied, "there is a tree in the garden, and there is a cicada on the tree." Cicada is crying loudly and sucking dew, but she doesn't know mantis is behind. " Mantis crouched near the branch, bending its forelimbs, trying to catch cicada, but didn't know that yellowbird was nearby; Yellowbird craned its neck to peck mantis, but didn't know that slingshots and projectiles were under it.

All three must want immediate benefits, but they don't consider the hidden dangers behind them. "The prince said," Good! " So the king of Wu stopped sending troops.

Extended data

Excerpted from Lesson 10 of Grade 6 (Volume 2) of Chinese published by Jiangsu Phoenix Education Publishing House.

The king of Wu prepared to send troops to attack Chu, which was opposed by some ministers. Ministers believe that although the chances of attacking Chu are great, if other vassal States take advantage of it, the consequences will be unimaginable. But the king of Wu stubbornly said, "whoever dares to dissuade me, I will put him to death!" " "

There is a boy who is the servant of the king of Wu. After listening to the ministers' discussion, he tried to convince the king of Wu. But the prince of Wu has given the order to die. What should we do?

The next morning, he walked around the palace garden with a slingshot. He doesn't mind the dew wetting his clothes and shoes. In this way, I turned around for three mornings.

The boy was finally discovered by the king of Wu. The king of Wu asked, "What did you do in the garden this morning? Look at your clothes! "

The boy replied, "tell your majesty that I am shooting birds."

The king of Wu asked, "Did you shoot a bird?"

The boy said, "I didn't shoot birds, but I saw a very interesting thing."

The king of Wu was very interested and asked, "What is this?"

"There is a tree in the garden. There is a cicada shouting loudly in the tall tree, drinking dew, but I don't know there is a mantis behind it. Mantis arched and raised his front paws to catch cicadas, but he didn't know there was a yellowbird behind him. "

The king of Wu praised him and said, "You have seen it very carefully! Does yellowbird want to catch mantis? "

The boy went on to say, "yes, the yellowbird craned its neck to peck at the mantis, but didn't know that I aimed at it with a slingshot." Cicada, mantis and yellowbird must all want immediate benefits, but they have not considered the disaster behind them! "

After listening to the young man's words, the prince of Wu suddenly realized, and repeatedly said, "Yes! Yes! You are so reasonable! " So I gave up the idea of attacking Chu.