IntheWarringStatesPeriod,DukeWeiofQineglectedstateaffairs,forthefirstthreeyearsofhisreign,givinghimselfovertodissipation.Oneofhisministers,ChunYukunwhohadagoodsenseofhumour,saidtohim:'Thereisabigbirdwhichhasneithertakenwingnorsungforthreeyears.'Thedukeanswered,'Oncethatbirdstartstoflyandsing,itwillastonishtheworld.'Thedukethereupondevotedhimselftohisdutiesandbuilthisstateupintoapowerfulone.
战国时代，齐威王即位后做了三年国君，只顾享乐，不理政事。有个善于说笑话的人叫淳于髡，一天对齐威王说：“城里有一只大鸟，三年不飞也不叫，你知道这是什么道理?”齐威王说：“这鸟不飞则罢，一飞就冲天;不鸣则罢，一鸣就惊人。”在淳于髡的激发下，齐威王开始治理国家，取得很大成绩，齐国的声威一直保持了几十年。
SuchaLongDog
Oncetherewasablind.Onedaywhenhewaswalking,hesteppedtheheadofthedogwhowassleeping.Thedogbarkedforawhile.Theblindmanwentonformiles,thistimehesteppedtheotherdog'stail,sothisdogbarked.Theblindmanhadthoughtthatitwasthefirstdog,sohesaidinsurprise,It'sawonderthatthedogissolong.
如此长的狗
从前有个瞎子。一天，他正在行路时踩着了一只正在睡觉的狗的脑袋，狗汪汪汪地叫了一阵。这人又往前走，这回踩着的是另外一只狗的尾巴，狗又汪汪汪地叫起来。瞎子以为还是那条狗，惊诧地说：奇怪，这只狗可真够长的。
Asinging-birdwasconfined1inacagewhichhungoutsideawindow,andhadawayofsingingatnightwhenallotherbirdswereasleep.Onenightabatcameandclung2tothebarsofthecage,andaskedthebirdwhyshewassilentbydayandsangonlyatnight."Ihaveaverygoodreasonfordoingso,"saidthebird:"itwasoncewhenIwassinginginthedaytimethatafowlerwasattractedbymyvoice,andsethisnetsformeandcaughtme.SincethenIhaveneversungexceptbynight."Butthebatreplied,"Itisnouseyourdoingthatnowwhenyouareaprisoner.Ifonlyyouhaddonesobeforeyouwerecaught,youmightstillhavebeenfree."
Precautions3areuselessaftertheevent.
一只画眉鸟被囚禁在窗外挂着的一个笼子里，当其他鸟儿都酣睡时，她却在夜里唱歌。有一个夜晚，蝙蝠飞过来，抓住鸟笼的.栅栏，问她为什么白天默默无声，却在夜里放声歌唱。小鸟回答说：“我这样做是有道理的，曾经有一次，当我在白天唱歌时，一个捕鸟人被我的歌声吸引，就用鸟笼子捉住了我。从此我只在夜里歌唱。”可是，蝙蝠却说：“你现在这样做根本没用了，因为你已经成为阶下囚。若是在被捉住之前这样做就好了，那样或许你依然是自由之身!”
待事情发生之后再预防，为时已晚。
