Someone mocked at Hui Zi before the King of Liang.
有人在梁王面前嘲笑惠子:
"This Hui Zi likes to use metaphors when he speaks. If he is not allowed to use metaphors, he surely won't be able to explain anything at all."
“这个惠子说话爱用比喻,假如不准他用比喻,那他一定什么也说不清楚了。”
The following day the King of Liang met Hui Zi and said to him:
第二天,梁王见到惠子,就对他说:
"From now on, when you speak, come straight to the point and do not use metaphors and beat about the bush."
“你以后讲话直截了当讲,不要再用比喻,拐弯抹角的。”
Hui Zi said:
惠子说:
"Now someone does not know what a slingshot is. You tell him, ` `A slingshot' is `a slingshot'.’Can he understand?"
“现在有个人不知道‘弹’是一种什么东西。你告诉他:‘弹’就是‘弹’,他听得明白吗?”
"How can he understand?" said the King of Liang.
梁王说:“那怎么能明白呢?”
Hui Zi went on:
惠子说:
"If I tell him a slingshot is like a bow, its bowstring is made of bamboo, and it is a device for shooting, can he understand?"
“如果我告诉他,弹的形状像弓,弦是用竹子做的,是一种射具,他能明白吗?”
The King of Liang said:
梁王说:
"Yes, he can."
“可以明白了。”
Hui Zi said:
惠子说:
"The purpose of drawing an analogy between the thing people have already known and the thing they don't know yet is to make them understood. You want me to speak without using metaphors. How can that be done?"
“用别人已经了解的事物来比喻他还不了解的事物,目的是要使他了解。你让我说话不用比喻,那怎么行呢?”
The King of Liang said:
梁王说:
"What you said is right."
“你说得对呀!”