古之君人，有以千金求千里马者，三年不能得。
涓人言于君曰：“请求之。”
君遣之，三月得千里马，马已死，买其首五百金，反以报君。
君大怒曰：“所求者生马，安事死马，而捐五百金。”
涓人对曰：“死马且买之五百金，况生马乎？天下必以王为能市马，马今至矣。”
于是不能期年，千里之马至者三。
——《战国策》
杨宪益、戴乃迭 译:
Buying a Good Horse
There was a
king who was willing to pay a thousand pieces of gold for a horse
that could run a thousand li without stopping. For three years he
tried in vain to find such a steed.
Then someone
offered: “let me look for a horse for your Majesty.”
The king
agreed to this.
After three
months this man came back, having spent five hundred pieces of gold
on a horse’s skull.
The king was
most enraged.
“I want a
live horse!” he roared. “What use is a dead horse to me? Why spend
fiver hundred pieces of gold on nothing?”
But the man
replied: “If you will spend five hundred pieces of gold on a dead
horse, won’t you give much more for a live one? When people hear of
this, they will know you are really willing to pay for a good
horse, and will quickly send you their best.”
Sure enough,
in less than a year the king succeeded in buying three excellent
horses.
(Warring States Anecdotes)
青春就应该这样绽放 游戏测试：三国时期谁是你最好的兄弟！！ 你不得不信的星座秘密
