In the State of Zheng, there was a man who wanted to go into town to buy a pair of new shoes.
鄭國，有個人想去城里買一雙新鞋子。
Before leaving home, he measured his foot with a piece of straw for size. After he arrived at the town and entered a shoeshop, he put his hand into his pocket only to find that in his haste he had left the measurement at home. Thereupon, he turned round andstarted for home. But when he rushed back to the shoeshop with the measurement, the shop had closed. As a result, he had busied himself for nothing.
他離家前先用一根稻草量了自己的腳，把它當作尺碼。他到了城里，走進鞋店，伸手摸口袋，才發現因為急著趕路，把尺碼忘在家里了。于是，他轉身就往家里跑。可是等他拿著尺碼趕回鞋店的時候，店己經關門了。結果，他白忙了一陣子，還是沒有買到鞋子。
Later, someone asked him:
后來，有人問他:
"Were you buying shoes for yourself or for others?"
“你是給自己買鞋，還是給別人買?”
He answered:
他回答說:
"For myself."
“是給我自己。”
Someone else asked him:
別人又問他:
"Don't you have your feet on yourself? You need only to try on shoes with your feet to get the right size. Why did you go back home to fetch the measurement?"
“腳不是長在你自己身上嗎?只要用你的腳去試試鞋的大小，不就可以了嗎?為什么還要回家去拿尺碼呢?”
The man of Zheng insisted:
那個鄭國人堅持說:
"I would rather trust the measurement than my own feet."
“我寧愿相信尺碼，也不相信自己的腳。”