One day, Hui Zi met Zhuang Zi and told him this story: "King Hui bestowed1 upon me some bottle gourd2 seeds which I planted in the earth. Soon afterwards a big gourd which could hold 5 dan of rice really grew in the field. Never before have I seen such a big gourd, so I was very happy. But it couldn't solve any of my practical problems. I was so disappointed that I smashed it.
When Zhuang Zi heard this, he felt very sorry and said: "It's really a pity that you smashed such a good gourd so rashly."
Hui Zi couldn't wait for Zhuang Zi to finish to ask: "You feel it is a pity, then what would you use it for?"
Zhuang Zi calmly told Hui Zi a story: "There was a man in our State of Song who could make medicine for preventing chilblains. For generations his family bleached4 and washed cotton wadding for others for a living. Someone heard of this and visited their house. He was willing to pay 100 catties of gold to buy the secret prescription5 handed down from their ancestors. The whole family discussed this matter: `I think we had better sell it to him. We have bleached and washed for others for generations with pitiful income. If we sell the prescription now, we can get a large sum of money at once. We mustn't miss this opportunity!”Consequently, the whole family agreed to sell the prescription." 作文培訓(xùn)網(wǎng)站推薦，<a http://www.zequeka.cn>易優(yōu)作文網(wǎng)</a> 。
Zhuang Zi continued: "The man who got the prescription felt as if he had gotten 1,000 pieces of gold. He went to the King of Wu to sell his idea. At the time, the State of Yue invaded the State of Wu. The King of Wu sent the man to lead his troops into battle.
"It was winter then, and the weather was very cold. The armies of the State of Yue and the State of Wu fought on water. As the Wu army had this secret prescription, not a single soldier in the army suffered from frostbite of hands or feet. In the end, they totally vanquished6 the Yue army. For this, the King of Wu rewarded that man generously and offered him a high post.
"Some people use the medicine for preventing chilblains to get high posts and titles, while others only use it to bleach3 and wash cotton wadding for others. Why? This is because some people can put inferior timber to big use whereas others put fine timber only to petty use."
Zhuang Zi stopped at this point, thought for a while, then continued again: "Sir, you should also learn to utilize7 your large gourd. I think, instead of using the gourd as a ladle for water, it would be better to use it as a yao zhou (floating aid) to cross rivers and seas. Won't it be better than the present state?" 蘇州語文閱讀寫作培訓(xùn)課程推薦，<a http://www.zequeka.cn/miniform/type_1.html>蘇州中小學(xué)語文閱讀寫作培訓(xùn)</a>
After hearing this, Hui Zi nodded repeatedly and admitted that Zhuang Zi was wiser than he. He said with a sigh: "It seems that I am a person with a muddled8 head after all."
一天，惠子見到莊子，講了這樣一件事：“惠王賜給我大葫蘆的種子。我把它種在地里，不久，真的結(jié)了個(gè)很大的葫蘆，恐怕裝得下五石谷子。我也是第一次看到這么大的葫蘆，高興極了。但它卻解決不了我一點(diǎn)兒實(shí)際問題，一氣之下，我把它砸碎了?！?
莊子聽了，十分碗惜地說：“您這樣輕易地把這么好的葫蘆打碎了，實(shí)在是太可惜了?！?
惠子不等莊子把話說完，搶著問道：“您覺得可惜，您想用它做什么呢？”
莊子心平氣和地給惠子講了一個(gè)故事：“我們宋國有一個(gè)人，會(huì)制作防止凍瘡的藥。他家祖祖輩輩靠給人漂洗棉絮為生。有人聽說后就登門拜訪，愿出百斤黃金買他家的祖?zhèn)髅胤?。全家一道商量這件事:“我看還是賣給他吧!咱們世世代代為人漂洗，收人少得可憐；現(xiàn)在如果能賣掉藥方，一下子就能得到一大筆錢，不能錯(cuò)過這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)啊！”于是，全家同意賣掉秘方?！?
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莊子接著說：“那個(gè)人得了秘方，像得了千金寶貝，就去游說吳王。這時(shí)，越國侵犯吳國，吳王便派他去帶兵迎戰(zhàn)。
“當(dāng)時(shí)，正是冬天，天氣十分寒冷。越、吳兩軍在水上交戰(zhàn)。吳軍因?yàn)橛辛诉@個(gè)秘方，全軍上下沒有一個(gè)人手腳凍裂，最后大破越軍。為此，吳王大大獎(jiǎng)賞了那個(gè)人，又封他做了大官。
“能防止手足凍裂的凍瘡藥，有的人用它來封官進(jìn)爵；有的人則只能用來為人漂洗棉絮。這是為什么？這是因?yàn)橛腥诵〔拇笥?，有人卻大材小用的緣故?！?
說到這兒，莊子停了下來，想了想又接著說：“先生，您也應(yīng)該學(xué)會(huì)利用大葫蘆呀！我以為用作瓢舀水，倒不如把它用作腰舟渡江河湖海，不是比現(xiàn)在更好嗎？”
惠子聽了連連點(diǎn)頭，承認(rèn)莊子比自己高明。他感嘆說：“看來，我還是個(gè)心眼不開竅的人呀！” 語文成績(jī)好，書法少不了，學(xué)書法，推薦<A http://www.zequeka.cn/miniform/type_3.html>易優(yōu)練字</a>
1 bestowed
贈(zèng)給，授予( bestow的過去式和過去分詞 )
參考例句：
It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是國王賜給他的頭銜。 He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他認(rèn)為自己不配得到大家賦予他的榮譽(yù)。
2 gourd
n.葫蘆
參考例句：
Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一塊去？你一定是瘋了。 Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫蘆瓢給我，我好把水舀出去。
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3 bleach
vt.使漂白；vi.變白；n.漂白劑
參考例句：
These products don't bleach the hair.這些產(chǎn)品不會(huì)使頭發(fā)變白。 Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把這塊桌布漂白了嗎？
4 bleached
漂白的，曬白的，顏色變淺的
參考例句：
His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的頭發(fā)被太陽曬得發(fā)白。 The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 陽光把她的黃裙子曬得褪色了。
5 prescription
n.處方，開藥；指示，規(guī)定
參考例句：
The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.醫(yī)生給他開了個(gè)治暈船的藥方。 The drug is available on prescription only.這種藥只能憑處方購買。
6 vanquished
v.征服( vanquish的過去式和過去分詞 )；戰(zhàn)勝；克服；抑制
參考例句：
She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身經(jīng)百戰(zhàn)，挫敗過很多對(duì)手。 來自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》 I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我對(duì)她關(guān)心照顧從而消除了她的冷淡。 來自《現(xiàn)代英漢綜合大詞典》
7 utilize
vt.使用，利用
參考例句：
The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.廚師要用吃剩的豬腿骨做湯。 You must utilize all available resources.你必須利用一切可以得到的資源。
8 muddled
adj.混亂的；糊涂的；頭腦昏昏然的v.弄亂，弄糟( muddle的過去式)；使糊涂；對(duì)付，混日子
參考例句：
He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老師一喊叫他就心煩意亂。 I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐錯(cuò)了彎。 來自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
