In the past, there was a married couple in the State of Lu. The husband was a shoemaker who made very good shoes. The wife was a good hand at weaving silk. One day, the couple decided1 to go to the State of Yue to make a living.
When this news spread around, one man tried to dissuade2 them: "You had better not go. If you go to the State of Yue to make a living, that would be too bad. Over there, you certainly cannot make a living!"
The couple asked in surprise: "We don't understand what you mean. Each of us has superb craftsmanship3. How is it possible that we couldn't make a living? Don't talk nonsense!"
Thereupon, the man said to them: "Right. You indeed have superb craftsmanship. But you probably don't know the situation. You make shoes for people to wear, but the people in the State of Yue like to go barefooted and do not wear shoes; you weave silk to make hats, but the people there like to have their hair hanging down and do not wear hats. Then, how can you sell the shoes and hats you make? Though you are highly skilled, your manual skills are of no use over there. Then how can you make a living?" 蘇州語(yǔ)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(yǔ)文閱讀寫作培訓(xùn)</a>
After hearing this, the husband and wife saw the light: "Oh, so our way of thinking is against the current fashion."
從前，魯國(guó)有這么一對(duì)夫婦:丈夫是一個(gè)鞋匠，鞋子做得很好；妻子是一個(gè)織絹能手。一天，這兩口子商量決定，去越國(guó)謀生。
這消息一傳開(kāi)，就有一個(gè)人去勸他們說(shuō)：“還是不要去吧。如果你們到越國(guó)去謀生，那可糟了。在那里，你們一定會(huì)無(wú)法生活下去的！”
他倆奇怪地問(wèn)：“我們不懂你說(shuō)的意思！我們各人有一門手藝，怎么會(huì)生活不了呢？別胡說(shuō)了！”
于是，那人對(duì)他倆說(shuō)：“對(duì)呀，你們手藝的確很好。不過(guò)你們大概不了解情況吧！你們做了鞋子，原來(lái)是給人穿的，可是越國(guó)人喜歡赤腳，不穿鞋子；你們織的絲絹，原來(lái)是做帽子用的，可是越國(guó)人喜歡披著頭發(fā)，不戴帽子。那么，你們做的鞋子、帽子，怎么賣得出去呢？你們的技藝雖然很高，可是在那里卻用不上。到那時(shí)候，看你們?cè)趺瓷??！? 在線作文批改系統(tǒng)，<a href=http://www.zequeka.cn/jiaoshoulanmu/>易優(yōu)名師作文批改</A>
這對(duì)夫妻聽(tīng)后，恍然大悟：“噢，原來(lái)我們的想法不合時(shí)尚啊！”
1 decided
adj.決定了的，堅(jiān)決的；明顯的，明確的
參考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.這使他們比對(duì)手具有明顯的優(yōu)勢(shì)。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英國(guó)人和中國(guó)人打招呼的方式有很明顯的區(qū)別。
2 dissuade
v.勸阻，阻止
參考例句：
You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好勸阻他別那樣干。 I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾設(shè)法勸她不要投資于股票交易。 蘇州少兒書法培訓(xùn)，推薦<A http://www.zequeka.cn/Miniform/tYpe_3.html>易優(yōu)少兒書法培訓(xùn)</a>，語(yǔ)文成績(jī)好，書法少不了。
3 craftsmanship
n.手藝
參考例句：
The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技藝的一座豐碑。 We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我們很欣賞這個(gè)家具的一流工藝
