郑人买履
讽刺那些死守教条、不懂灵活变通的人。
Laughs at people who stick to rules so stubbornly they forget common sense.
从前,郑国有一个人,想去市场上买一双新鞋。出门之前,他先用一根草绳量好了自己的脚,把草绳小心地放在家里的椅子上。
到了集市,他挑来挑去,终于看中了一双鞋。可是一摸口袋,他这才想起:“糟了!量脚的草绳忘在家里了!”
他放下鞋就往家跑,取了草绳再返回市场。等他气喘吁吁地跑回来,天已经黑了,集市早就散了,那双鞋也卖给别人了。
旁边的人听说这事,笑着问他:“你买鞋给自己穿,为什么不直接用脚去试一试呢?”他一本正经地说:“我只相信量好的尺寸,不相信自己的脚。”
这个故事出自《韩非子》。“郑人买履”就用来笑那些只会照着本子办事,不知道灵活变通的人。
Long ago, there was a man from the State of Zheng who wanted to go to the market to buy a new pair of shoes. Before leaving home, he carefully measured his feet with a piece of straw rope and set the rope on a chair.
At the market he found a pair of shoes he liked. But when he reached into his pocket, he gasped: “Oh no! I left the measuring rope at home!”
He put the shoes down and rushed home, grabbed the rope, and ran back. By the time he returned, panting, the sun had set, the market had closed, and someone else had bought the shoes.
A bystander laughed and asked, “You were buying shoes for your own feet — why didn't you just try them on?” The man answered seriously, “I only trust the measurement. I don't trust my own feet.”
The story comes from the Han Feizi. “A man of Zheng buys shoes” now teases anyone who follows the rulebook so blindly they forget common sense.
Let's