Chinese Fables Bilingual Issue No. 8: He Yi

2015-05-28 「 814 words / 2 minute 」
Chinese Fables Bilingual Issue No. 8: He Yi.jpg
story
一天,子禽问他的老师墨子:
One day, Zi Qin asked his master Mo Zi:
“老师,多说话到底有没有好处?”
"Master, is there any good at all of talking much?"
墨子想了一下回答说:
Mo Zi thought for a while, and answered:
“话要是说得太多了,还有什么好处呢?”
"If one talks too much, what good is there?"
接着,又告诉子禽说:
Then, he told Zi Qin:
“蛤蟆、青蛙、苍蝇白天黑夜不停地叫,叫得口干舌燥,可是却没有人听它们的。
"Toads and frogs croak and flies buzz day and night until they are parched and dry in the mouth, yet nobody listens to them.
但是,鸡棚里的雄鸡只在黎明时啼叫两三次,大家知道鸡啼就要天亮,天下皆醒。
But a rooster in a chicken coop crows only a few times at dawn, and everyone knows that when it crows, daylight,is coming and the whole world will be awakened.
所以,多说话没有什么用处。
Therefore, there is no use talking too much.
重要的是话要说得切合时机,说到点子上。”
What is important is to suit the words to the occasion, and say things which hit the nail on the head."