英语绘本 ▏每日一读之《对牛弹琴 Playing The Lyre To A Cow》

春秋时期，有一个著名的音乐家叫公明仪，他弹琴（七弦琴）非常好听。听过他弹琴的人都会止不住地称赞他。

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a famous musician named Gong Mingyi, who played the lyre very well. People who had heard him play the lyre could not help but praise him.

一天，公明仪想试试给牛弹琴会怎样。

One day, Gong Mingyi wanted to try playing the lyre for a cow.

他对着牛弹了一首非常好听的琴曲，可是牛却埋头吃草，也不理他。

He played a very nice tune for the cow, but the cow buried its head in eating grass and ignored him.

公明仪很纳闷，难道是我弹得不够好听吗？

Gong Mingyi was very puzzled. Did I not play well enough?

他思考了一阵，忽然间恍然大悟，不是牛觉得不好听，而是他根本听不懂，我弹奏它能听懂的曲子试一试。

He thought for a while, and suddenly realized that it was not that the cow thought it was not good, but that it could not understand it at all. I tried playing a tune it could understand.

于是公明仪用琴模仿蚊子和小牛犊的叫声，牛立刻摆动尾巴，竖起耳朵仔细听了起来。

So Gong Mingyi used the lyre to imitate the calls of mosquitoes and calves, and the cow immediately swung its tail and pricked up its ears to listen carefully.

这个故事告诉我们：对不讲道理的人讲道理，对不懂得美的人讲风雅，是徒劳的。也用来讥讽人讲话时不看对象的人。

This story tells us: It is futile to reason with unreasonable people and to talk about elegance with people who do not understand beauty. It is also used to ridicule people who do not look at the object when speaking.