The Man from Zheng Buys Shoes

供稿：王梓菲

《郑人买履》出自《韩非子·外储说左上》。韩非的文章语言幽默，于平实中见奇妙，具有耐人寻味、警策世人的艺术效果。他的很多寓言故事，都成为脍炙人口的成语典故，至今为人们广泛运用。

In the State of Zheng,there was a man who wanted to buy a pair of new shoes for himself.Before leaving home,he1)measuredhis feet with a2)rope.When he entered the market,he put his hand into his pocket to find the rope.But he found he didn’t take the rope with him.So he decided to return home to get the rope back.But when he rushed back to the market with the rope,the market had been closed.He got nothing.

An old man saw him and asked,“Why don’t you try on the shoes with your feet?”The man said,“I would rather trust the measurement than my own feet.”

1) measure [ˈmeʒə(r)] v.测量

2) rope [rəʊp] n.绳索；粗绳

从前有个郑国人，想给自己买一双新鞋子。他在离开家之前，用一段绳子先量好了脚的尺寸。到了集市，他把手伸进口袋找绳子，才发现忘带量尺寸的绳子。因此，他决定返回家中拿量尺寸的绳子。但等到他返回集市的时候，集市已经散了，他最终没有买到鞋子。

一位老人看到他并问：“你为什么不用自己的脚去试试鞋子？”那人说：“我宁可相信量好的尺寸，也不相信自己的脚。”

Questions:

1.Why the man decided to return home?

2.Why didn’t the man get the shoes finally?

Know More

The idiom“the man from Zheng buys shoes”tells people to be flexible in dealing with things rather than to be so rigid.We should pay attention to the facts of objective reality and start from reality when dealing with people.

“郑人买履”这个成语故事告诉我们：对待事物要灵活变通，不能墨守成规。与人交往时，我们要注重客观现实，为人处世要从实际出发。