English Original
In the State of Chu, there lived a poor man who often dreamt of wealth but never worked hard.
One day, while reading Huainan Zi, he came across a line: "When the mantis preys on the cicada, it relies entirely upon a leaf to conceal its body." He concluded that possessing such a leaf would make him invisible.
Immediately, he rushed into the woods to find it. After a long search, he spotted a mantis hiding behind a leaf, poised to catch a cicada. He quickly climbed the tree and plucked the leaf, but in his haste, he dropped it. The ground was covered with fallen leaves, making it impossible to identify the right one. So, he gathered all the leaves into a bamboo basket and took them home.
Upon arriving, he held up leaf after leaf to cover his eye, repeatedly asking his wife, "Can you see me?"
At first, she always answered, "Yes, I can."
After a while, she began to feel weird. What was wrong with her husband? Why did he keep asking the same question while holding a leaf?
He continued this all day long. Finally, his wife grew impatient and humored him by saying, "No, I can't."
Overjoyed, he ran to the street. Holding the leaf in one hand, he used the other to grab goods from a shop. Before he could withdraw his hand, he was caught on the spot and handed over to the local yamen.
中文翻译
楚国有个穷人，常梦想发财却从不努力劳作。
一天，他翻阅《淮南子》，读到一句话：“螳螂捕蝉，全靠一片树叶遮蔽身体。” 他认为，得到这片叶子就能隐身。
他立刻跑到树林里寻找。找了很久，终于发现一只螳螂躲在一片树叶后准备捕蝉。他急忙爬上树摘下叶子，但因太着急，叶子掉在了地上。地上落叶无数，他无法分辨，只好把所有叶子装进竹筐带回家。
一到家，他就一片片举起叶子遮住眼睛，不停地问妻子：“你看得见我吗？”
起初，妻子总是回答：“看得见。”
时间一长，妻子感到很奇怪：丈夫今天怎么了？为何一直举着叶子问同样的问题？
他这样反复折腾了一整天。最后，妻子不耐烦了，便敷衍道：“看不见！”
他听后欣喜若狂，转身跑到大街上，一手举着树叶，另一手去捞店铺里的东西。手还没来得及缩回，就被当场抓住，扭送去了衙门。