English Original
After winning several archery contests, a young and boastful champion challenged a Zen master renowned for his skill.
The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency by hitting a distant bull's-eye on his first try and splitting that arrow with his second shot. "There," he said to the old man, "see if you can match that!"
Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow but motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain.
Curious, the champion followed until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a flimsy, shaky log. Calmly stepping onto the middle of the perilous bridge, the old master picked a faraway tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit.
"Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully stepped back onto safe ground. Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless abyss, the young man could not force himself to step onto the log, let alone shoot at a target.
"You have much skill with your bow," the master said, sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."
中文翻译
在赢得几场箭术比赛后，一位年轻而自负的冠军向一位以箭术闻名的禅宗大师发起了挑战。
年轻人展示了非凡的技术熟练度：他第一箭就射中了远处的靶心，第二箭则劈开了第一支箭。"看，"他对老人说，"看看你能否做到这样！"
大师不为所动，没有拉弓，而是示意年轻的弓箭手跟随他上山。
出于好奇，冠军跟着他，直到他们来到一个由一根脆弱、摇晃的圆木跨越的深谷前。老人平静地踏上这座危险桥梁的中央，选了一棵远处的树作为目标，拉弓射箭，干净利落地直接命中。
"现在轮到你了，"他说着，优雅地退回到安全的地面。年轻人惊恐地凝视着那看似深不见底、仿佛在召唤的深渊，无法强迫自己踏上那根圆木，更不用说瞄准目标射击了。
大师察觉到了挑战者的困境，说道："你在弓的技艺上很有造诣，但在释放箭矢的心境上，却技艺不足。"