English Original
At an exhibition of the world's greatest swordsmen, the third-place fencer took the stage. A fly was released, and with a swift arc of his sword, he cut it in half. The crowd cheered. Next, the second-place contender sliced a fly into quarters. A hush fell in anticipation of the world's greatest swordsman.
His blade descended in a mighty arc—yet the insect flew on, unharmed! The crowd was aghast. The master had seemingly missed completely, but he wore a serene smile.
"Why are you so happy?" someone yelled. "You missed!"
"Ah," replied the swordsman, "you weren't watching carefully enough. The fly lives, yes—but he will never be a father."
中文翻译
在一场世界顶级剑客的展示会上，季军剑客率先登场。一只苍蝇被放出，只见他剑光一闪，便将苍蝇斩为两半。观众欢呼起来。接着，亚军剑客登场，将一只苍蝇切成了四份。现场顿时鸦雀无声，众人屏息期待着天下第一剑客的表演。
他的利剑以雷霆之势挥下——然而，那只苍蝇却安然无恙地飞走了！观众目瞪口呆。这位大师似乎完全失手了，但他脸上却挂着平静的微笑。
“你为什么这么高兴？”有人喊道，“你没打中！”
“啊，”剑客答道，“你们看得不够仔细。苍蝇确实还活着——但它永远当不了父亲了。”