English Original
One day, King Ling Gong of Qi had a sudden whim. He enjoyed seeing women dressed in men's clothing and ordered all the women in his harem to do the same. Soon, women across the entire state followed this fashion.
Seeing the whole country imitate this style, Ling Gong became angry. He commanded officials everywhere: "Whenever you see women dressed as men, tear their clothes and rip their waistbands."
However, this trend could not be stopped.
One day, when Prime Minister Yan Zi came for an audience, Ling Gong asked him: "I have ordered all officials to forbid women from wearing men's clothes. They are to tear the clothes and rip the waistbands of any they see, without exception. Yet the trend persists. What is the reason?"
Yan Zi replied: "Your Majesty, you allow the women in your harem to dress as men, yet forbid the common people from doing so. This is like hanging an ox head outside the door but selling horse meat inside. How can that work? If the women in your harem are forbidden to wear men's clothes, then who outside the palace would dare to continue?"
Ling Gong nodded repeatedly and said: "What you say is right! What you say is right!"
Ling Gong then ordered his officials to act according to Yan Zi's advice. Sure enough, in less than a month, the trend of women dressing as men throughout the state was stopped.
中文翻译
一天，齐灵公心血来潮，喜欢看女扮男装，便命令内宫所有女子都这样穿戴。不久，全国的女子都效仿这一风尚。
看到全国上下都模仿这种装扮，灵公生气了。他命令各地官员：“只要看见女子穿男装，就撕破她们的衣服，扯断她们的腰带。”
然而，这股风气却无法制止。
一天，宰相晏子前来朝见，灵公问他：“我已命令所有官员禁止女子穿男装，见到一律撕衣断带，可风气依旧。这究竟是什么原因？”
晏子答道：“大王，您允许内宫女子穿男装，却禁止百姓这样做。这就像门外挂着牛头，门里却卖着马肉，这怎么行得通呢？如果宫内禁止女扮男装，宫外的人谁还敢继续呢？”
灵公连连点头，说：“你说得对！你说得对！”
灵公于是命令官员按晏子的话去做。果然，不到一个月，全国女子女扮男装的风气就被刹住了。