English Original
King Xuan enjoyed archery and loved to be praised as a powerful archer, though he could only draw a bow weighing thirty jin. Whenever he showed his bow to his attendants, they would pretend to struggle to draw it, bending it only halfway.
"This must weigh at least ninety jin!" they would all exclaim. "Only Your Majesty could wield such a bow." The king was always pleased to hear this.
Though he used only a thirty-jin bow, he believed until his dying day that it weighed ninety. In reality, it was thirty jin; the ninety was merely in name. For the sake of empty flattery, he sacrificed the truth.
中文翻译
宣王喜爱射箭，也喜欢被称赞为强大的弓箭手，尽管他只能拉开三十斤重的弓。每当他向侍从展示他的弓时，他们都会假装费力地去拉，却只将弓拉到一半。
他们总会齐声喊道：“这弓肯定至少有九十斤重！只有大王您才能使用这样的弓。”国王听了总是很高兴。
尽管他使用的只是一张三十斤的弓，但他至死都相信它有九十斤重。事实上，它是三十斤；九十斤只是一个虚名。为了这空洞的奉承，他牺牲了真相。