English Original
In the past, a family in the State of Chu held a ceremony to honor their ancestors. Afterward, they decided to reward the helpers with the pot of wine used in the ritual.
There were many helpers but only one pot of wine. To decide who should drink it, someone suggested: "Let each of us draw a snake on the ground. Whoever finishes first and draws the most lifelike snake will win the wine."
Everyone agreed this was a fair idea.
One man drew his snake extremely quickly, finishing in the twinkling of an eye, and was handed the pot of wine. Seeing that the others were still drawing, he decided to flaunt his skill further. He said proudly, "You are all so slow! Let me add some feet to my snake."
Holding the wine pot in his left hand, he used his right hand to add feet to his completed drawing. Just as he was doing this, another man finished his snake. The second man immediately grabbed the wine pot and declared, "A snake has no feet. How can you add feet to it? I am the first to have finished drawing a proper snake, not you."
Having said this, the second man drank the wine with an easy conscience.
中文翻译
从前，楚国有一户人家祭祖之后，决定把祭祀用的一壶酒赏给帮忙办事的人。
帮忙的人很多，但酒只有一壶。该给谁喝呢？有人提议说：“我们每人在地上画一条蛇，谁画得最快、最像，这壶酒就归谁。”
大家都认为这个办法很好。
一个人画得极快，转眼间就画好了，酒壶便递到了他手中。他看到其他人还没画完，便想再炫耀一下自己的本领。他得意地说：“你们画得太慢了！让我给我的蛇添上几只脚吧。”
他左手拿着酒壶，右手开始给已经画好的蛇添脚。正当他添脚时，另一个人画完了。这人立刻夺过酒壶，说道：“蛇是没有脚的，你怎么能给它添脚呢？我才是第一个画完蛇的人，不是你。”
说完，这人便心安理得地把酒喝了。