English Original
Meng Chang Jun, a renowned counsellor of the State of Qi, once considered leaving his homeland to serve as an official in the State of Qin. Despite his subordinates advising against it, he remained determined. At this point, a man told him a story.
"Once, while passing the Zi River, I dreamt of hearing a conversation between a man made of mud and a wooden puppet on the riverbank.
The wooden puppet said to the mud man: 'You were formerly a lump of earth, now shaped into a man of mud. If it rains and the river rises, you will surely be damaged by the water.'
The mud man replied: 'If I am damaged by water, I have no fear, for I would merely return to my original state and dissolve into earth. But you? You were carved from a peach tree in the garden. If heavy rain comes and the river swells, you will have no control over your fate; you can only float away with the current. Since you cannot decide for yourself, you will never be able to return to your original place.'"
After hearing this story of the mud man and the wooden puppet, Meng Chang Jun decided to change his mind and not go to the State of Qin.
中文翻译
孟尝君是齐国著名的谋士。一天，他打算离开祖国，前往秦国做官。他的部下都劝他不要去，但孟尝君不听。这时，有人给他讲了一个故事。
"有一次，我经过淄河时，在梦中听到一个泥人和一个木偶在河边谈话。
木偶对泥人说：'你原本是一块泥土，现在被做成了泥人。但如果下雨，河水上涨，你肯定会被水冲坏。'
泥人回答木偶说：'我若被水冲坏，我并不害怕，因为我只是回归了原状，化为了泥土。可是你呢？你是用园子里的桃树雕刻而成的。如果下起大雨，河水上涨，你将身不由己，只能随波逐流。既然你做不了自己的主，就再也回不到原来的地方了。'"
孟尝君听了泥人和木偶的这番对话后，改变了主意，决定不去秦国了。