English Original
A long time ago in China, people had heard of a strange, amazing beast called an elephant from a faraway land, but no one had ever seen one. One day, a visiting ruler brought a live elephant as a gift to the Emperor.
No one in China had seen anything like it. After the guest left, it was all anyone at court could talk about.
"This elephant is bigger than a water buffalo!" said one mandarin.
"Are you kidding?" said a second. "It's bigger than a rhino!"
"You must be joking," said a third. "This elephant is bigger than TWO rhinos!"
One day, the Emperor asked his mandarins, "I want to know how much this amazing elephant weighs. Who can tell me how to weigh it?"
"I can!" said the first mandarin, a former merchant. "We will put it on a scale."
"Not likely," said the Emperor. "No scale could hold an elephant without breaking."
"I can!" said the second mandarin, a former tailor. "We will measure it."
"No," sighed the Emperor. "Measuring its parts won't tell us its weight."
"I can!" said the third mandarin, a former baker. "We will cut it up and cook it. Then we will know."
"We will surely NOT do that!" roared the Emperor. "Is there NO ONE who can tell me?"
Then a small voice said, "I can."
All eyes turned. It was the Emperor's young son!
"Son! You should be in bed," said the Emperor.
"But I know how," said the boy. "And we won't need to cook it first."
"Very well," smiled the Emperor. "Tell me."
The boy explained: "Put the elephant in a big boat on the water. Mark the waterline on the boat's side. Bring the boat back, take the elephant off, and load it with rocks, one by one. When the boat sinks to the same waterline, bring it ashore. Weigh all the rocks. Their total weight is the elephant's weight!"
"Wonderful!" everyone shouted.
"It will work!" called the first mandarin.
"What a clever plan!" said the second.
"Who knew this child would know?" said the third.
And the fame of the Emperor's clever son spread far and wide.
中文翻译
很久以前在中国，人们听说过远方有一种叫“象”的神奇巨兽，但从未有人亲眼见过。一天，一位来访的统治者给皇帝带来了一头活象作为礼物。
全中国都没人见过这样的动物。客人离开后，宫廷上下都在谈论它。
一位大臣说：“这象比水牛还大！”
第二位说：“开玩笑吧？它比犀牛还大！”
第三位说：“你一定在说笑。这象比两头犀牛还大！”
一天，皇帝问他的大臣们：“我想知道这头神奇的大象有多重。谁能告诉我怎么称它？”
曾为商人的第一位大臣说：“我能！我们把它放到秤上。”
皇帝说：“不可能。没有秤能承受大象的重量而不坏掉。”
曾为裁缝的第二位大臣说：“我能！我们来测量它。”
皇帝叹气道：“不行。测量它的各个部分也无法知道重量。”
曾为面包师的第三位大臣说：“我能！我们把象切开煮熟。然后我们就知道了。”
皇帝吼道：“我们绝对不那样做！难道就没人知道吗？”
这时，一个细小的声音说：“我能。”
所有的目光都转向声音来源。是皇帝年幼的儿子！
皇帝说：“儿子！你该睡觉了。”
男孩说：“但我知道方法。而且我们不需要先煮它。”
皇帝微笑着说：“很好。告诉我。”
男孩解释道：“把大象放到水中的大船上。在船身与水面接触处划一条线。把船划回来，卸下大象，然后一块一块地往船上装石头。当船下沉到刚才划的线时，再把船划回来。称量所有石头的重量。它们的总重量就是大象的重量！”
“太妙了！”众人欢呼。
“这办法行得通！”第一位大臣喊道。
“多聪明的计划！”第二位说。
“谁能想到这孩子会知道？”第三位说。
从此，皇帝聪明儿子的美名传遍了四方。