English Original
Once, when Confucius was traveling in the state of Chu, he saw a stooped old man catching cicadas with a long, sticky pole. He did this as easily as picking up objects from the ground.
Intrigued, Confucius asked him the secret to his skill. The old man replied, "After five or six months of practice, only a few cicadas could escape. With more practice, even fewer escaped, until it eventually became as effortless as picking things up from the ground. My method is this: I focus intently on the cicada's wings, completely ignoring my surroundings and allowing nothing to distract my attention. How could I fail to catch them?"
Confucius sighed with admiration and said, "When you devote yourself wholeheartedly to a task, your concentration becomes total, and your skill becomes extraordinary. This is the perfect description of the stooped old man."
中文翻译
一次，孔子在楚国游历时，看见一位驼背老人用一根长长的粘竿捕捉树上的蝉。他做这件事，就像从地上捡东西一样轻松。
孔子感到惊奇，便询问他技艺的奥秘。老人回答说：“我练习了五六个月后，捉蝉时逃掉的蝉就已经很少了。继续练习，逃掉的就更少，最后变得像从地上捡东西一样毫不费力。我的方法是：我全神贯注地盯着蝉的翅膀，完全忽略周围的一切，不让任何事物分散我的注意力。这样，怎么会捉不到呢？”
孔子赞叹道：“当你全心全意投入一件事时，精神就会高度集中，技艺自然出神入化。这说的正是这位驼背老人啊。”