English Original
Once upon a time, there were two nearsighted men, Mr. A and Mr. B. They refused to admit their poor eyesight and instead boasted about how sharp their vision was.
One day, they heard that a new inscribed board was to be hung in a temple. They agreed to meet and compete to see who had better eyesight. To win, both secretly inquired beforehand about the characters written on the board. On the appointed day, they arrived at the temple early in the morning.
Mr. A looked up at the spot where the board was to be hung, wagged his head, and said, "Are these not the four characters 'Guang Ming Zheng Da'?"
Mr. B added, "What's so strange about that? I can even make out the small characters on both sides. Look, aren't these the year, the month, and the name of the calligrapher?"
The people standing nearby burst into laughter and said, "The new inscribed board hasn't been hung up yet. Where are the characters you're reading?"
中文翻译
从前，有两位近视的先生，甲和乙。他们非但不肯承认自己视力不佳，反而夸耀自己的眼力有多好。
一天，他们听说一座寺庙将要悬挂一块新匾。于是相约见面，比试谁的眼力更好。为了取胜，两人都事先悄悄打听了匾上写的字。到了约定的日子，他们一大早就来到了寺庙。
甲抬头看向准备挂匾的地方，摇头晃脑地说：“这不是‘光明正大’四个大字吗？”
乙接着说：“这有什么稀奇？我连两边的小字都能认出来呢！你看，这不是‘某年某月’和‘某某人书’吗？”
站在旁边的人们哄堂大笑，说道：“新匾还没挂上去呢。你们念的字在哪儿啊？”