English Original
Once, Bin Meng was on an outing in the suburbs. He was surprised to see a rooster pulling out its own tail feathers and asked his attendant why it was doing so.
The attendant replied, "It fears that people will kill it for sacrifice because they admire its feathers."
Hearing this, Bin Meng hurried back to the palace and recounted the story to King Zhou Jingwang. He advised, "Even a rooster knows it should discard its beautiful feathers to avoid fatal disaster, let alone a person. For the safety of the state, Your Majesty should remove the 'black sheep' from the government as soon as possible."
Bin Meng was alluding to two rival factions at court, each supporting one of the king's two sons. He wished to persuade the king to resolve this hidden danger but deemed it unwise to speak directly, so he used this allegory. However, the king failed to grasp the message, and soon had to face the bitter consequences.
中文翻译
一次，宾梦到郊外游玩，惊讶地看见一只公鸡正在啄掉自己尾巴上的羽毛。他询问随从，公鸡为何如此。
随从答道：“它害怕人们因为喜爱它的羽毛而将它杀死用作祭品。”
听闻此言，宾梦急忙返回王宫，向周景王讲述了此事，并进言道：“连公鸡都知道舍弃会招致杀身之祸的美丽羽毛，何况是人呢？为了国家的安危，大王应尽早除去朝中的‘害群之马’。”
宾梦暗指的是朝廷中分为两派、各自支持景王一位公子的势力。他想劝谏国王下定决心消除这一隐患，又不敢明言，故而用此故事暗示。然而，国王并未领会故事的含义，不久便亲尝了苦果。