in the state of zheng, there was a man who wanted to go into town to buy a pair of new shoes.
before leaving home, he measured his foot with a piece of straw1 for size. after he arrived at the town and entered a shoeshop, he put his hand into his pocket only to find that in his haste2 he had left the measurement3 at home. thereupon, he turned round andstarted for home. but when he rushed back to the shoeshop with the measurement, the shop had closed. as a result, he had busied himself for nothing.
later, someone asked him: "were you buying shoes for yourself or for others?"
he answered: "for myself."
someone else asked him: "don't you have your feet on yourself? you need only to try on shoes with your feet to get the right size. why did you go back home to fetch the measurement?"
the man of zheng insisted: "i would rather trust the measurement than my own feet."
郑国，有个人想去城里买一双新鞋子。
他离家前先用一根稻*量了自己的脚，把它当作尺码。他到了城里，走进鞋店，伸手摸口袋，才发现因为急着赶路，把尺码忘在家里了。于是，他转身就往家里跑。可是等他拿着尺码赶回鞋店的时候，店己经关门了。结果，他白忙了一阵子，还是没有买到鞋子。
后来，有人问他：“你是给自己买鞋，还是给别人买？”
他回答说：“是给我自己。”
别人又问他：“脚不是长在你自己身上吗？只要用你的脚去试试鞋的大小，不就可以了吗？为什么还要回家去拿尺码呢？”
那个郑国人坚持说：“我宁愿相信尺码，也不相信自己的脚。”
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