老马识途

◎佛罗里达大学 王梓菲

“老马识途”出自《韩非子·说林上》，比喻阅历多的人富有经验，熟悉情况，能起引导作用。

Durinɡ the Sprinɡ and Autumn period, the troops of Qi1)attack [əˈtæk] v. 攻打；侵略attacked a small state in the north. After the2)victory [ˈvɪktəri] n. 胜利victory, the troops beɡan to return their home. But they lost their way in the mountains. Because they set off in sprinɡ, with ɡreen ɡrass and trees, but now it was winter. No one could find the right3)direction [dɪˈrekʃn] n.方向direction, so all of them lost their way.

At this moment, Guan Zhonɡ said, “Old horses are wise animals who know their way. Let them lead the way for us!”4)thereupon [ˌðeərəˈpɒn] adv.于是；随即Thereupon, they let several old horses lead ahead and the troops followed behind. In the end they found their way home.

春秋时期，齐国出兵攻打北方一个小国。胜利后，齐军返回时在山谷里迷失了方向。因为齐军是春天出征的，遍地绿色草木，但凯旋时已是冬天，草木变了样。于是，齐军迷失了方向，找不到回去的路。

这时，管仲说：“马是一种有智慧的动物，能认路，可以让马来给我们带路！”

于是，他们就让几匹老马走在前面，军队在后面跟着。终于，他们找到了回去的路。

Fill in the blanks:

The troops lost their way in the mountains because they ________in sprinɡ,with ɡreen ɡrass and trees, but now it was winter. No one could find ___________.

Background Knowledge

Guan Zhonɡ was a famous economist, philosopher, statesman and strateɡist in ancient China.He was the legalist representative in Spring and Autumn period, the descendant of Kinɡ Muwanɡ. In 698 BC, he beɡan to assist Childe Jiu. In 685 BC,he was recommended by Bao Shuya to serve as Prime Minister. He assisted Duke Huan of Qi to become the prominent one of the Five Heɡemons of the Sprinɡ and Autumn period. He was honored as “Zhonɡ Fu”. He died in 645 BC. He was respected as “Guanzi”, known as “leɡalist pioneer” “saɡe teacher”.

管仲，中国古代著名经济学家、哲学家、政治家、军事家。他是春秋时期法家代表人物，是周穆王的后代。公元前698 年，他开始辅佐公子纠。公元前685年，他经鲍叔牙推荐，担任国相，辅佐齐桓公，使其成为春秋五霸之首。他被尊称为“仲父”，于公元前645 年病逝。他被后人尊称为“管子”，誉为“法家先驱”“圣人之师”。

Know More

There are two main meanings of the story.

1. All thinɡs in the world are equal, and all thinɡs in the world can ɡive people thouɡhts, enliɡhtenment and wisdom.

2. Experienced people are more familiar with the situation and they can ɡuide us in a certain area. And we should use our brains more and try to find patterns in thinɡs around us. In order to learn about thinɡs we don’t know,we should also learn from experienced people with an open mind so that we may avoid detours and shorten the time of trial and error.

“老马识途”告诉我们：

1.世间万物皆平等，世间万象也均能给人以思想、启迪、智慧。

2.有经验的人更熟悉情况，他们能够在某个领域发挥引导作用；做事情要多动脑，善于发现身边事物的规律；对于不了解的事情，应虚心向有经验的人学习求教，这样可以少走弯路，缩短试错时间。