老馬識途

◎佛羅里達大學 王梓菲

“老馬識途”出自《韓非子·說林上》，比喻閱歷多的人富有經驗，熟悉情況，能起引導作用。

Durinɡ the Sprinɡ and Autumn period, the troops of Qi1)attack [??t?k] v. 攻打；侵略attacked a small state in the north. After the2)victory [?v?kt?ri] n. 勝利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 [d??rek?n] 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 [?ee?r??p?n] adv.于是；隨即Thereupon, they let several old horses lead ahead and the troops followed behind. In the end they found their way home.

春秋時期，齊國出兵攻打北方一個小國。勝利后，齊軍返回時在山谷里迷失了方向。因為齊軍是春天出征的，遍地綠色草木，但凱旋時已是冬天，草木變了樣。于是，齊軍迷失了方向，找不到回去的路。

這時，管仲說：“馬是一種有智慧的動物，能認路，可以讓馬來給我們帶路！”

于是，他們就讓幾匹老馬走在前面，軍隊在后面跟著。終于，他們找到了回去的路。

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，中國古代著名經濟學家、哲學家、政治家、軍事家。他是春秋時期法家代表人物，是周穆王的后代。公元前698 年，他開始輔佐公子糾。公元前685年，他經鮑叔牙推薦，擔任國相，輔佐齊桓公，使其成為春秋五霸之首。他被尊稱為“仲父”，于公元前645 年病逝。他被后人尊稱為“管子”，譽為“法家先驅”“圣人之師”。

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.

“老馬識途”告訴我們：

1.世間萬物皆平等，世間萬象也均能給人以思想、啟迪、智慧。

2.有經驗的人更熟悉情況，他們能夠在某個領域發揮引導作用；做事情要多動腦，善于發現身邊事物的規律；對于不了解的事情，應虛心向有經驗的人學習求教，這樣可以少走彎路，縮短試錯時間。