Three at Dawn and Four at Dusk（朝三暮四）
Once upon a time， In the state of Song， there lived a man who kept monkeys. He was very fond of monkeys and kept a large number of them. He could understand the monkeys and they could also understand him. He reduced the amount of food for his own family in order to satisfy the monkey‘s demands. After a while his family did not have enough to eat， so he wanted to limit he food for the monkeys. But he was afraid that the monkeys would not submit to him. Before doing that he played a trick on them： “If I give you three chestnuts in the morning and four in the evening， would that be enough？” he asked the monkeys. All the monkeys rose up in a fury. After a while， he said， “If I give you four chestnuts in the morning and three in the evening， would that be enough？” All the monkeys lay on the floor， very happy with this proposal.
譯文：
從前，在宋國有一個(gè)養(yǎng)猴子的人。他非常喜歡猴子，所以養(yǎng)了許多。他很了解猴子， 猴子們也能夠懂得他的意思。為了讓猴子們吃飽，他減少了家里的糧食。不久，他家的糧食不夠吃的了，他就想減少給猴子們的食物。但他怕猴子們不會(huì)聽他的。于是，他先哄騙它們：“如果早上我給你們?nèi)齻€(gè)栗子，晚上給你們四個(gè)栗子，夠嗎？” 猴子們都憤怒的表示不同意。過了會(huì)兒，他問：“那如果早上我給你們四個(gè)栗子，晚上給你們?nèi)齻€(gè)栗子，這樣夠了嗎？”于是猴子都樂得躺到地上，很高興地同意了。
Once upon a time， In the state of Song， there lived a man who kept monkeys. He was very fond of monkeys and kept a large number of them. He could understand the monkeys and they could also understand him. He reduced the amount of food for his own family in order to satisfy the monkey‘s demands. After a while his family did not have enough to eat， so he wanted to limit he food for the monkeys. But he was afraid that the monkeys would not submit to him. Before doing that he played a trick on them： “If I give you three chestnuts in the morning and four in the evening， would that be enough？” he asked the monkeys. All the monkeys rose up in a fury. After a while， he said， “If I give you four chestnuts in the morning and three in the evening， would that be enough？” All the monkeys lay on the floor， very happy with this proposal.
譯文：
從前，在宋國有一個(gè)養(yǎng)猴子的人。他非常喜歡猴子，所以養(yǎng)了許多。他很了解猴子， 猴子們也能夠懂得他的意思。為了讓猴子們吃飽，他減少了家里的糧食。不久，他家的糧食不夠吃的了，他就想減少給猴子們的食物。但他怕猴子們不會(huì)聽他的。于是，他先哄騙它們：“如果早上我給你們?nèi)齻€(gè)栗子，晚上給你們四個(gè)栗子，夠嗎？” 猴子們都憤怒的表示不同意。過了會(huì)兒，他問：“那如果早上我給你們四個(gè)栗子，晚上給你們?nèi)齻€(gè)栗子，這樣夠了嗎？”于是猴子都樂得躺到地上，很高興地同意了。