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One day, Confucius led his disciples to the State of Chu.
一天，孔子带着弟子去楚国。
When crossing a stretch of forest, they saw a hunchbacked old man standing under a tree, catching cicadas with a bamboo stick.
穿过一片树林的时候，他们看到一位驼背老人站在树下，手拿竹竿捕蝉，
With each stroke he caught one cicada, just as easily as picking it up at will.
一粘一只，就像随手拾来一样容易。
Confucius asked: "You are very skillful at catching cicadas. You must have followed some pattern."
孔子问:“您捕蝉捕得这么熟练，一定掌握了什么规律吧?”
"That's right!”the old man answered. "
老人回答说:“是啊!
The cicada is a clever little insect.
蝉是一种非常乖巧的小虫。
It would fly away at the mere rustling of leaves in the wind.
一有风吹草动，它就飞掉了.
Therefore, to catch cicadas, one must, first of all, train one's hand to hold the bamboo stick without shaking.
所以要捕蝉，首先要练得手拿竹竿不晃动。
When 2 pellets are put on the top of the bamboo stick and do not fall off, one has certain assurance in catching cicadas;
一直练到在竹竿顶端放两颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕蝉就有了一定的把握;
when 3 pellets are put there and do not fall off, only one cicada out of ten can manage to escape;
当放三颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕十只蝉只会逃走一只;
when 5 pellets are put there and do not fall off, then catching cicadas is as easy as picking them up at will."
当放五颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕蝉就像随手拾取一样容易了。”
He then added: "But that is not enough. One must be good at hiding oneself.
又说:“不过，这还不够，还必须善于隐蔽自己。
Now I am standing under a tree, just like half of a tree stump, with my arm stretching out like part of a withered twig.
我现在站在树下，就像是半截子树桩;伸出去的手臂，就像是一段枯萎的树枝。
Last of all, one must be attentive. When I am catching cicadas, I don't think at all of the vastness of the universe, nor do I look at the numerous things around.
最后，还必须用心专一。我捕蝉时，根本不想天地多么广大，也不看众多万物.
I only see the two wings of the cicada.
只看见蝉的两只翅膀。
No matter what happens, nothing will distract my attention.
不管发生什么情况，都不会分散我的注意力。
As I manage to accomplish all these, I can be so skillful at catching cicadas."
因为我能够做到这些，所以捕蝉才会这样熟练。”
Hearing this, Confucius turned to his disciples and said:
孔子听了，回头对他的弟子说:
"Whatever you do, only when you persevere with concentrated attention and devotion, can you achieve the acme of perfection.
“无论做什么事情，只有锲而不舍，专心致志，才能达到这样出神人化的境界。
This is the truth that this hunchbacked old man has taught us."
这就是这位驼背老人告诉我们的道理。”
