“Gui Tzu always speaks in riddles,” one of the courtiers once complained to Prince Liang. “Lord, if you forbid him to use allegories, believe me, he will not be able to intelligently formulate a single thought.”
The prince agreed with the petitioner. The next day he met Gui Zi.
“From now on, please leave your allegories and speak directly,” said the prince.
In response he heard:
— Imagine a person who doesn’t know what a catapult is. He asks what it is, and you answer that a catapult is a catapult. Do you think he will understand you?
“Of course not,” answered the prince.
- And if you answer that the catapult resembles a bow and is made of bamboo, will it be clearer to him?
“Yes, that’s clearer,” agreed the prince.
“To make it clearer, we compare what a person does not know with what he knows,” explained Gui Tzu.
The prince admitted that he was right.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru