正文
In a small village, there lived a potter（制陶工人）. He had a donkey（驴）. Every day his donkey would carry soil from the field to his house.
一个小村子里住着个陶工，他养了一头驴。这头驴每天从田地里把土运回家。
Since the field was quite far off, the potter would rest under a tree midway, tying his donkey nearby. One day, the potter forgot to take the rope with which he tied the donkey every day.
因为田地离家很远，所以陶工总会在半道上的一棵树下休息，把驴拴在边上。 一天，陶工忘了带他每天拴驴用的绳子。
When he reached the tree, he thought, “How do I tie this donkey today? He might run away if I sleep.” The potter decided to lie down holding the donkey’s ears so that the donkey would not run away. But this way neither the donkey nor the potter was able to take a rest.
因为田地离家很远，所以陶工总会在半道上的一棵树下休息，把驴拴在边上。 一天，陶工忘了带他每天拴驴用的绳子。
A saint（圣人）, who happened to be passing by, saw the potter holding on to the donkey’s ears. Then the saint wanted to know what the problem of the potter was.
一位圣人碰巧路过，看见陶工抓着驴的耳朵，就想知道陶工遇到了什么麻烦。
When the potter told the saint what the problem was, the wise saint said, “Take the donkey to the place where you tie him every day. Pretend to tie him using an imaginary rope. I assure you he won’t run away.”
了解了情况以后，聪明的圣人说：“你把驴牵到你每天拴它的地方去，假装手里有绳子，做出拴它的动作就可以了。我保证它不会跑走。”
The potter did what the saint had said. He left the donkey and went to take a nap（打盹）. When he woke up, to his surprise and relief, he found the donkey standing in the same place. Soon the potter prepared to leave for home. But the donkey did not move.
于是陶工就照着圣人的话做了。 接着，陶工就把驴留在原地，自己去小睡了一会儿。醒来时，他惊奇地发现驴还站在原来的地方，不禁松了一口气。 很快，陶工要回家了，但是驴却不肯挪步。
“What is wrong with this donkey?” exclaimed the potter in frustration. Luckily, the potter saw the wise saint again. He ran up to the saintand told him about the donkey’s strange behavior.
“这驴怎么了？”陶工沮丧地喊道。 幸运的是，陶工又看到了那位睿智的圣人。他跑过去和圣人讲了驴的奇怪行为。
The saint said, “You tied up the donkey, but did you untie him? Go and pretend to untie the rope with which you had tied the donkey.” The potter followed the saint’s advice. Now the donkey was ready to leave for home.
圣人说：“你把驴拴起来了，可你给它解绳子了吗？你去假装解开拴驴的绳子就好了。” 陶工照做后，驴果然愿意回家了。
The potter understood that donkey was a bonded（被束缚的） donkey. The potter thanked the wise saint and went home happily with his donkey.
陶工明白了，这是一头被束缚的驴。陶工谢过睿智的圣人，就牵着驴高高兴兴地回家了。
不要被习惯束缚，不要让习惯成为进步的羁绊。
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