Chinese Idioms Stories 疑邻盗斧 Once upon a time, a man lost his hatchet. He suspected that the neighbor's son had stolen it. He started observing that person. In his view, the person walked like a thief, looked like a thief, talked like a thief, and everything of the person was like of a thief. Before long, he found his hatchet when moving his strawstack. The next day, he saw the neighbor's son; this time, he felt that the person was not like a thief at all. This allegory tells us that prejudice is an obstacle to understanding the truth. If one observes the world with preconceived ideas, he or she will inevitably distort the original appearance of objective things. ----------------------- 从前有个人，丢了一把斧子。他怀疑是邻居家的儿子偷去了，便观察那人，那人走路的样子，像是偷斧子的；看那人的脸色表情，也像是偷斧子的；听他的言谈话语，更像是偷斧子的，那人的一言一行，一举一动，无一不像偷斧子的。不久后，他在翻动他的谷堆时发现了斧子，第二天又见到邻居家的儿子，就觉得他言行举止没有一处像是偷斧子的人了。 这则寓言说明，主观成见，是认识客观真理的障碍。当人以成见去观察世界时，必然歪曲客观事物的原貌。 原文： 人有亡鈇者，意者邻之子，视其行步，窃鈇也；颜色，窃鈇也；言语，窃鈇 也；动作态度，无为而不窃鈇也。俄而抇其谷而得其鈇，他日复见其邻人之子，动作态度，无似窃鈇者。