春秋時有個人叫莊周，
家貧無糧去求友。
朋友說很快有進項，
請莊周耐心地等候。
莊周一聽很生氣，
板著臉把一個故事講給朋友。
說他在車轍裏見了一條鯉魚，
為活命這條魚向他哀求，
求莊周賜給它清水一鬥，
“我欣然答應了魚的請求。
可我說馬上要到南方旅遊，
答應給你的水須待我回來之後。
那條魚聽了我的話非常生氣，
說那樣它早擺在幹魚店裏頭。”
說完這段寓言故事後，
莊周生氣地轉身就走。
莊周曆來說話好繞彎子，
故事講的道理不難猜透：
它勸人對待困窘的人，
要及時有力地援救。
假如隻是嘴裏答應沒行動，
那簡直比直接拒絕還要叫人難受。
A Carp in a Dry Rut
In the Spring and Autumn Period（770—476B。C。），there was a scholar by the name of Zhuang Zhou。He was very poor and went to his friends for help。His friend told him that he was going to have a large sum of money pretty soon，and promised to lend some more money to him if he would like to wait。
On hearing this，Zhuang Zhou was very angry。Frowning，he told his friend a story。He said that one day he saw a carp in a chariot's rut，and the carp was begging him to save his life by giving him a jar of fresh water。
“I merrily affirmed the fish's plea，but I said that I was going on a tour to the south，I'll give you much more water when I e back。On hearing my words he was quite angry。He said that he would be on the shelf of a fish store。”
Having finished telling the interesting fable，Zhuang Zhou furiously turned and went away。Zhuang Zhou liked to express himself in a roundabout way，but the exact meaning of the story was quite clear。It urges people to help those who are in trouble，in a way of doing it in time and to the point。If you only promise by words without action，it is even worse than a direct refusal。