Lietse (11)
列禦寇(十一)
1 A businessman wanted to invite Chuang Tzu as the general manager of his shoe factory. He considered that Chuang Tzu is certain to make the factory thrive and make much money for him with his reputation and expertise in the field of making shoes.
有商人想聘請莊子出任其製鞋工廠的總經理。他認為，以莊子的名聲以及製鞋的經驗，必能使工廠興旺，大發利市。
2 Chuang Tzu however, refused it. Chuang Tzu told the boss, “Have you heard the ox that is bred intentionally for scarification? The ox lives a good life. When it is cold, its owner is afraid that it is frozen so that he dresses it with special clothes. Its food is the best grass and soy. When it has been tugged into the temple and slaughtered for scarification; however, it is too late though it wants to be a lonely ox that grazes at the foot of the hill.
可是莊子拒絕了。莊子對這家鞋工廠老闆說：「你有沒有見過農家精心飼養，專門用來祭祀的牛? 這牛生前的日子過的不錯。天冷，主人怕牠凍著，特製衣服給牠穿; 吃的都是上等的芻草大豆。可是等牠被牽入大廟，準備宰殺以供祭祀時，雖然牠想做一隻孤單，沒人注意，在山腳吃草的野牛，也來不及了。
3 Though I am poor, I would rather lead an easy and leisure life. I don’t want to be a general manager who deals with a lot of trivia from nine am to five pm everyday. Thank you for your kindness; I can’t accept your offer!”
我雖然窮，可是，還是讓我過悠遊自在的日子吧！朝九晚五，瑣事一大堆的總經理? 謝了！我不幹！」
或聘於莊子，莊子應其使曰：「子見夫犧牛乎？衣以文繡，食以芻叔，及其牽而入於大廟，雖欲為孤犢，其可得乎！」