提 要

這個故事告訴我們，眼見為憑，不要以訛傳訛 ，把事情搞錯，甚至受騙上當。

據說「以訛傳訛」典故來自古時的宋國，一戶姓丁的家裡，因為院子沒有井，只能外出打水，耗費一個人力。到了他家院裡鑿好井之後，這家人就告訴別人說：「我家打井（就如同）得到了一個人（一般）。」 聽到這話的人互相轉告說：「丁家人打井，挖出來一個人。」結果全國議論紛紛，宋國的國君聽說，派人去問丁家的人。丁家的人解釋：「我的意思是說，我家得到了像一個人那般的助力，不是從井裡挖出了一個人啊。」

Once upon a time, there lived a pundit. One day, he was crossing a field on his way home. As he walked, he suddenly felt something stuck in his throat and started to cough. The object came up to his mouth. "Oh god! What on earth is in my mouth!" he thought. He was finally able to spit it out. "Why, it’s a heron’s feather!" he thought, amazed. He could not understand how it had come out of his mouth. "I just cannot imagine how this happened!" he pondered as he walked.

He soon reached home and told his wife about it. "The strangest thing happened to me today. A heron's feather came out of my mouth!" His wife was as puzzled as he was. "It doesn't make any sense!" she said. "If you tell anyone about it." warned the pundit. "People might think it's a bad omen or something." His wife agreed but soon the desire to confide in someone became too great. "I just have to tell someone or I’ll burst! I'll go see if the neighbour is home!" So, she went next door. "I have something to tell you." she said in a low voice.

The neighbour was all ears, "Tell me, tell me!"

The wife told her the whole story. Perhaps, it was the way she told it, so the neighbour got the impression that several feathers had come out of the pundit's mouth. "That's incredible!" "Promise me you won't tell anyone." begged the pundit's wife. "We are worried enough as it is!" "My lips are sealed!" promised the neighbour. "You don't worry about it though. Such things happen to people all the time. I’m sure it's nothing."

The neighbour was thrilled by the story. "I have to tell someone!" she thought. As she was finishing her household chores, the dhobi's wife passed by. "Hello! Come here! I have something to tell you!" said the neighbour woman. "What is it?" asked the dhobi's wife.

"Did you hear what happened to the pundit?" said the neighbour, and she told the story with such enthusiasm that it sounded like a whole heron had come out of the pundit’s mouth!

"Oh my God!" said the dhobi's wife. "It is unbelievable! Especially since the pundit is a vegetarian and all! You can never tell....."

Although sworn to secrecy, the dhobi's wife told her friend, that "herons" had come out of the pundit's mouth. The friend told her husband that it was a "flock of herons".

The story spread and changed to "hundreds of birds of different sizes!" Huge crowds thronged to the pundit's house to see this miracle.

"No bird came out of my mouth!" insisted the pundit. However, no one listened.

Finally, the pundit ran out the back way into the forest and hid there. After several days people grew tired of waiting. "Maybe the story was false after all." they said and left.

解 說

曾經有一位學者，某一天，正在回家的途中過馬路，走著走著，突然覺得有東西塞在喉嚨裡、開始咳嗽，「哦，天啊！我嘴裡有什麼啊！」終於吐出來一看，「什麼，這是一根蒼鷺的羽毛！」他驚訝地想來想去，不明白何以它從會嘴裡跑出來。「我只是無法想像這是怎麼回事！」他走邊思忖著。

他迅速地回到家，告訴他的妻子：「今天發生了非常奇怪的事情，蒼鷺的羽毛竟從我嘴裡跑出來！」他的妻子像他一樣困惑不解。「完全沒道理啊！」她說。他警告他的妻子：「妳若告訴別人，他們可能會認為這是一個惡兆。」他的妻子同意了，但沒多久就非常想「分享祕密」，「我必須要告訴別人，否則我會爆炸！」「去看看鄰居在不在家！」於是她走到隔壁找到鄰居，「我有話要告訴你。」她低聲說。

那鄰居擺出洗耳恭聽的姿態，「告訴我，告訴我！」她說。

妻子告訴她整件事的經過，也許是她敘述的方式有問題，那鄰居聽到的竟是好幾根羽毛從學者的口中跑出來。「這是令人難以置信的！答應我，妳不會告訴任何人。」那人的妻子央求。「因為這件事已經讓我們夠擔心的了！」「我的嘴是密封的！」鄰居信誓旦旦：「妳不用擔心，這樣的事情常發生，沒什麼的。」

其實鄰居對這件事感到興奮又激動，「我必須要告訴別人！」她想著。當她做完家事時，洗衣工的妻子正好經過，「嘿，過來一下，我有事要告訴妳！」那鄰居說，「是什麼事呢？」洗衣工的妻子問。

「妳聽說學者發生了什麼事嗎？」那鄰居說，她用無比的熱情訴說這事，聽起來像是一整群蒼鷺都從學者的嘴裡飛出來了！

「哦，我的老天爺！」洗衣工的妻子說，「這真是令人難以置信！尤其是因為學者是素食者，你永遠猜不透……」

雖然發誓會保密，但是洗衣工妻子告訴了她的朋友「嘴飛蒼鷺」的故事，朋友又告訴丈夫，那是「一群蒼鷺飛了出來」。

故事繼續口耳亂傳，最後變成了「數百隻大大小小的鳥！」嘈雜的人群湧向學者的房子，希望親眼見證這個奇蹟。

「沒有鳥從我嘴裡出來！」學者堅定地說，但沒有人聽得進去。

走投無路的學者只好向後跑進森林躲藏。幾天後，厭倦了等待的人們找台階下：「也許這個故事畢竟是假的。」他們說完離開了。