提要

許多功夫電影中的情節，都是師父讓徒弟反覆做雜事，像是掛衣服、提水、抹桌子、掃地等等，單調、費力的動作，日復一日地做。徒弟雖覺得無聊，但只好照做……然後「練」了一段時日之後，卻偶然發現，看似無意義的動作，在抵禦強敵、保衛家園時，剛好派上用場，過去耗費的「工夫」，其實就是「功夫」。

Once upon a time, there lived a generous and kind-hearted king. But the people weren't happy with their king, because the king was very lazy and would not do anything other than eating and sleeping.

He spent days and weeks and months in his bed either eating something or sleeping. The king became a "couch potato" and the people started to worry about the king.

One day, the king realized that he couldn't even move his body, not even his foot. He became very fat and his enemies made fun of him, calling him "fatty king", "bulky king" etc.

The king invited expert doctors from various parts of his country and offered them generous rewards to make him fit. Unfortunately, none could help the king gain his health and fitness. The king spent enormous amounts of money but everything went in vain.

One fine morning, a holy man visited the country. He heard about the ill-health of the king, and informed the minister at the palace that he could easily cure the king. Hearing these promising words, the minister became very happy. He requested the king to meet the holy man to get rid of his problem.

The holy man resided at a distant place. Since the king could not move his body, he asked the minister to bring the holy man to the palace, but the holy man refused. He said that the king had to go to him, in order to get cured.

After strenuous efforts, the king met the holy man at the latter's residence. The holy man complimented the king saying that he was a good ruler, and said that he would soon regain his health. He asked the king to come for treatment the next day. He told the king also that the king would be treated only if he came on foot to the holy man's residence.

The King was unable to walk even a few steps on the road, but aided by his followers, he reached the holy man's place. Unfortunately, the holy man was not available there and his devotee requested the king to come and meet him the next day for treatment.

This was repeated for two weeks and the king never met the holy man, and never had any treatment.

Gradually, the king realized that he felt a lot lighter, lost a considerable amount of weight and felt more active than before. He realized the reason why the holy man asked him to reach his place by walking.

Very soon, the king regained his health, and the people were very happy in his kingdom.

解 說

曾經有一位慷慨又善良的國王，但是百姓不滿意他們的國王，因為國王非常懶惰，幾乎除了吃飯睡覺，啥也不想做。

日復一日、月復一月，或者吃點東西或者補眠，都在床上度過。國王變成了「沙發馬鈴薯」，人們開始擔心他們的王。

有一天，國王察覺，他甚至無法移動自己的身體，連腳都動不了。他變得如此臃腫，他的敵人用綽號取笑他，稱他為「脂肪王」、「笨重王」等等。

於是，國王從全國各地邀請醫學專家，提供豐厚的獎賞給能讓他變瘦的人。不幸的是，沒有人能幫助國王健康瘦身。雖然花費巨資，但一切都白費了。

一個晴朗的早晨，一位聖者造訪。他聽說國王的健康不佳，於是告知在王宮的大臣，治愈國王很容易。聽到這些充滿希望的字句，牧師大臣非常開心，他要求國王去見這神聖的人，擺脫他肥胖的問題。

聖者居住在一個遙遠的地方。由於國王的身體不能動，於是要求大臣帶聖者到宮殿見他，但聖者拒絕了。他說，國王必須他家去見他，才能治愈臃腫肥胖。

經過一番艱苦的努力，國王終於到了聖者的住所。聖者稱讚王，說他是一個很好的統治者，並表示他將很快恢復他的健康。他要求國王第二天再來復診。他告訴國王，必須徒步到聖者的住所，他才幫國王治療。

幾乎無法行走的國王，該如何徒步到那遙遠的地方？但在他隨從的幫助下，他達到了聖者住的地方。不巧的是，聖者不在那裡，那裡的義工請國王第二天再來和他見面、進行治療。

就這樣，重複了兩個星期，國王徒步到聖者的住所，從未見到過他，也從未有過任何治療。

漸漸地，國王察覺，自己的體態輕盈多了，走掉了大部分的體重，感覺比以前更活躍。他重獲健康，他的子民都很開心，舉國歡騰。