Once upon a time, there was a man named Ji Shengzi who raised fighting-cocks for the king.

Every ten days the king asked him whether the cock has finished training.

Ji Shengzi answered correspondingly, "Not yet, he is still coxcombical(虛浮的), proud, arrogant, and self-conceited." "Not yet, when he hears other cocks sing, or sees other cocks, he still has some reaction." "Not yet. He still look at things quickly, and is still high-spirited."

Forty days later, he said, "Now he is almost ready. He still sings but has little reaction and few changes, like a wooden cock. Now he has all the qualities of a fighting-cock. When other cocks see him, they wouldn't dare to fight him but turn around and run away."

從前，有個(gè)叫紀(jì)渻子的人為國(guó)王馴養(yǎng)斗雞。

每隔十天，國(guó)王就問(wèn)雞是否已經(jīng)馴養(yǎng)好。

紀(jì)渻子分別回答說(shuō)：“還沒(méi)有。現(xiàn)在它還表現(xiàn)得虛浮、驕傲、矜持、自持。”“還沒(méi)有，現(xiàn)在它聽(tīng)到別的雞的叫聲，看到別的雞的影子還是有反應(yīng)。”“現(xiàn)在它看東西依然迅速，意氣仍然旺盛，還沒(méi)馴好。”

四十天后，他說(shuō)：“差不多了，雞現(xiàn)在雖然還鳴叫，但已經(jīng)沒(méi)有什么反應(yīng)和變化，好像木雞一樣了，斗雞的品質(zhì)已經(jīng)具備，別的雞見(jiàn)到它肯定不敢應(yīng)戰(zhàn)， 一定會(huì)掉頭就跑。”