Grandpa Hodge was the most popular sage¹ in the village because he was so philosophic² in speaking and doing things that everyone revered³ him as “Grandpa Wisdom”.

霍奇爷爷是村里最受欢迎的长者，因为他讲话做事都很有哲理，大家都尊称他为“智慧爷爷”。

One day, a man hurried to Grandpa Wisdom and said, “Grandpa, I have a piece of news to tell you…”

有一天，一个人匆匆跑到智慧爷爷那里说：“爷爷，我有个消息要告诉你……”

“Wait a moment,” Grandpa Hodge stroked his beard and cut him short, “Have you sifted⁴ the news you will tell me with three sieves⁶?”

“等一下，”霍奇爷爷摸了摸胡子，打断了他的话，“你要告诉我的消息，用三个筛子筛过了吗？”

“Three sieves? Which three sieves?” the man asked with puzzlement.

“三个筛子？哪三个筛子？”那人不解的问。

“The first sieve⁵ is Truth. Is the news you will tell me true?” Grandpa Hodge asked, narrowing his eyes.

“第一个筛子叫真实。你要告诉我的消息确实是真的吗？”霍奇爷爷眯着眼问道。

“I don’t know because I overhead it from the street.”

“不知道，我是从街上听来的。”

“Now let’s check it with the second sieve,” Grandpa Hodge went on, “If the news you will tell me is not true, it should be friendly.”

“现在再用第二个筛子来审查吧，”霍奇爷爷接着说，“你要告诉我的这个消息就算不是真实的，也应该是善意的吧？”

The man hesitantly answered, “No, just the other way round…”

那人踌躇的回答说：“不，正好相反．．．．．．”

Grandpa Hodge once again interrupted him, “So let’s use the third sieve. Can you tell me if the news that is exciting you is very important?”

霍奇爷爷再次打断他的话：“那么我们再用第三个筛子，请问，使你如此激动的消息很重要吗？”

“It is not so important,” the man answered with embarrassment⁷.

“并不怎么重要，”那人不好意思地回答。

Grandpa Hodge patted the shoulder of the man and said significantly, “Now that the news you will tell me is not true, friendly or important, please don’t tell me. Then it won’t trouble you and me.”

霍奇爷爷拍了拍那人的肩膀，意味深长的说：“既然你要告诉我的事，既不真实，也非善意，更不重要，那么就请你别说了吧！这样的话，它就不会困扰你和我了。”

The man took a tumble and never spread the overhead news ever since.

那人恍然大悟，从此以后再也不到处传播道听途说的消息了。