One day, Zi Qin asked his master Mo Zi:

一天，子禽问他的老师墨子:

"Master, is there any good at all of talking much?"

“老师，多说话到底有没有好处?”

Mo Zi thought for a while, and answered:

墨子想了一下回答说:

"If one talks too much, what good is there?"

“话要是说得太多了，还有什么好处呢?”

Then, he told Zi Qin:

接着，又告诉子禽说:

"Toads¹ and frogs croak² and flies buzz day and night until they are parched³ and dry in the mouth, yet nobody listens to them. But a rooster in a chicken coop crows only a few times at dawn, and everyone knows that when it crows, daylight,is coming and the whole world will be awakened⁴. Therefore, there is no use talking too much. What is important is to suit the words to the occasion, and say things which hit the nail on the head."

“蛤蟆、青蛙、苍蝇白天黑夜不停地叫，叫得口干舌燥，可是却没有人听它们的。但是，鸡棚里的雄鸡只在黎明时啼叫两三次，大家知道鸡啼就要天亮，天下皆醒。所以，多说话没有什么用处，重要的是话要说得切合时机，说到点子上。”