In the past, there were two near-sighted men, Mr. A and Mr.B. They didn't admit they were near-sighted, but boasted about their good eyesight instead.

从前，有甲乙两个近视眼。他们不但不肯承认自己近视，还要夸耀自己的眼力。

One day, they heard that a new inscribed¹ board was to be hung up in a temple, so they made an appointment with each other to have a contest of their eyesight. In order to win, both of them stealthily inquired beforehand about the characters inscribed on the board. When the day came, they went to the temple early in the morning.

有一天，他们听说有一座庙要挂新匾，于是便相约去比一比各自的眼力。为了取胜，甲乙两人都事先悄悄地去探听匾上所写的字。日期到了，两人一大早就来到庙里。

Mr. A looked up at the place for the board, wagged his head and said:

甲抬头朝准备挂匾的地方看了看，便摇头晃脑地说:

"Aren't these the four characters `Guang Ming Zheng Da'(open and just)?"

“这不是‘光明正大’四个大字吗?”

Mr. B added:

乙接着说:

"What is so strange about that? I can even make out the small characters on both sides. Look, aren't these the year, the month, and the name of the calligrapher²?"

“这有什么稀奇，我还能认出两旁的小字呢!你看，这不是‘某年某月’、‘某某人书’吗!”

The people standing³ nearby all burst into laughter and said:

站在旁边的人都哈哈大笑起来，说:

"The new inscribed board hasn't been hung up yet. Where are the characters you just read?"

“新匾还没有挂上，你们念的这些字写在什么地方呀?”