A Foolish¹ Man Buys Shoes

There awas once a foolish man. One day he wanted to go to the market to buy a pair of new shoes. He first measured² his foot with a ruler and then took a piece of straw³ and marked the length⁴ of his foot on it. But he was in such a hurry to set off that he left the straw at home.

At the market, having found a shoe-stall, he felt in his pockets, only to find that the straw was not there. So he said to the shoemaker, "I've left the measurement⁵ at home, so I don't know the size. I'll have to go back for it." with these words, he hurried off.

He hurried home for the straw and then hurried back to the market again. The trip home and back took him a lot of time. By the time he reached the market, it was almost dark and the market was already over. he had gone to all this trouble for nothing and still had not managed to buy the shoes.

Then someone asked him, "Did you want to buy the shoes for yourself or for someone else?"

He answered, "For myself, of course!"

The man then asked him, "Well, but haven't you brought your feet with you?" What do you need to bring the measurement for?"

从前有个愚人，有一天想上市去买双新鞋。他便先用尺把脚量了，又用一根稻草比下尺码。可是因为急于赶路，把稻草忘在家里了。

他来到市上，找到了卖鞋子的摊子，摸了摸口袋，不见了记尺码的稻草。就对卖鞋的说：“尺码忘在家里了，不晓得大小，让我回家拿尺码去！”说罢，拔腿就跑。

他急急忙忙回家拿了拿跟稻草，又急急忙忙赶回市上来，一来一去，花了很多时间。等他赶回市上，天已晚了，集市已经散了。他白白忙了一阵，还是没有买到鞋子。这时，有人问他：“你是给自己买鞋子，还是替别人代买？”

愚人回答说：“我为自己买的呀！”

那人又问他：“那么，脚不是长在你身上吗？又何必要尺码呢？”