《说苑》是汉代刘向所著的小说集，又名《新苑》。原二十卷，后仅存五卷，大部分已经散佚，后经宋曾巩搜辑，复为二十卷，每卷各有标目。

《古代寓言·比喻》

客谓梁王曰：“惠子之言事也，善譬，王使无譬，则不能言矣。”王曰：“诺。”明日见，谓惠子曰：“愿先生言事则直言耳，无譬也！”惠子曰：“今有人于此而不知弹者，曰：‘弹之状若何？'应曰：‘弹之状为弹。'则喻乎？”王曰：“未谕也。”“子是更应曰：‘弹之状为弓，而以竹为弦。'则知乎？”王曰：“可知矣。”惠子曰：“去说者固以其所知谕其所不知而使人知之，公子曰‘无譬'，则不可矣。”王曰：“美善。”

——《说苑》

The Use of Parables

“Hui Zi is forever using parables,” complained someone to the Prince of Liang. “If you, sire, forbid him to speak in parables, he won't be able to make his meaning clear.”

The prince agreed with this man.

The next day the prince saw Hui Zi.

“From now on,” he said, “kindly talk in a straightforward manner, and not in parables.”

“Suppose there were a man who did not know what a catapult is,” replied Hui Zi. “If he asked you what it looked like, and you told him it looked just like a catapult, would he understand what you meant?”

“Of course not,” answered the prince.

“But suppose you told him that a catapult looks something like a bow and that it is made of bamboo – wouldn't he understand you better?”

“Yes, that would be clearer,” admitted the prince.

“We compare something a man does not know with something he does know in order to help him to understand it,” said Hui Zi. “If you won't let me use parables, how can I make things clear to you?”

The prince agreed that he was right.

--The Garden of Anecdotes (Shuo Yuan)

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