World Children's Story Classics: Family Stories

Chapter 80

In ancient times, there was a man surnamed Zhang who spent a lot of effort to carefully craft a bed carved with dragons and phoenixes, which was truly beautiful.However, the bed is placed in the bedroom, and it is difficult for people at home to see it.Not being able to show off his beautiful bed has simply become his heart disease. After thinking about it, he finally came up with a good solution.He falsely claimed that he was seriously ill and was bedridden.After the relatives and friends learned about it, they came to visit him one after another, and went to his bedroom to visit and comfort him.Seeing him lying on a very beautiful bed, these people couldn't help admiring him, praising his craftsmanship.One of his relatives recently knitted a pair of socks. He liked it very much and wanted to show off in front of others. Therefore, when he entered the house, he deliberately raised his trousers high and raised his legs to reveal the pair of beautiful socks.The man surnamed Zhang saw through this vain relative at a glance, and was ashamed of his vanity, so when the relative asked him what disease he had, he looked at the relative and laughed and said, "My dear brother, I got it." The disease is the same as yours!"

According to this story, people generalized the idiom "sickness and pity for each other", which is a metaphor for people in the same situation to sympathize with each other and sympathize with each other.

(End of this chapter)