Once there was a young general commanded by a marshal . He neither read books of tactics nor studied the methods of warfare, but always complained that the marshal didn't promote him or put him in an important position.
One day, the marshal said to the young general, “Come along with me to the cannon camp. Let's go into a gunshot training.”
The general came to the cannon camp following the marshal, who ordered the soldiers to fetch some cannonballs and heaps of feather. So they brought the cannonballs and feather. The marshal asked the general to put the feather into the gun chamber , and then ordered him to fire. The cannon banged and shot out a mess of flying feather, some falling on the gun barrel, some on the grass and some on the general's hair and shoulders. Then, the general cannoned in succession. Not even a piece of feather was shot beyond 10 meters. The soldiers around him burst into laughter.
The marshal then ordered the general to put a cannonball into the gun chamber and shoot. With a loud bang, the cannonball was shot out of the chamber and exploded hundreds of meters away.
The marshal turned and asked the general, “Answer me, why can the cannonball shot hundreds of meters away, but the feather can't be shot beyond 10 meters?”
The young general blushed and answered, “Because the feather is too light to have weight, but the cannonball has its own weight.”
从前，有个年轻的将军在一位元帅手下听令当差。他既不研读兵书，也不钻研兵法，总是抱怨元帅不提拔他，没对他委以重任。
这天，元帅对年轻将军说：“跟我去趟炮兵营，咱们来场射击训练。”
将军跟着元帅来到营地，战士们遵照元帅的命令，搬来了一些炮弹和几堆羽毛。元帅让将军把羽毛放进炮膛，然后命令他开炮。随着大炮一声巨响，只见羽毛穿膛而出，漫天飞舞，有的落在炮筒上，有的落在草地上，还有的落在将军的头发和肩膀上。后来，将军又连续开了几炮，可没有一片羽毛能被射出十米以外。他身边的战士们放声大笑起来。
元帅又命令将军往炮膛里装入一枚炮弹，然后开火。一声巨响，只见炮弹出膛，在几百米外炸了开来。
元帅转身问将军：“回答我，为什么炮弹能被射出几百米以外，而羽毛却射不出十来米远呢？”
年轻将军红着脸回答：“因为羽毛轻飘飘没分量，炮弹却有自身的分量。”
-marshal [ˈmɑːʃl] n. 元帅
-cannonball [ˈkænənbɔːl] n. 炮弹
-chamber [ˈtʃeɪmbə(r)] n. (枪)膛
与其抱怨“伯乐”难寻，不如踏实地跑好每一个“千里”。