In a faraway country there were two outstanding carpenters who were both so expert in craftsmanship that no one could tell who was better.
One day, a whim came into the king's mind: who was on earth the best carpenter? Why not have a match and then entitle the winner the National First Carpenter?
So the king sent for the two carpenters and had a match for them. Within the three days limited, the one who carved the more vivid mouse would be the National First Carpenter. The winner could not only get lots of granted gifts but also the granted title.
During the three days, the two carpenters had been working away day and night. On the third day, they presented the king with the carved mice. The king summoned all his ministers to be the judges of the match.
The mouse the first carpenter carved was fine and vivid, even its cirrus twittering.
The second one's carved mouse only had the mouse's mien , without its shape and appearance, barely enough like a mouse watched from far away but just three tenth alike seen closely. So the king and his ministers all agreed that the first carpenter was the winner.
But the second carpenter protested on the spot. He said, “The King's judgment is unfair. Whether the carved mice are like real mice or not should be judged by cats. Cats look at mice with more sharp eyes than human!”
The king thought it reasonable. Then he gave an order to take several cats there to judge which mouse was more lifelike. Unexpectedly, the cats all jumped on the less lifelike mouse, biting and snatching while the vivid one was thoroughly left alone.
Before the fact, the king had to give the title of the National First Carpenter to the second carpenter.
Later, the king sent for the second carpenter, and asked him, “How did you make the cats believe what you carved was a mouse?”
The carpenter said, “Your Majesty, in fact, it is simple. I carved a mouse only with the fishbone! What the cats care about is not its similarity but its delicacy!”
在一个遥远的国度，有两个杰出的木匠，两人手艺都很精湛，难分伯仲。
有一天，国王突发奇想：他俩究竟谁是最好的木匠呢？为什么不办一场比赛，然后把赢家封为“全国首席木匠”呢？
于是，国王派人找来两个木匠，让他俩比试。以三日为限，谁雕出的老鼠惟妙惟肖，谁就是“全国首席木匠”。赢家不但可以赢得奖品，还会被授予封号。
三天里，两个木匠夜以继日地干活儿。第三天，他们向国王呈上了雕出来的老鼠。国王叫来了所有的大臣为比赛当评委。
第一个木匠雕出的老鼠很精致很生动，甚至连老鼠的胡须都在动。
第二个木匠雕出的老鼠只有神态，形状样貌皆无。从远处几乎看不出来雕的是老鼠，可要是近看的话，却和真老鼠有三成相似。所以，国王和大臣们都觉得第一个木匠赢得了比赛。
可是第二位木匠却当场抗议说：“国王的评判不公平。雕出来的老鼠像不像真老鼠应该由猫说了算。要是论看老鼠的话，猫眼比人眼敏锐多了！”
国王觉得此话有理，就下令把猫带来评判哪只老鼠更栩栩如生。出人意料的是，所有的猫都跳到那只看起来不太逼真的老鼠身上，又是咬又是抢的，至于那只逼真的，猫咪们碰都不碰。
事实面前，国王只得把“全国首席木匠”的称号颁给了第二位木匠。
后来，国王派人找来第二位木匠，问道：“你是怎么做到让猫相信你雕的就是老鼠的？”
木匠说：“陛下，其实，这很简单。我的老鼠是用鱼骨头雕出来的！猫在意的不是像不像，它们只在乎好不好吃啊！”
-craftsmanship [ˈkrɑːftsmənʃɪp] n. 技艺
-whim [wɪm] n. 一时的兴致；突然的念头
-grant [ɡrɑːnt] v. 授予
-cirrus [ˈsɪrəs] n. 触须
-mien [miːn] n. 神态
高手过招，不只是看技艺，更是看谁对规则的领悟更胜一筹。