Gong Mingyi was a famous musician in ancient times, who played the lute very well.
公明仪是古代一位很有名的音乐家,弹得一手好琴。
One day, while playing the lute indoors, Gong Mingyi saw a cow eating grass leisurely outside the window. He had a sudden whim to play some melodies for the cow. He first played the "Exercise of Qing Jiao", but the cow still kept on eating grass with head lowered. He seemed to realize that the melody was too highbrow for the cow to understand.
有一天,他在室内弹琴,看见一头牛在窗外悠闲地吃着草。他忽然想弹几曲给牛听听。他先弹了一曲“清角之操”。可是,牛还是跟刚才一样,只顾低着头吃草。他似乎意识到,这支曲子太高雅了,牛没有听懂。
So he played several other melodies, imitating the buzzing sounds of swarms of flying mosquitoes, and the bleats of a calf looking for its companions. At this, to his surprise, the cow stopped eating grass, but raised its head, pricked up its ears, wagged its tail and, pacing up and down in small steps, began to listen attentively.
于是,他弹了另外几支曲子,模拟蚊子成群结队飞来飞去的嗡嗡声;模拟小牛犊寻找伙伴的眸眸叫唤声。这样一来,这头牛竟然不吃草了,抬起头,竖着耳朵,甩着尾巴,迈着小步,留心地倾听起来。