Do Not Burn Your House To Get Rid of A Mouse

There is a story in "Hanshu" telling of a rich man, who being a lover of s and had a large collection. Among them was a rare vase made of jade. The vase of exquisite workmanship and of historical value and he loved it dearly. One night he noticed a mouse passing near the precious vase. The mouse jumped into the vase and was trying to eat some food which the man had carelessly left there. The sigh infuriated the man and in a fit of rage he threw a stone at the mouse. For sure, the mouse was killed, but the precious vase was broken also. The loss of the vase pained the man greatly and he deeply regretted his own thoughtlessness, which bought him this unrecoverable loss. He now realized that any one, who cares for the present and overlooks consequences is apt to bring disasters upon himself. So he exclaimed to warn people by saying do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse.

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《漢書》中有這麼個故事：有個富人，很喜歡古董並收藏了很多。其中有一件稀有的玉盂，工藝精湛，具有很高的歷史價值，深受這個富人的喜愛。一天晚上，一隻老鼠跳進了這個玉盂，想去吃裡邊的一些剩菜，正巧被這個富人看到了。他非常惱火，盛怒之下，他拿了塊石頭砸向老鼠。當然，老鼠是被砸死了，可是那個珍貴的玉盂也被打破了。這件事使富人非常難過，他深深後悔自己的魯莽帶來的不可挽回的損失。他認識到只考慮眼前，而忽視後果，將給自己帶來災難。 他向世人發出警告，不要為了除掉一隻老鼠而燒燬自己的房子。