生而眇者不识日，问之有目者。 或者之曰：“日之状如铜盘。”扣盘而得其声，他曰，闻钟以为日也。 或告之曰：“日之光为日也。”扪烛而得其形，他曰，揣籥以为日也。 日之与钟籥亦远而眇者不知其异，以其未尝见而求之人也。
——《苏轼文集》
What does the Sun Look Like?
A
man who was born blind wanted to know what the sun looked like, so he asked
others to describe it. “It
looks like this, like a bronze disc,” said one, rapping a gong as he spoke. Some
time later, when the blind man heard a gong, he said, “Isn’t that the sun?” Another
told him, “The sun has light like this candle,” and let him feel the candle. Some
time later, the blind man picked up a flute and exclaimed, “Ah! This is surely
the sun.” A
sun is a far cry from a gong or a flute, but the blind cannot make out the
difference because they cannot see and have to ask others Collected Essays of Su Shi
（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译） |
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