所造的那张焦尾琴。
About the Story of Jiao Wei gin Gu Junzheng In the play Cai Wenji, newly written by venerable Guo Moruo, reference is made to jiao wei gin, a zithern partly made of scorched wood by Cai Yong, father of Cai Wenji.
最近我看了"蔡文姬"的演出，自然而 然想起了焦尾琴，想起了关于焦尾琴的故事： 蔡邕因为不愿趋附权贵"，怕被人陷害，曾经广命江南，往来于 吴会之间(今江、浙一带)，计十二年。
Recently, after I saw the play On the stage, my mind naturally went to jiao wei qin and its story.
据说他在吴(今苏州）的时候，有 一天听见邻家烧饭的柴火中发出一种爆裂的声音，他熟悉这种声音， 知道这声音来自一种极好的桐木，这种桐木是造琴的最好材料。
Cai Yong disliked playing up to bigwigs and, to avoid frame-ups, he went into exile in the South, wandering about for twelve years in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces.
他 就跟邻家主人商量，把这段烧焦了的桐木要了来，造成一张琴。
It is said that one day during his stay in Suzhou when he heard the crackling of firewood from his next-door neighbour at cooking time, he knew the familiar sound came from paulownia, a kind of choice wood best for making zitherns.
这张 琴弹起来果然非常好听。
Now, talking it over with his neighbour, he was given the piece of scorched wood, which he subsequently made into a zithern.
因为它的一端是烧焦的，所以大家都叫它 焦尾琴。
This musical instrument, when played, turned out to be extremely pleasant to the ear.
当我想起这个故事的时候，使我对"耳闻不如目见"这句成语不 能不有所怀疑。
People called it jiao wei qin because the tail of its soundboard was made of scorched wood.
的确，我们认识这个物质世界，有时候不是用眼睛来 看而是用耳朵来听的。
When I think of the story, I cannot help having doubts about the validity of the proverb, "Seeing is better than hearing.
蔡邕能够从木材燃烧时发出的爆裂声来辦别木 材的好坏，充分说明了"耳闻"不一定"不如目见"。
Fact is, to know the material world. we sometimes use not the eye, but the ear.
当然，"耳闻不 如目见"这句话的原意是指间接经验不如直接经验那样可靠，这是完 全正确的。
That Cai Yong could tell the quality of wood by listening to its crackling sound while it was burning in the kitchen stove makes it crystal clear that "hearing" is not necessarily less reliable than "seeing" The above-mentioned proverb literally means that secondhand experience is less reliable than firsthand experience, which is perfectly true.
但是，如果对这句话只是从字面上来理解，认为耳朵听到 的总不如眼睛看见的那样可靠，那对耳朵来说，却是极大的免枉。
But, if we should take this saying at its face value and regard the ear as invariably less reliable than the eye, we shall do the former a gross injustice.
我们应该承认，眼睛是直接经验的主要来源，可是我们同时也得 承认，眼睛是最会骗人的。
While we agree that the eye is the main source of direct experience, we must admit that it is also most misleading.
举一个极普通的例子来说，我们大家觉得 早晨的太阳比中午的太阳大得多，可是如果你用照相机给太阳在早晨 和中午各照一个相，你就会发现摄得的相片是一样大小的。
Take a most common example.
谁会想 到，在这个每天接触到的日常现象上，从古到今，无论是什么人，无 论在什么地方，都一直在受着眼睛的骗？
We all agree that the sun is much bigger in the early morning than at noon.
并且骗得我们好苦，不但古 代的大学问家如孔子，没有能回答"为什么早晨的太阳看起来会大于 中午的太阳，连现代的科学家，对这个问题也不曾有一个令人十分满 意的解释。
But if we a take a photo of it in the early morning and at noon respectively, we shall find it of the same size in both cases.
这个现象对迷信眼睛的人来说，是一个有力的讽刺。
Who would have thought that. when it comes to this common phenomenon in our daily life, people the world over should have been fooled by their own eyes ever since time immemorial?
当然，我们这样说，并不是要否定眼睛的作用。
The optical illusion has indeed landed us in indescribable trouble.
我们只是说明， 眼睛虽然有非常广阔的活动范围，可是它是有缺点的。
Not only were great ancient sages like Confucius stumped by the question why the sun was seemingly bigger in the early morning than at noon, even scientists of today have failed to give a wholly satisfactory explanation.
我们不能迷信 眼睛，小看了耳朵的作用。
This is a keen satire on those having blind faith in the eye.
耳朵的活动范围虽然小，可是它的作用也不只是听听讲话，听听 音乐。
Of course, I do not mean to deny the role played by the eye.
它还有其他的特殊功用。
All I want to show is that although the eye has an extremely wide scope of activities, it is, nevertheless, far from being faultless.
在某种场合，它不但无愧于"以耳 代目"这句话，而且比眼睛做得更好。
We should, therefore, never overtrust the eye and underestimate the usefulness of the ear.