In the past, someone said: "The pear is good for the teeth, but bad for the spleen; the date is good for the spleen, but bad for the teeth."
從前，有個人說：“吃生梨對牙齒有好處，但是會傷脾;吃紅棗對脾有好處，但是會損害牙齒。”
A young man heard this, thought it over for a long time and said: "Then, when I eat a pear, I"ll keep it in my mouth and chew it with my teeth, but won"t swallow it, so it will not do any harm to my spleen. When I eat a date, I won"t chew it, but will swallow it whole, so it will not do any harm to my teeth."
故事是:
In the past, someone said: "The pear is good for the teeth, but bad for the spleen; the date is good for the spleen, but bad for the teeth."
從前，有個人說：“吃生梨對牙齒有好處，但是會傷脾;吃紅棗對脾有好處，但是會損害牙齒。”
A young man heard this, thought it over for a long time and said: "Then, when I eat a pear, I"ll keep it in my mouth and chew it with my teeth, but won"t swallow it, so it will not do any harm to my spleen. When I eat a date, I won"t chew it, but will swallow it whole, so it will not do any harm to my teeth."
一個年輕人聽了這句話，想了很久，說道：“那我吃生梨的時候，就含在嘴裡，用牙齒咀嚼，但是不往肚裡咽，它就損傷不了我的脾。吃棗的時候，我把它整個兒吞下去，不去咀嚼，這樣就不會損害我的牙齒了。”
When people heard this, they jeered at him: "You are swallowing a date whole!"
人們聽了他的話，譏笑說：“你這是在囫圇吞棗啊!”