by Chaered
First posted on VL on 2026-04-29. Reviewed by Valerie/Curulócë.
This is one version of the story. The original is from Xinxu, a compilation of historical stories by Lui Xiang around 24 BCE.
Heru Yé nile angulóci
Andanéya, enge atan estaina Heru Yé i eccanne annile angulóci.
Angulóc' emmar enger quilini hamperyassen, sarine yulmaryasse, embaine rambaryassen.
Nanwa angulóce Erumande sinte i Heru Yé annille angulóci, saro nunyes mardyanna.
I angulóce tirne ter i lattin ar nirne pimperya mina i solma.
Mal Heru Yéva anta ninquintane þossenen o nanwa angulóce. Hórunces.
Neme i Heru Yé uine naitie nile angulóci holmo.
Tai nilles rie náner nati yai vealtaner angulóci.
Lord Ye's Love of Dragons
Once upon a time, there was a man named Lord Ye who claimed to love dragons very much.
Pictures of dragons were embroidered on his clothes, carved on his cup, and painted on his walls.
An actual dragon in heaven knew that Lord Ye loved dragons very much, so it descended to his house.
The dragon looked through the window and pushed its tail into the hall.
But Lord Ye's face turned pale out of fear for the real dragon. He fled away.
Apparently, Lord Ye didn't actually love dragons with sincerity.
What he loved were just things that looked like dragons.
[Mandarin]
叶公好龙
从前有个人叫叶公，他很喜欢龙。
他的衣服上绣着龙，酒杯上刻着龙，墙上画着龙。
天上的真龙知道了叶公这么喜欢龙，便下降到他家。
龙在窗口张望，把尾巴伸进了大厅。
但是叶公却被真龙吓得脸色苍白，转身就跑。
看来，叶公并不是真的喜欢龙呀！
他所喜欢的只是那些像龙的东西。
[Mandarin (pinyin)]
Yègōng hào lóng
Cóngqián yǒu gè rén jiào Yègōng, tā hěn xǐhuan lóng.
Tā de yīfu shàng xiùzhe lóng, jiǔbēi shàng kèzhe lóng, qiáng shàng huàzhe lóng.
Tiānshang de zhēn lóng zhìdào le Yègōng zhème xǐhuan lóng, biàn xiàjiàng dào tā jiā.
Lóng zài chuāngkǒu zhāngwàng, bǎ wěiba shēn jìn le dàtīng.
Dànshì Yègōng què bèi zhēn lóng xià de liǎnsè cāngbái, zhuǎnshēn jiù pǎo.
Kànlái, Yègōng bìng bú shì zhēnde xǐhuan lóng ya!
Tā suǒ xǐhuan de zhǐshì nàxie xiàng lóng de dōngxi.
© 2026, Chaered
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