Groping about the Chin of the Black Dragon to Get a Pearl-Bringing Out the Best

　　Long,Long age,there lived a family by the Yellow River.They lived a very poor lift,depending on cutting reeds,weaving hanging screens and dustpans for a livelihood1.

　　One day,the son was cutting reeds by the riverside.With the scroching sun directly overhead,his head was swimming,so he sat down to take a rest.Looking at the river water in front which was his father had once told him.in the depths of the river there were a lot of rare treasures,but nobody dared to get them because a fierce black dragon was residing there.He thought that,if he could dive into the depts of the river and get the treasures,the whole family would not have to toil2 from morning till night and yet could not have enough to eat as now.He thought it would be better to have a try,and he was resolved to try in desperation.So he took off his clothes nimbly and dived into the cold water with a splash.

　　At first,he could see small fish here and there all around.However,the deeper he dived ,the darker it became,and the colder the river water.At last,it was pitch-dark all around,and he could see nothing.He became frightened,and was at a loss where he should swim to.Just at that time,he noticed a round object which was glittering not far away.He fixed3 his eyes on it,and saw it was a bright pearl.He held his breath and swam over there,held the pearl with both hands,pulled it with a great effort,and the bright pearl come into his arms.He came out from the water immediately,climbed up the bank,and made off for home at once.

　　His father saw the bright pearl,and asked where he had got it.He told his father the whole story exactly as it had happened.Hearing this,his father said repeatedly,"How dangerous it was!This precious pearl was grown on the chin of the black dragon.The black dragon must have been sleeping when you were pulling the pearl.If the black dragon were awake,you would be dead."When the son heard this,he considered himself very lucky indeed.

　　This story appears in The Works of Zhuang Zi.From this story,later generations have derived4 the set phrase "groping about the chin of the black dragon to get a pearl-- bringing out the best" to indicate that an article is to the point.

　　很久很久以前，有一戶人家住在黃河邊上，靠割蘆葦、編簾子簸箕為生，日子過(guò)得非常貧困。

　　有一天，兒子在河邊割蘆葦，烈日當(dāng)空，曬得他頭昏眼花，于是他就坐下來(lái)休息。他望著眼前的河水在陽(yáng)光下閃耀著粼粼波光，想起父親說(shuō)過(guò)，在河的最深處有許多珍寶，可是誰(shuí)也不敢去，因?yàn)槟抢镒≈粭l兇猛的黑龍叫驪龍，他想，要是潛到河底，找到珍寶，我們一家人就用不著像現(xiàn)在這樣一天干到晚，三頓還吃不飽，不如豁出去試一試。他把心一橫，三下兩下脫了衣服，一頭扎進(jìn)冰冷的河里。

　　開(kāi)始他還看得見(jiàn)四周的小魚(yú)在游來(lái)游去，再往深處，光線變得越來(lái)越暗，水也越來(lái)越?jīng)?，最后，他什么都看不?jiàn)了，四周一團(tuán)漆黑。他心里有點(diǎn)害怕，不知該往哪兒游。就在這時(shí)，不遠(yuǎn)處有一個(gè)圓圓的物體在閃閃發(fā)光，定睛細(xì)看，啊，原來(lái)是明珠！他憋足一口氣游過(guò)去，雙手抱住明珠，使勁一拽，明珠就到了他懷里。他迅速浮出水面，上岸后撒腿就往家跑。

　　父親一見(jiàn)明珠，就問(wèn)他是從哪兒得到的。他把經(jīng)過(guò)一五一十地向父親講述一遍。父親聽(tīng)了說(shuō)：“好險(xiǎn)哪！這顆價(jià)值千金的明珠是長(zhǎng)在黑龍下巴底下的，你摘它的時(shí)候黑龍必定是睡著了。它要是醒著，你可就沒(méi)命了。”故事見(jiàn)于《莊子列御寇》。成語(yǔ)“探驪得珠”，比喻寫文章能緊扣主題，抓住要點(diǎn)。