A long time ago, the kitchen chimney of a family was built so straight that when cooking meals, the flames came right out, while there was a big heap of firewood just in front of the opening of the range.

　　An old man living next door saw this and advised the master of the family: "You must quickly overhaul1 the chimney, and make a bend of it so that when you light a fire, the flames will not come right out. You should move farther away the big heap of firewood in front of the opening of the range; otherwise it will be easy to catch fire."

　　Though the old man had reminded him of the danger, the master thought nothing of it.

　　One day, the sparks of the fire spilled onto the firewood. Sure enough, the house was ablaze2. Fortunately all the neighbours rushed to help put out the fire.

　　Consequently, the master gave a feast to reward the neighbours who had come to help put out the fire. Those who had been injured, especially those badly burned, were given the seats of honour, but the old man who had advised him beforehand was not invited.

　　When the guests took their seats, a man with knowledge and experience said to the master: "If you had taken that old man's advice, overhauled3 the chimney earlier, and moved away the firewood before the range, then this fire wouldn't have happened. Today you invite and reward those who helped you put out the fire, which is quite reasonable."

　　從前，有一戶人家的廚房煙囪砌得實(shí)在太直了，所以做飯的時(shí)候，火焰直冒；而在灶門前，卻又偏偏堆了一大堆柴草。

　　隔壁鄰居的老頭，一看到這種情形，就勸告說：“你要快快拆修一下煙囪，把它拐一個(gè)彎兒，這樣燒起火來就不會(huì)直冒火焰了。灶門前這一大堆柴草，應(yīng)該搬遠(yuǎn)些，不然容易著火。”

　　老頭雖然提醒了他，可是這家主人卻全不放在心上。

　　有一天，火星濺到柴草上，果然房子也被燒著了。幸虧鄰居都趕來救火，才把火撲滅了。

　　于是，主人家辦了酒席，答謝那些前來幫忙救火的鄰居。在救火中受傷的人，特別是那些傷得焦頭爛額的，都坐在上座，主人卻沒有邀請?jiān)缦仍?jīng)勸他修煙囪的那個(gè)老頭。

　　入座的時(shí)候，一個(gè)有見識(shí)的人對主人說：“你如果聽了那個(gè)老頭的話，及早把煙囪修好，把灶前的柴草搬開，就不會(huì)發(fā)生火災(zāi)了。你今天請客，答謝救火的人，這是應(yīng)該的。”