King Xia put a target as large as a square-foot at a distance and asked the marksman Hou Yi to shoot it. The king said to him, "If you can hit it, I will reward1 you with ten thousand liangs of gold. If you miss it, I will take away a thousand fiefs from you."

　　Looking at the target and thinking of the ten thousand liangs of gold and the one thousand fiefs, Hou Yi found it hard to calm himself with surging2 thoughts and emotions. The target ordinarily would be nothing difficult for him. But now it seemed so far away for him. He missed the target with the first shot3, and missed again with the second shot. Finally Hou Yi dropped his head downcast.

　　夏王將一塊一尺見(jiàn)方的靶標(biāo)放在不遠(yuǎn)處，叫來(lái)射箭手后羿，吩咐說(shuō)：“如果你射中了，就賞給你一萬(wàn)兩黃金；如射不中，就扣掉你一千戶封邑。”

　　后裔看著一尺見(jiàn)方的靶心，想著即將到手的萬(wàn)兩黃金或即將失去的千戶封邑，心潮起伏，難以平靜，平素不在話下的靶心變得格外地遙遠(yuǎn)。第一箭沒(méi)有射中，第二箭也沒(méi)有射中。后邑沮喪地垂下了驕傲的頭顱。