The king of Chu had been a king for three years， but he never managed the state affairs。 A minister was worried so he said to the king： “ I have a puzzle。 Could you help me to solve it？” The king said： “ What is it？” The minister answered： “ There is a bird living in the South Mountains。 It never sings or flies。 Why？”

The king smiled： “ In order to make its wings stronger， it never flies。 And for knowing the situations， it never sings。 Although it does not fly， it will fly straight into the sky afterwards； Even if it doesn’t sing， its singing must be surprising once it does。 Don’t worry， I know what you mean。”

After half a year， the king of Chu managed the state affairs。 He abolished the unreasonable laws and made new laws。 He fired the incompetent ministers and asked the learned people for help。

The State of Chu became better and better。 And the king became a leader of all the countries。

楚莊王即位了三年，沒管理過國家大事。大臣伍舉很著急，進宮去對楚莊王說：“大王，我有個謎解不開，想請您猜一猜。”楚莊王說：“您就說吧！”伍舉說：“有一隻鳥停在南山上，三年來不飛也不叫，這是什麼緣故呢？”楚莊王笑笑說：“三年不飛，為了讓翅膀長得堅強些；三年不叫，為了看看周圍的情形。它雖然不飛，一飛起來就直衝雲霄；雖然不叫，一叫出聲就讓人吃驚（一鳴驚人）。您放心吧，我知道您的意思了。”又過了半年，楚莊王親自管理起國家大事來。他廢除了不合理的法令，制定了新的法令；罷免了不稱職的大臣，請有學問的人來幫他辦事。楚莊王把楚國治理得很好，後來成了各國君主的首領。