In the past, a man was born blind. He had never seen the sun, so of course he had no idea what the sun looked like. But he would like very much to know the shape of the sun, so he asked people with good eyes.

Someone told him: "The sun is like a copper1 plate."

The blind man was very glad to hear this. When he returned home, he struck2 the copper plate and heard a ding-dong sound. Later, when he heard the toll3 of a bell, he thought it was the sun.

Another man told him: "The sun can give out light like a candle."

When the blind man returned home, he touched the candle, and remembered well its shape. One day, he touched a yue (flute) and said happily: "This is the sun."

過去，有個盲人一生下來就是失明的。他從來沒有見過太陽，當然不知道太陽究竟是什么樣子;但是他很想知道太陽的模樣。于是，他向眼睛好的人詢問。

有人告訴他：“太陽的形狀像個銅盤。”

盲人聽了很高興，回到家里，敲敲銅盤，發出叮叮當當的聲音。后來，偶然聽到鐘聲，他就以為是太陽。

又有個人對他說：“太陽能發光，就像蠟燭一樣。”

盲人回到家里，摸摸蠟燭，牢牢地記住了它的形狀。有一天，他摸到一支笛，得意洋洋地說：“這是太陽!”