無鏡縣沒有鏡子，有一天富家子胡塗旅行外地，見識了鏡子的妙用，便買回一面鏡子。由於當它是稀世寶，怕被人知道而有所損失，便用紅布置住，鎖在會計室的壁櫥中。
胡塗的太太看丈夫每天總要背著人拉開櫥門看上幾回，心生疑惑，便決定去探索丈夫的祕密。可巧那天胡塗趕著出門，忘了上鎖，太太急忙去拉開櫥門。不看還好，一看，登時掩面大哭，告訴婆婆：「你的兒子自外地討回了個不正經的女人藏在壁櫥裏！」愈哭愈委曲，嫁了個不義丈夫
，這後半輩子怎麼靠得住？婆婆好奇地打開櫥門，一瞧，不由大怒地罵起來：「啊！這糊塗兒！
要娶小老婆倒也罷了！也不知花多少冤枉錢，竟娶回一個蠢老太婆！」愈想愈傷心，生了個糊塗兒子，這祖產家業怎麼撐得住？
胡塗的兒子被鬧得不耐煩，自院子跑進來看。
嚇！竟是個野孩子，還橫眉豎眼翹嘴巴，兇著呢！便舉起手中的球恐嚇：「你再兇，我就打你！」不得了！這野孩子比他更兇，也舉球要打他。他愈看愈生氣，一不作、二不休，把球一扔，「鏘啷」一聲，除了滿地碎片，誰也不在櫥子裏。
胡塗回來，太太委曲地哭訴要離婚；母親傷心地計議要收回家產；見子兀自在那兒生氣地叉腰罵街：「野小子！你有本事就不要躲，趁早滾出來！」
(啟示)
一.若人不知使用鏡子來迴光返照，只會暴露出更多的缺點和弱點。
二.當人私藏祕密，祕密終會被迫曝光，而且遭受扭曲。
三.若自以為精明，其實糊塗，每每因小失大，得不償失。 |
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In the County of No Mirrors, there were no mirrors. One
day a man named Muddle from a rich family went on a trip
outside the county and saw that mirrors are very useful,
so he bought a mirror. He treated it as a precious
object. Fearing that if others knew about it, it would
come to harm, he used a red cloth to cover it and locked
it up in his closet.
Every day Muddle's wife saw her
husband secretly opening the closet when no one was
around, and she became suspicious. One day she decided
to check out what his secret was. By coincidence, that
day Muddle was in a hurry to leave and forgot to lock
his closet. His wife hastened to open the closet. When
she looked in the closet, she
covered her face and sobbed. She went and told her
mother-in-law, "Your son has brought home a woman of
improper conduct and is keeping her in the closet." The
more she cried, she more she felt sorry for herself. She
had married an unfaithful husband and her life was
doomed.
Her mother-in-law curiously opened
the closet and looked in. Then she got very angry and
scolded, "Oh, my muddled son! If he wants to have a
mistress, fine, but why pick an old woman'?" The more
she thought about it, the more upset she got. She felt
that the wealth of the family would be doomed, having a
son like that.
Muddle's son was annoyed by all the
noise in the house. He came in from the courtyard and
also looked in the mirror and thought, "Gosh, what a
mean, wild kid with eyebrows sticking up and a frown on
his face." The boy said, "If you're going to be mean,
I'll throw my ball at you." The face in the mirror got
meaner, and the boy threw the ball and shattered the
mirror. There was broken glass all over the floor, and
nobody was in the closet.
When Muddle came home, his wife
wanted a divorce, his mother threatened to take back all
the inheritance, and his son had his hands on his hips
and was scolding the mean boy, "If you have any guts,
then don't hide. Come out and show yourself right now!"
Morals:
1. If a person doesn't know how to use a mirror to
look at himself, he will only expose more faults and
shortcomings.
2. If a person tries to hide a secret, the secret will
sooner or later be exposed, and it will also be twisted.
3. If a person thinks he is smart, actually he is
muddled and will take a big loss because he pursues
trivial advantages. What he gains does not make up for
what he loses.
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