It is said that a fast horse is easy to find, but no one could find a horse as well as Pak Lok (a man of the Spring and Autumn Period who was reputed for being able to spot a ‘Long Distance Running Horse.’)

When Pak Lok was old, the king, Qin Mu Gong, asked Pak Lok to find a long-distance running horse for himself. Pak Lok recommended his apprentice, Jiu Fang Gao, saying that Jiu could identify the rarest horse in the world.

Qin Mu Gong summoned Jiu to look for horses for him. Three months later, Jiu happily came back to tell the king that he had found a rare horse in the world.

The king excitedly asked him: “What kind of horse is it?”

Jiu replied, “It’s a yellow mare.”

The king sent someone to have a look. It turned out to be a black stallion, so he was furious and called Pak Lok again. The king said to him disappointingly,” Your apprentice can’t even tell the sex of a horse. How can he identify if a horse is good or bad?”

After listening to the king, Pak Lok praised Jiu greatly. He told the king: “This shows how extraordinary he is. Jiu looks at the inner spirit of the horse but ignores the appearance of the horse. He sees the ability of the horse, not the sex of the horse. He focuses on what he needs to see, not what he doesn’t need to see. The way how he looks into the horse is far more significant than the horse itself.”

The fact proves that the horse chosen by Jiu is a rare steed in the world.

Comments:
This story illustrates that when you look at a problem, you must grasp the essence of things and not be fooled by the external image. Those who accomplish big things don’t trip over little trifles.

九方皋相馬

“世有伯樂，然後有千里馬。千里馬常有，而伯樂不常有。

”伯樂老了之後，秦穆公又要伯樂為自己尋找千里馬，伯樂就推薦了自己的徒弟九方皋，說九方皋可以識別天下最稀有的駿馬，相馬的本領不在自己之下。

秦穆公就召見九方皋為自己相馬。三個月之後，九方皋高興地回來告訴秦穆公，已經為他找到了一匹天下少有的千里馬。

秦穆公興奮地問九方皋：“是一匹什麼樣的馬？”

九方皋回答說：“是一匹黃色的母馬。”

秦穆公派人把馬牽來一看，原來是一匹黑色的公馬，就大為憤怒地招來伯樂，失望地對他說：“你的徒弟，連馬的顏色，雌雄都分不清，又怎麼能鑑別馬的好壞呢？”

伯樂聽到秦穆公這樣說，非常驚喜，大為讚賞地說：“這正是九方皋的過人之處。九方皋相馬，觀照的是馬的內在神髓，而忽略馬的外表；洞察的是馬的超然能力，而不注意馬的雌雄；他只專注於自己想看到的，而不選擇自己不必看的。少舍少得，大捨大得，九方皋相馬的意義，遠遠超過相馬本身。”

事實證明，九方皋所相之馬，果然是天下少有的駿馬。

啓示:

這則故事說明了看問題要抓住事物本質，不要被外面形象迷惑；成大事要不拘小節。