Historical Tales
历史故事
Composing a Poem Within Seven Paces
七步成诗
In New Accounts of Old Episodes, Cao Cao, the first emperor of Wei, specially favored Cao Zhi, his third son, because of his great talents.
《世说新语》中，魏国的开国皇帝曹操，尤其喜爱他颇具才能的三儿子曹植。
Cao Zhi's eldest brother Cao Pi was, therefore, very jealous of him.
曹植的大哥曹丕因此非常嫉妒他。
One day he asked his younger brother to compose a poem impromptu, to test whether he was really talented or not.
一天，曹丕让曹植即兴作一首诗以此来测试他究竟有没有才能。
One requirement Cao Pi imposed on his brother was that the poem should be finished at the end of the seventh pace, not later.
曹丕对他的弟弟提出的一个要求就是在七步以内作出一首诗。
Under such pressure Cao Zhi could not but try, yet he finished a poem before he took the seventh pace.
在这种压力之下，曹植不得已只能尝试，然而他却在第七步还没有走完的时候就作好了诗。
Literally, it carries the fol-lowing meaning:
这首诗的字面意思如下：
To fry beans is to bum beanstalks.
煮豆燃豆萁，
Thus beans are crying when fried;
豆在釜中泣。
Grown out of the same root.
本是同根生，
Why are we burned together?
相煎何太急。
The poem was also quoted by Collection of Literature Works of One Hundred and Three Famous Writers in the Han Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty by Zhang Pu of the Ming Dynasty.
这首诗后来被收录在明朝张浦的《汉魏六朝百三家》一书中。
Later the allusion is used to describe a very quick wit, or a fratricidal fighting and fratricide.
之后，这则典故被用来比喻才思敏捷或是残害兄弟。
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