In the state of Zhen, "Pu" meant uncarved jade¹ while in the state of Zhou it meant unsalted mouse.

 

One time, a people of the state of Zhou, with an unsalted mouse in his pocket, asked a person from the state of Zhen whether he wanted to buy a "Pu". The person from the state of Zhen thought he was talking about a piece of uncarved jade so he said yes.

 

When the man took out a dead mouse, he refused to buy it very firmly².

 

郑国人把没有经过雕琢的玉叫做“璞”，而周国人却将没有腌制处理的老鼠叫做“璞”。

 

一个周国人怀中踹着一只死老鼠，问一个郑国商人是否愿意买自己的“璞”。那个郑国商人以为他说的是一块未经雕琢的玉石，便一口答应下来。

 

郑国商人见周国人从怀里掏出的原来是一只死老鼠，就说什么也不买了。

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