西漢時劉濞（bì）被封為諸侯王，
一心要扯旗起兵反朝堂。
文學家鄒陽勸他別造反，
劉濞根本不放心上。
鄒陽就隻好投奔梁孝王，
屈身在那裏把門客當。
想不到有人嫉妒他才學，
私下裏去找梁孝王，
說鄒陽如何如何壞，
梁孝王急忙抓起要殺鄒陽。
鄒陽心裏不服氣，
在獄中寫信給梁孝王，
信中講世間何物最寶貴？
珠有明月珠，白璧名夜光。
但若是暗投到大路上，
人們對它也不會怎麼樣，
往往是見了按劍目斜視，
以為是禍祟不吉祥。
因為它被投的原因不清楚，
總認為凶多吉少心恐慌。
經常見彎木頭做的車子本不好，
可是那地位顯赫的人們也能看上，
這其中到底啥原因？
是由於車子周身刻花樣。
刻上花紋裝飾美，
誰見了心情都舒暢。
所以說獻珍寶如果無人作介紹，
往往還會結怨謗。
假如有人作引薦，
枯木朽株也身價長。
可見天下的老百姓，
論本事比堯舜還高強。
論才智數得上伊尹和管仲，
還有那龍逢（pánɡ）比幹是忠良，
要效忠君王無人薦，
隻得屈居下位受冤枉。
梁孝王讀了鄒陽的信，
馬上派人請鄒陽。
內心激動無法表，
讓鄒陽坐到尊位上。
“明珠投暗”有來曆，
常比喻好東西不能派用場。
由於人們不識貨，
“明珠”無緣放光芒。
也比喻有才人不能得重用，
久而久之生怨謗。
還可喻好人誤入歧途中，
迷途知返理應當。
Cast Pearls Before Swine
In the Western Han Dynasty（206B。C。—24A。D。）Liu Bi was conferred feudatory king，but he was ambitious to rebel against the emperor。A man of letters，Zou Yang tried to dissuade Liu Bi，but Liu Bi turned a deaf ear to him。So Zou Yang had to go to King Xiao of Liang，and humbly be a guest there。
Unexpectedly one man envied him of his talent，and went privately to the King to heap abuse on Zou Yang。King Liang immediately ordered Zou Yang to be arrested and killed。Zou Yang didn't take it badly，and wrote a personal letter to King Liang。
In the letter，he wrote：what is the most precious thing on earth？Pearls with the bright light would be precious，but if they do not pay much heed to them，or perhaps they stared at them angrily with sword in hand，it would be considered they are ominous of bad luck。Why they were cast there was not yet known。They would feel more panic than at ease。The chariots of curve log you often see，is of course just ordinary，but the prominent people consider them to be very good。Do you know why it is so？Because the chariot was carved from head to toe。Since it was carved with beautiful patterns，everybody will take delight in seeing it。So when dedicating a treasure without a go-between to make an introduction，it tends to be basely slandered。But if you do have a go-between，rotten wood and withered trees might turn expensive。