Idiom Explanation:
Bo Le judging horses, refers to a person who finds, recommends, cultivates and uses talents individually or collectively.
Pronunciation:
伯乐相马
bó lè xiàng mǎ
Origin:
汉·韩婴《韩诗外传》卷七：“使骥不得伯乐，安得千里之足。”唐·韩愈《杂说》四：“世有伯乐，然后有千里马。千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。”
Story:
According to legend, the gods in heaven who manage horses are called Bole. On earth, people who are good at identifying the merits of horses are also called Bole. The first person who was called Bo Le was originally named Sun Yang, who was from the Spring and Autumn Period. Since he was quite knowledgeable about horses, people forgot his original name and simply called him Bo Le.
Once, Bo Le was commissioned by the king of Chu to buy a horse that could travel dry miles a day. Bo Le declared to the king of Chu that it was not easy to find a horse with a thousand miles, so he had to visit all over the world. However, Bo Le went to several countries, even the area of Yan and Zhao, which was known to produce famous horses, and searched carefully, but he still did not find a good horse he liked. He had no choice but to return to his country.
On his way back to Qi, Bo Le suddenly saw a horse pulling a salt cart, and was struggling to move up a steep slope. The horse was so tired that it was panting and every step was very difficult. Bo Le, who had always been close to the horse, could not help but walk up to him. When the horse saw Bo Le approaching, it suddenly raised its head and stared at him, neighing loudly, as if it wanted to tell Bo Le something. Immediately from the sound of the horse, he could tell that it was a rare horse. He said to the driver, “This horse is no match for any horse on the frontier, but for pulling a cart, it is not as good as an ordinary horse. You’d better sell it to me.” The motorist thought Bo Le was a great fool, he thought the horse was too ordinary, he had no breath to pull the cart, he ate too much, but was as thin as a bone, and someone actually praised him as a rare steed! Since Burroughs was bent on making an offer for the horse, the driver happily agreed.
Bo Le took the horse and went straight to the kingdom of Chu. Bo Le took the horse to the palace of the king of Chu, patted the horse on the neck and said, “I have found you a good master.” As if he understood Bo Le’s meaning, the horse lifted his front hooves and shook the ground, and hissed with a loud voice, like a big bell and a rock, straight up to the clouds. The king of Chu heard the sound of the horse neighing and came out of the palace. Bo Le pointed to the horse and said, “Your Majesty, I have brought you the thousand-li horse, please take a good look at it.” When the king saw that the horse he was holding was as thin as a bone, he thought that Bo Le was teasing him and said, “I believe that you know how to look at horses, so I asked you to find and buy a horse, but what kind of horse did you buy?
Bo Le explained, “This is indeed a thousand mile horse, but it has been pulling a cart for some time, and that owner did not feed it carefully, so the horse is very thin. I believe that if we feed it carefully, it will regain its strength in less than fifteen days.” The king of Chu listened to Bo Le’s words and ordered the horseman to do his best to feed the horse well.
Sure enough, the horse became strong and vigorous. The king felt the wind in his ears as he stepped across the horse and raised the whip, and in the blink of an eye, the horse had carried him hundreds of miles. Later, the horse made a lot of achievements for the king of Chu. The king of Chu had more respect for Bo Le.
