Never too old to learn, never too late to turn.亡羊补牢,为时未晚。 Once upon a time,there was a shepherd who kept some sheep.He herded them outside in daytime;at night,he drived them in the sheepfold which was inclosed by hays and pegs etc.
One morning,the shepherd went to herd sheep and found one sheep lost.He then discovered that the sheepfold had been broken,and the wolf must had thieved the sheep through the hollow.
"You'd better repaire the sheepfold and plug up the hollow as soon as possible!"Neighbours advised him.
"The sheep has been lost,why should I reparie the sheepfold?" He didn't accept the neighbour's kind suggestions.
The next morning,he went to herd and found another sheep lost.The wolf had again did it.
The shepherd now regreted for not taking neighbour's advice and taking remediations in time.So he stifled the hollow soon,and reinforced the whole sheepfold ,and made the sheepfold so substantial.
The King of Chu flew into a rage. "How dare you! You even use such vicious words to curse my country and mean to arouse resentment among the people!" Zhuang Xin explained, "I dare not curse the State of Chu. But I really have a premonition that Chu is facing great danger." Seeing that the king is especially fond of those corrupt officials and trust them in everything, the minister thought Chu is bound to extinct. So he asked the king to let him leave Chu. He wanted to go to the State of Zhao and stay there for a while.
The king gave him the leave.
Five months later, the King of Qin sent his troops to invade Chu and occupied a large tract of its territory. The King of Chu himself went into exile. Now, the king remembered Zhuang Xin’s words. He sent his men to fetch him. When the king saw Zhuang Xin again, he asked him, "What can I do now?"
Zhuang Xin replied, "It’s not too late if you mend the sheepfold when you find a sheep is missing." He then made some good suggestions to rehabilitate the state and recover the lost land. The king was very much pleased.
The idiom "Mend the fold after a sheep is lost" has developed from Zhuang Xin’s answer to the king.
There was once a shepherd to the sheep and found that the sheep pen was broken, someone advised him to fill the hollow as soon as possible, he did not listen, the next day the sheep indeed stolen. So he finally sheep pen good repair.