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Chinese Idiom Stories for Software Professionals: #19 Paying a Handsome Price For A Swift Steed (千金買死馬）
Top talents will come with genuine sincerity.
This article is one of the “Chinese Idiom Stories for Software Professionals” series.
Story
In ancient times, a king had a great love for swift steeds (in Chinese, a horse can run 500km per day, a rare find). He announced that he was willing to pay a thousand gold coins for a swift steed. However, he still couldn’t get one after 3 years of waiting.
A servant promised to find a swift horse for the king.
After three months, the servant finally found a swift steed, but it was dead. He paid five hundred gold coins for the horse’s bones (another version: head) and brought it back to the King.
The King was furious. “I want a live swift steed!” he thundered. “Why on earth did you waste my five hundred gold coins on a dead one?”
“If people know that you’re willing to pay a handsome price even for a dead swift steed,” replied the servant, “they will believe that you really love swift steeds. Very soon, they will flock to you with their swift steeds.”
