對牛彈琴 【duì niú tán qín】有一個叫公明儀的人給牛彈奏古雅的清角調琴曲，牛依然像先前一樣埋頭吃草。不是牛不要聽，是曲調不悅它的耳。公明儀於是用琴模仿蚊蟲和牛蠅的叫聲，以及失散的小牛的聲音。牛就擺動尾巴豎起耳朵，小步走並聽著音樂。
啟示： 對牛彈琴- 比喻對不懂道理的人講道理，是白費口舌；也常用來譏笑說話不看對象的人。 如社會上大多數人都不太懂和尚尼姑出家的原因？更弄不懂他（她）們天天在寺院裡幹什麼？ 可也許對出家人而言，他們的思想境界是超常的，智慧是打開的，出家人知道對一般人講修道之理，好如對牛彈琴。 因為修道的人是明白了更多世間的理，如“因緣關係”，”業力輪報” 和“善惡有報”等等，明白了人生的真諦和意義。 所以我們要多破除自己思想上的舊觀念，常試著用發展的眼光來看待周圍的所見所聞。
Long ago, there was a famous musician named Gong Mingyi. He plays the zither very well. But , occasionally, he does some silly things. One day, he sees a cow grazing in the field near his home. He feels a sudden inspiration and runs over and starts playing his zither in front of the cow. The tune he plays is so melodious, that even he gets intoxicated with it. But that cow shows no response to his beautiful music, seeming to only care about the grass it’s eating. Gong Mingyi thinks it’s very strange. After a pause, he starts to play again. But this time, the tune he plays isn’t so pleasant to hear. The music he plays sounds like the buzzing of mosquitoes and gadflies, intermingled with the calls of calves. Hearing this music, the cow swings its tail instantly and begins to relish the music with erect ears. Gong Mingyi smiles.
” Obviously, the cow didn’t respond to my music, not because I played it badly, but because it doesn’t understand and is unable to appreciate that abstruse tune.” he said.
Moral point： ” Diu Niu Tan Qin ” means to talk philosophy to a fool.
