A Repeated Slander Makes Others Believe
Once, the king of Wei sent Pang Cong to accompany the crown prince to the state of Zhao as a hostage. Before he left, Pang Cong went to see the king of Wei and said, "Now someone says that there is an old tiger in the market. Do you believe it?" The king of Wei laughed and said, "This is impossible!" Pang Cong then asked, "Two people said that there was an old tiger in the market. Do you believe it?" "This...... I'm still a little skeptical." The king of Wei hesitated. "Three people said there were old tigers in the fair. Do you believe them?" The king of Wei was surprised, but still said, "I believe it!"
Pang Cong sighed and said, "Surely there won't be a tiger in the market, but to hear three people say there is a tiger, it seems that there really is a tiger! Now I am going to the state of Zhao. Handan is far away from the fair, and there must be far more than three people who have spoken ill of me. I hope that when you hear those words, you will be able to tell the truth from the lies and not be confused by them." The king of Wei said, "I understand. Don't worry about going to the State of Zhao."
As expected, after Pang Cong left, slandering words against him kept coming to the king of Wei, and the king finally believed them. When Pang Cong returned to the state of Wei, he was left out in the cold. The king of Wei refused to summon him any more.
To judge whether a thing is true or false, we must go through multiple investigations and careful thinking, and make a correct judgment based on facts.
三人成虎
有一次，魏王派龐蔥陪同太子到趙國做人質。臨行前，龐蔥去拜見魏王，並說：「現在有一個人說集市上有老虎，您相信嗎？」 魏王哈哈大笑：「這是不可能的！」 龐蔥接着問：「有兩個人說集市上有老虎，大王相信嗎？」 「這……我還是有點兒懷疑。」 魏王猶豫了。「有三個人說集市上有老虎，您相信嗎？」 魏王很吃驚，但還是說：「我相信了！」
龐蔥嘆了口氣，說：「集市上是一定不會有老虎的，可是聽到三個人說有老虎，就好像真的有老虎了！我現在要到趙國去了，趙國的邯鄲比集市遠多了，說我壞話的人也一定遠遠超過三個啊！我希望大王在聽到那些話的時候，能夠辨別真假，不被謊言迷惑。」 魏王說：「我明白了，你放心到趙國去吧。」
果然，龐蔥離開以後，誹謗他的話不停地傳到魏王那裡，魏王最終還是相信了這些話。龐蔥回到魏國就受到冷落，魏王再也不肯召見他了。
判斷一件事情是真是假，必須經過多方面考察和仔細思考，並以事實為依據做出正確的判斷。
