The original text of the answer to a friend's question is: A great man is incorruptible and has no shortage of sharp swords. When it comes to killing a horse, good jade is not as good as iron. Put iron in a large furnace and it will disappear as easily as snow. If the good jade is mixed with it, it will not burn for three days. You doubt your talents and virtues, and you will know your merits and demerits by chanting them.
The translation is as follows:
The Dagui is the jade tablet held by the emperor. It has edges and corners, but it will not be hurt when held in the hand. When marching and fighting, soldiers wield sharp swords. Even if they encounter the opponent's hard weapons, it is difficult to create a gap.
When they killed the horse, they realized that good jade was not as good as iron. When cast iron is put in a furnace, the iron is easily digested into water as easily as snow melts. When good jade is burned in the fire, it will not get hot at all after burning for three days. If you doubt talent and virtue, you have to compare and compare to know whether they are good or bad.
The author's brief introduction is as follows:
Bai Juyi (772-846), also known as Letian, also known as Xiangshan Jushi, also known as Mr. Zuiyin, was originally from Taiyuan and moved to Xiagui when his great-grandfather was here. , born in Xinzheng, Henan. He was a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty and one of the three major poets in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen jointly advocated the New Yuefu Movement, known as "Yuan Bai" in the world, and "Liu Bai" together with Liu Yuxi.
Bai Juyi's poetry has a wide range of themes, diverse forms, and simple and popular language. He is known as the "Poetry Demon" and the "Poetry King". He became a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and a doctor of Zuo Zanshan. In 846 AD, Bai Juyi died in Luoyang and was buried in Xiangshan. There is "Bai's Changqing Collection" handed down from generation to generation, and his representative poems include "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", "The Charcoal Seller", "Pipa Play" and so on.
The ancient poem "Answers to Friends' Questions" is very worthy of everyone's careful reading. The author Bai Juyi has some thoughts on the relationship between people's talents and moral character. He believes that talents also need to have noble moral character and must have both ability and political integrity in order to be invincible.
Then the poem as a whole is relatively easy to understand