画什么东西最难

客有为齐王画者，齐王问曰：“画孰最难者？”

曰：“犬马最难。”

“孰最易者？”

曰：“鬼魅最易。”

夫犬马，人所知也，旦暮罄于前，不可类也，故难；鬼神，无形者，不罄于前，帮易之也。

——《韩非子》

Painting Ghosts

There was an artist who worked for the prince of Qi. "Tell me," said the prince, "What are the hardest things to paint?"

"Dogs, horses, and the like," replied the artist.

"What are the easiest?" asked the prince.

"Ghosts and monsters," the artist told him.

"We all know dogs and horses and see them every day; but it is hard to make an exact likeness of them. That is why they are difficult subjects. But ghosts and monsters have no definite form, and no one has ever seen them; so they are easy to paint."

From: Han Fei Zi （杨宪益、戴乃迭 译）