宋 Song · 文 Prose
卖油翁
The Oil Seller
陈康肃公尧咨善射，当世无双，公亦以此自矜。
尝射于家圃，有卖油翁释担而立，睨之久而不去。
见其发矢十中八九，但微颔之。
康肃问曰：汝亦知射乎？
吾射不亦精乎？
Meaning
A champion archer, proud of his unrivaled skill, is watched by a passing oil seller who barely nods at the display. The old man's faint praise stings the archer's pride and provokes his angry question. The sketch sets up a collision between two kinds of mastery — the celebrated art of the bow and the humble craft of the oil pour — and points to the truth the full anecdote reveals: both are simply matters of practice. Its theme is that no skill is miraculous; pride in a mastered skill is itself the thing to be cured.
陈康肃公陈尧咨擅长射箭，当世没有第二个人能比得上他，他也因此自夸自傲。他曾经在自家的园圃里射箭，有个卖油的老翁放下担子站在一旁，斜着眼看他，很久都不离开。老翁见他射出的箭十支中有八九支射中靶心，只是微微点了点头。康肃公问道：「你也懂得射箭吗？我的射箭技术不是很精湛吗？」
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Lord Kangsu Chen Yaozi, an archer without equal in his time, is shooting in his own garden when an oil seller pauses, sets down his burden, and squints at him at length, only nodding faintly when nine arrows of ten hit. The proud archer demands to know whether the old man understands archery at all, and whether his own skill is not exquisite. In the full anecdote, the oil seller pours oil through the eye of a coin set on a gourd without wetting the coin, and answers: 'Nothing special — the hand is simply practiced.' [Structure] The sketch is perfectly jointed: it opens with the archer's pride, tightens the tension through the old man's indifference and the archer's challenge, and resolves everything (beyond this excerpt) in one plain sentence. [Imagery] Two verb phrases carry the old man's whole character: shi dan er li ('setting down his load and standing') shows unhurried composure; ni ('squinting') is the most vivid word in the piece — a sidelong, unimpressed gaze that measures the man rather than the arrows.
【白话串讲】 欧阳修写《卖油翁》：陈尧咨善射箭，卖油翁却只“微颔之”。陈问他为什么，卖油翁“取一葫芦置于地，以钱覆其口，徐以杓酌油沥之，自钱孔入，而钱不湿”——他说：“无他，但手熟尔”——熟能生巧。 【意象与手法】 此文为笔记体寓言，篇幅极短而结构完密：以「自矜」起，以「释然」结，一线贯穿；以陈之自满与翁之淡漠对比成文，前详射、后详油，详略互见。白描传神，「睨之」「微颔之」八字写尽老翁不以为然之神态，「酌油沥钱孔」一节（节选外）更以细事证大道理。语言简洁明快，对话逼真，文言笔记小品之典范。 【情感与主旨】 主旨在一个「熟」字：射箭与酌油，技艺虽殊，「无他，但手熟尔」。此理既讽刺陈尧咨「以此自矜」的骄矜之态，又揭示一切技艺皆由熟而生巧、由巧而入神的普遍规律，寄寓「满招损、谦受益」的古训，是欧阳修以平凡故事说深刻道理的名篇。 【名句点睛】 「但微颔之」四字写卖油翁的淡然与轻许，是全篇情节转折的枢纽；「无他，但手熟尔」（节选外）则为全篇点睛之笔，以最平淡的话说出最朴素的真理，成为中国人讲「熟能生巧」时脱口而出的经典名句。
Background
Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), courtesy name Yongshu, literary names Old Drunkard and One-of-Six Hermit, was from Luling in Jizhou (present-day Ji'an, Jiangxi). A statesman and the leader of the Northern Song ancient-prose movement, he ranks among the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song prose. 'The Oil Seller' is drawn from his notebook collection Guitian lu (Records of Returning to the Fields), written after his retirement and recording anecdotes of the Northern Song court with a spare, memorable style. The archer Chen Yaozi (970–1034), a top graduate of the year 1000, was famous in his lifetime for archery — the Song History records that he could shoot through a coin with one arrow — and was granted the posthumous title Lord Kangsu. Set in an age that honored civil over military arts, the sketch uses a street incident to weigh the worth of technical brilliance against the virtue of humility.
欧阳修（1007—1072），字永叔，号醉翁、六一居士，吉州庐陵（今江西吉安）人，北宋政治家、文学家，唐宋八大家之一，文坛盟主，与韩愈、柳宗元并称「韩柳欧苏」而实为宋代古文运动领袖。《卖油翁》选自其笔记《归田录》，此书为欧阳修晚年归田后追忆往事、记录见闻之作，多写北宋名臣轶事，语言简洁隽永，为宋代笔记小品之代表。文中主人公陈尧咨（970—1034），字嘉谟，阆中人，宋真宗咸平三年状元，以善射闻名当世，《宋史》本传称其「工隶书，善射，尝以钱为的，一发贯其中」，历任知制诰、翰林学士、武信军节度使等职，卒谥「康肃」，与文中所写「善射，当世无双」相符。欧阳修与陈尧咨同为北宋前期显宦，其轶事当有所本，然此文之价值不在史实而在寓意。时代背景上，北宋重文轻武、右文抑武，然射艺作为六艺之一在士大夫中仍受推重；欧阳修于新旧党争中屡遭贬谪，晚年著述《归田录》，「归来」之意中既有退隐之闲适，亦有借笔记以寓劝惩的深意。《卖油翁》正是以一则市井琐事，将「熟能生巧」「骄者必败」的朴素哲理寓于其中，见出欧阳修「文以载道」而举重若轻的大家风范。
Art
The piece is a masterpiece of brevity — under a hundred and fifty characters, yet complete in character, plot, and argument. Its first device is structure: the opening 'Lord Kangsu... was a master archer, unmatched in his day, and he prided himself on it' fixes both the glory and the flaw — 'pride' is the target the whole essay shoots at. Its second device is contrast: the archer is proud and hot, the old man calm and cold; writing the archer, the prose gives him speech ('Do you also understand archery? Is my shooting not exquisite?'), while writing the old man, it gives him only three actions — setting down his load, squinting, faintly nodding — and no speech at all (until the full anecdote's 'the hand is simply practiced'). Its third device is the balance of detail: archery is narrated in summary (ten arrows, eight or nine hits), while the full anecdote dwells on the oil pour (coin on the gourd, ladle poured slowly through the hole, coin unwetted), so that the two skills, one celebrated and one humble, are weighed in the reader's mind and found equal. The prose is plain, driving, and free of ornament — the model of the Song sketch.
此文为笔记体寓言，其艺术之妙在于「以短见长、以小见大」。全篇不足百五十字（含节选外之文），而人物、情节、理趣俱全，堪称小品文之极则。其一，结构之巧：以「陈康肃公尧咨善射，当世无双，公亦以此自矜」开篇立靶，一个「自矜」点出矛盾之源；中间以卖油翁「睨之」「微颔之」的淡漠反衬陈之骄矜，情节在射与看的对峙中推进；终以卖油翁「酌油沥钱孔而钱不湿」的表演与「无他，但手熟尔」的答语收束，使陈「笑而遣之」，由矜而服，首尾呼应，一线到底。其二，对比之妙：陈之善射与翁之善酌，一贵一贱、一矜一谦、一扬一抑，两相对照而高下自见；写陈则「以此自矜」「汝亦知射乎？吾射不亦精乎」，骄态毕现；写翁则「释担而立」「睨之」「微颔之」，淡然自若，一热一冷，神态如画。其三，白描之工：「释担而立」写其从容，「睨之久而不去」写其轻慢，「但微颔之」写其有所许可而不以为奇，三处动作神态皆不着议论而褒贬自明，深得史传笔法之神。其四，详略之宜：射箭之详写于前（十中八九），酌油之详写于后（以钱覆其口，徐以杓酌油沥之，自钱孔入而钱不湿），前后呼应而各极其致，详略之间见出「射」「油」技艺虽异而其理则一的布局匠心。语言则纯用散行，简劲明快，无一冗字，为宋代笔记文「简洁」风格的典范。
Allusions
Though it reads like street talk, the sketch stands on deep cultural ground. Archery was one of the Six Arts of antiquity (rites, music, archery, charioteering, script, and number), a required accomplishment of the gentleman; yet Confucius warned that 'archery does not aim at piercing the hide' — its point lies in ritual propriety, not force — so the old man's faint nod quietly echoes the sage's ranking. 'Pride in oneself' (zi jin) belongs to a whole lineage of warnings: Laozi's 'he who does not boast will endure,' the Book of Documents' 'pride invites loss; humility gains benefit,' and the Modesty hexagram of the Book of Changes. And the oil seller's feat belongs to the ancient tradition of 'skill entering the Way': Zhuangzi's cook Ding, who carved oxen for years until his blade met no resistance and his work moved like dance, and the wheelwright Bian, who could not put into words what his hands knew. The oil seller's 'the hand is simply practiced' says, in street language, what Zhuangzi said in parables: the Way lives inside skill.
此文虽为白话式笔记，而文化底蕴极深。其一「射」之传统：射为中国古代「六艺」（礼、乐、射、御、书、数）之一，是士人必修之技艺，亦为周代「乡射礼」之重要内容；陈尧咨以善射「当世无双」而自矜，正是以射艺自高，然《论语·八佾》孔子有「射不主皮，为力不同科」之说，谓射之要在中礼而非贯革，卖油翁「但微颔之」正暗承此意——射艺虽精，不过是「手熟」之技，不足矜也。其二「自矜」之诫：《老子》「不自见故明，不自是故彰，不自伐故有功，不自矜故长」，明言「自矜者不长」，陈尧咨之「以此自矜」正是道家所诫；《尚书·大禹谟》「满招损，谦受益，时乃天道」，《周易·谦卦》「谦谦君子，卑以自牧」，皆为此文题中之义。其三「技进乎道」之思：《庄子·养生主》庖丁解牛「所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎」，以「无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地」写技之极致即道之显现；《庄子·天道》轮扁「得之于手而应于心，口不能言」亦同此意，卖油翁「自钱孔入而钱不湿」的酌油绝技，正是「技进乎道」的市井版本，「唯手熟尔」则以最朴素的语言说出庄子「道在技中」的玄理。其四「康肃」之谥：「康」为谥号美称（安乐抚民曰康），「肃」为刚德克就，以谥称人正是史传笔法，使短文具有实录之味。欧阳修将六艺之教、老庄之诫、儒道之哲熔于一炉，而皆寓于市井琐事，是「寓道于器、以俗见雅」的上乘写法。
Commentary
'The Oil Seller' is the most widely read of Ouyang Xiu's sketches; since the Song it has been a fixture of elementary readers and anthologies, and in modern China it has anchored middle-school textbooks for decades, making 'the oil seller' and 'the hand is simply practiced' household phrases. Its literary achievement is to lift the notebook genre from gossip to a vehicle of argument: with a historian's brevity, Ouyang Xiu makes a street incident carry the full weight of the Confucian-Daoist tradition of humility and mastery. 'The hand is simply practiced' has become the standard Chinese summary of practice-makes-perfect, quoted alongside tales of dripping water piercing stone and the iron pestle ground into a needle. Its method — a tiny story carrying a large truth — shaped the later path of Song fable sketches such as 'Two Children Debate the Sun' and 'The Stone Beast in the River,' and it confirms Su Shi's judgment that Ouyang Xiu's prose 'discusses the great Way like Han Yu, affairs like Lu Zhi, and records events like Sima Qian.'
《卖油翁》是欧阳修笔记小品中流传最广的一篇，自宋代以降即为蒙学与文选必收之篇，其影响力远超一篇笔记的体量。就其文体价值而言，此文是宋代笔记小品「以小见大」的典范：笔记一体自魏晋志人志怪始，至宋而臻于成熟，欧阳修《归田录》以史家笔法写市井人物，将「笔记」从谈资提升为文以载道的文体，朱熹称欧阳修之文「纡徐委备」，此文正是以委婉从容之笔写振聋发聩之理的典型。就其思想价值而言，「无他，但手熟尔」一语道破技艺修养的普遍规律，将「熟能生巧」这一朴素真理以最精炼的语言固定下来，成为中国人论技艺、论学习的公共话语，与「水滴石穿」「铁杵磨针」并列而为励志之常谈；同时，此文对「自矜」的讽刺与对「谦」的肯定，又承接《尚书》《周易》的谦德传统，具有道德教化的普遍意义。就其影响而言，此文在现代被选入初中语文教材，历数十年而不废，「卖油翁」「唯手熟尔」成为全民熟知的文化符号；其「以市井细事寓大道」的写法，亦启发了后世笔记小说、寓言故事（如《两小儿辩日》《河中石兽》）的创作路径。苏轼评欧阳修「论大道似韩愈，论事似陆贽，记事似司马迁」，观《卖油翁》一篇，正见其「记事似司马迁」的史笔之神，短文之力，可撼千古。
Prosody
Line by line
陈康肃公尧咨善射，当世无双，公亦以此自矜。
Chen Yaozi, posthumously honored as Lord Kangsu, was a master archer, unmatched in his day, and he prided himself on it.
陈康肃公陈尧咨擅长射箭，当世没有第二个人能比得上，他也因此自夸自傲。
Chen Kangsu (Yaozi) was a master archer, unmatched in his time; he himself prided himself on it.
开篇三句以史传笔法立传主，一句一层，层层递进：「陈康肃公尧咨善射」点出人物与技艺——以谥号「康肃」称其人，取史传之郑重笔法，而「善射」二字立其特长；「当世无双」以夸张之语写其射艺之精，天下无出其右，为后文「汝亦知射乎」的骄态铺垫；「公亦以此自矜」则笔锋一转，一个「自矜」点出传主的性格缺陷——因技艺超群而自高自大，这正是全篇立论的靶子。三句中「善射」与「自矜」因果相连：才高者易骄，而「骄」正是下文卖油翁「但微颔之」所否定的对象。此开篇看似平实，实则蓄势极足：以「当世无双」极力抬高陈之射艺，为的是后文「唯手熟尔」四字的举重若轻作对照——越是把射艺写得神乎其技，越显出卖油翁轻描淡写的分量。此句亦见欧阳修记事笔法之老到：不著一议，而褒贬自寓其中，是「春秋笔法」在笔记中的运用。
The opening three lines set up the subject in the historical biography manner, one line one layer, advancing step by step. Chen Kangsu (Yaozi) was a master archer names the person and the skill — using the posthumous title Kangsu, taking the biography's grave manner, and the master archer setting his art; unmatched in his time writes the archery's precision in exaggeration, none in the world his equal, storing ground for the later do you understand archery's arrogance; he himself prided himself on it turns the pen, the one word pride naming the subject's character flaw — the self-exaltation through the surpassing skill, precisely the target of the whole piece's argument. Within the three lines, the master archer and the pride are cause and effect: the gifted easily proud, and the pride precisely the object negated by the oil-seller's only a slight nod. This opening seems plain, and yet the force stored richly: the unmatched-in-himself raising Chen's archery to the utmost, precisely to set off the later merely the hand's practice's lightness — the more the archery is written as the miraculous, the more the oil-seller's casual stroke weighs. This line also shows Ouyang Xiu's narrative mastery: not one word of argument, and the praise and blame within, precisely the Spring-and-Autumn manner used in the notebook.
尝射于家圃，有卖油翁释担而立，睨之久而不去。
Once when he was shooting in his own garden, an oil seller set down his load and stood watching, squinting at him for a long while without leaving.
他曾经在自家的园圃里射箭，有个卖油的老翁放下担子站在一旁，斜着眼看他，很久都不离开。
Once he shot in his family garden; an old oil-seller set down his load and stood, eyeing him askance for a long while, not leaving.
此句写卖油翁的出场，是情节的正式开启。「尝射于家圃」补叙地点——家圃即家中的园圃，非校场、非射圃，写陈尧咨射箭竟在家中庭院，见其以射自娱、以射自炫之态。而卖油翁的出场极富戏剧性：「释担而立」写其放下重担、从容站定，一个「释」字见其不慌不忙；「睨之」写其斜眼而视，一个「睨」字是全篇最传神之字——不正视、不仰视，而是侧目斜睨，写尽老翁对这位「当世无双」的神射手的淡然与不以为意；「久而不去」写其看得入神却又不肯离开，暗示他心中自有判断。三组动作「释担」「立」「睨」一气呵成，将一位见惯世情、不卑不亢的市井长者形象刻画得如在目前。此句在章法上是「以静写动」：陈之射箭是动，翁之睨视是静，动静相形，为下文「但微颔之」的评价与「康肃问曰」的转折蓄势。一个「睨」字更暗伏文眼——老翁之睨，睨的不是射技，而是射者的骄矜。
This line writes the oil-seller's entrance, the plot's formal opening. Once he shot in his family garden supplies the place — the family garden the home's plot, not the drill ground, not the archery range, writing Chen Yaozi shooting in the home court, showing his archery as self-amusement and self-display. The oil-seller's entrance most dramatic: set down his load and stood writes the lowered burden and the composed standing, the one word set showing the unhurried; eyeing him askance writes the sidelong glance, the one word askance the whole piece's most telling — not the straight look, not the upward look, but the side sidelong glance, exhausting the old man's calm and indifference toward this unmatched archer; for a long while, not leaving writes the absorbed watching and yet the refusal to go, hinting the judgment within. The three actions of set-down, stand, and glance in one breath, drawing the worldly-wise, neither-humble-nor-proud market elder as before the eyes. This line in craft writes motion through stillness: Chen's shooting the motion, the old man's glance the stillness, motion and stillness set off, storing ground for the below only a slight nod's judgment and Kangsu asked's turn. The one word askance also hides the text's eye — the old man's sidelong glance is not at the archery, but at the archer's pride.
见其发矢十中八九，但微颔之。
Seeing that eight or nine of every ten arrows hit the mark, the old man only nodded faintly.
老翁见他射出的箭十支有八九支射中靶心，只是微微点了点头。
Seeing that of ten shots he landed eight or nine, the old man only nodded slightly.
此句写卖油翁的评价，是全篇最耐寻味处。「见其发矢十中八九」先实写陈尧咨射技之精——十箭中八九，确非常人可及，「当世无双」于此得到验证；然而老翁的反应只是「但微颔之」——「但」字一转，写其仅此而已，别无惊叹；「微颔」写其微微点头，既有所认可，又远未以为奇。这四个字是全篇的神来之笔：颔首本是赞许之态，而着一「微」字、着一「但」字，则赞许被压到最低限度，流露出「也不过如此」的深意——神乎其技的射艺，在老翁看来不过是熟能生巧的手艺活。此句与陈尧咨的「自矜」形成强烈反差：陈以射自矜，翁以微颔相对，一扬一抑之间，骄矜之态与澹泊之怀高下立判。就章法而言，此句是情节的转折点：陈尧咨正自得意，忽见老翁如此轻许，遂生「汝亦知射乎」的质问，主客冲突由此引爆；而老翁「微颔」中所藏的不屑，又为后文「酌油」表演与「唯手熟尔」的论断埋下伏笔，使短文在极小篇幅内波澜顿起，正是「尺水兴波」的典范。
This line writes the oil-seller's judgment, the whole piece's most enduring point. Seeing that of ten shots he landed eight or nine first writes Chen's precision in fact — eight or nine of ten, truly beyond the common man, the unmatched-in-himself here confirmed; and yet the old man's response is only nodded slightly — the word only turns, writing no more than this, no wonder; the slight nod writes the slight lowering of the head, at once some approval and yet far from wonder. These four characters are the piece's inspired stroke: the nod by nature the approving pose, and yet with the word slight and the word only, the approval pressed to the minimum, breathing the that's about it depth — the miraculous archery, in the old man's view, no more than the craft of the practiced hand. This line forms the sharp contrast against Chen's pride: Chen self-proud through archery, the old man answering with the slight nod, the rise and the fall between, the arrogance and the quiet heart's rank decided at once. In craft, this line is the plot's turning point: Chen just in his self-delight, seeing the old man's such light approval, then raises the do you know archery question, the host-guest conflict ignited; and the disdain hidden in the old man's slight nod stores ground for the later oil-pouring demonstration and the merely the hand's practice verdict, making the short piece's waves rise in the smallest space, precisely the model of the small water's waves.
康肃问曰：汝亦知射乎？吾射不亦精乎？
Lord Kangsu asked him: 'Do you also understand archery? Is my shooting not exquisite?'
康肃公问道：「你也懂得射箭吗？我的射箭技术不是很精湛吗？」
Kangsu asked: Do you, too, understand archery? Is not my archery exquisite?
此句写陈尧咨的诘问，是全篇冲突的高潮。「康肃问曰」四字领起对话，以下两句诘问，层层逼人：「汝亦知射乎」先问老翁懂不懂射箭，语气中带着轻蔑——一个卖油的老头也配评点射艺？「吾射不亦精乎」再问自己的射技精不精，语气转为自负——我射得难道不好吗？两个问句连发，一句比一句尖利，把陈尧咨的骄矜之态写得淋漓尽致：他无法容忍一个市井老翁对自己引以为傲的技艺「但微颔之」，遂以居高临下的姿态质问。值得注意的是，两句皆用反问句式（亦……乎、不亦……乎），反问不需回答，恰见其自问自答、自以为是的心理；「不亦……乎」是《论语》「学而时习之，不亦说乎」的经典句式，欧阳修以经典句式写骄矜之语，寓庄于谐，更见讽刺之妙。此句在情节上是「蓄势」与「破势」的交界：陈之质问愈烈，则卖油翁「无他，但手熟尔」的淡淡回答愈见分量，一炽一冷，冲突的张力在此拉到最满，而答案即将由卖油翁的「酌油」表演揭晓。
This line writes Chen Yaozi's challenge, the conflict's peak. The four words Kangsu asked lead the dialogue, the two questions below pressing step by step. Do you, too, understand archery? first asks whether the old man knows archery, the tone carrying contempt — an old oil seller, fit to judge archery? Is not my archery exquisite? then asks whether his own archery is fine, the tone turning self-satisfied — don't I shoot well? The two questions in sequence, each sharper than the last, exhausting Chen's arrogance: he cannot bear a market old man's only-a-slight-nod to the art he prides himself on, hence the high-handed challenge. It is worth noting that both lines use the rhetorical question (also...? is it not...?), the question needing no answer, precisely showing the self-answered, self-assured psychology; the is it not...? the Analects' learned and often practiced, is it not a pleasure? classic form, Ouyang Xiu writing the arrogant words in the classic form, the gravity within the wit, the satire's charm the greater. This line in plot is the border of force-stored and force-broken: the fiercer Chen's challenge, the more weighty the oil-seller's no other, only the hand's practice answer, the one burning the other cold, the conflict's tension pulled to the utmost, and the answer about to be revealed by the oil-pouring demonstration.
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《庄子·养生主》「庖丁解牛」与《卖油翁》同以市井百工之绝技寓言大道：庖丁「手之所触，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然向然，奏刀騞然，莫不中音」，以「无厚入有间」而「游刃有余」；卖油翁「徐以杓酌油沥之，自钱孔入而钱不湿」，以「唯手熟尔」自谦其技。差异在：庄子写技之极致通向「道」的玄境——庖丁由「技」进乎「道」，「以神遇而不以目视」，解牛近于合乐；欧阳修写技之极致归于「熟」的平常——卖油翁不以绝技自炫，直言「无他，但手熟尔」，将神技还原为日复一日的功夫。一玄一实、一道一器：庄子重在「技进乎道」的超越，欧阳修重在「熟能生巧」的笃实。两篇寓言一庄一谐、一玄一朴，共同构成中国文学中「以艺喻道」的传统，可见「大道在技艺中」的思想由先秦至宋代一脉相承而不衰。
种树郭橐驼传 The Biography of Guo the Hunchbacked Tree Planter 柳宗元 · 同为以人物技艺说理的唐代寓言与宋代笔记 Both are fable sketches using a common man's craft to argue a truth — one for governance, one against pride.Liu Zongyuan's 'Guo Tuotuo' plants trees 'following the nature of the wood' and succeeds by not harming their growth; Ouyang Xiu's oil seller pours by the practiced hand. Both make a humble craftsman the hero and use his craft to instruct the powerful — the officials who 'love to trouble them with commands,' the archer who 'prides himself on his skill.' The difference: Liu's essay is longer and states its moral openly ('I record this as a warning to officials'); Ouyang Xiu's is brief and hides the argument inside dialogue, letting the story carry it. One is the grand 'writing to convey the Way' of the ancient-prose movement; the other the 'small seeing great' of the sketch.
柳宗元《种树郭橐驼传》与《卖油翁》同属「以事明理」的寓言小品：郭橐驼种树「能顺木之天，以致其性」，其成功之道在「不害其长」「不抑耗其实」，柳宗元借以讽喻「好烦其令」的苛政，寄「无为而治」之旨；卖油翁酌油「唯手熟尔」，欧阳修借以破除「自矜」之习，寄「熟能生巧」之理。两篇皆以市井细民（种树者、卖油翁）为主角，皆以一项平凡技艺引出人生哲理，皆以小人物反衬大人物的迷误（问政者、自矜者）。差异在：柳文篇制较长，先传后论，明言「传其事以为官戒」，说理正大而兼刺时政；欧文篇幅极短，纯以白描对话出之，理趣藏于叙事，含蓄隽永。一为古文运动「文以载道」的宏篇，一为笔记小品「以小见大」的短章，而「道在技中、理在事中」的写法一脉相承，合观可见唐宋两代寓言散文由铺陈而简淡的演进轨迹。
醉翁亭记 The Old Drunkard's Pavilion 欧阳修 · 同出欧阳修笔下的两种散文境界，讽刺与闲适的对照 Two faces of Ouyang Xiu's prose — satire and leisure.'The Old Drunkard's Pavilion,' written during Ouyang Xiu's exile in Chuzhou, spreads its 'all around Chu is mountains' in a leisurely cadence, singing the joy of landscapes and using the particle 'ye' twenty-one times to build a relaxed rhythm; 'The Oil Seller,' written in his retirement, is terse and cold, a street story edged with mockery. Both are about 'joy': the Old Drunkard's joy is 'the drunkard's heart is not in the wine, but in the mountains and streams'; the oil seller's joy is the ordinary heart of 'I know it from pouring oil,' unboastful. One wins by length and leisure, one by brevity and restraint — together they show Ouyang Xiu's two registers, the prose master who could open wide and draw tight.
《醉翁亭记》与《卖油翁》同出欧阳修之手，而文体与境界迥异：《醉翁亭记》为贬谪滁州时的山水游记，以「环滁皆山也」的舒徐笔法铺写「四时之景不同，而乐亦无穷也」的太守之乐，文气纡余委备，一唱三叹，连用二十一个「也」字，创造了一种从容自得的散文节奏，是其「六一风神」的代表；《卖油翁》则为晚年归田后的笔记小品，以极短的篇幅、极简的笔墨写市井故事，冷峭峻洁，含讥带讽。同是写「乐」：醉翁之乐在山水之间、「醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也」；卖油翁之乐在「以我酌油知之」的平常心，不矜不伐。一篇以长取胜，铺张扬厉而归于闲适；一篇以短见长，惜墨如金而寓于劝诫。合观二文，可见欧阳修散文「既能放得开（游记之纡徐），又能收得拢（笔记之简劲）」的两副笔墨，亦见北宋古文运动在文体开拓上的成熟：无论长文短文，皆能各极其致。