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曹操是中国历史上以聪明奸诈而闻名的杰出人物。
一天，他顶着烈日在山区行军，迷失了路径，天气炎热而路途又遥远，士兵们在长时间的疲劳行军后，口渴难耐。于是众人都对曹操的领导表示不满，士兵的反抗情绪异常紧张，即将形成背叛的状态。下级官长不知如何应付这危机。曹操在这紧要关头机敏下令：士兵行至前面的梅林休息。并且准许士兵尽量吃多汁的酸梅，不受约束。
士兵们想着酸梅的味道，口渴就立刻缓和下来，反抗情绪也安定了。
后人用上面的故事作成成语“望梅止渴”来比喻一个人幻想目的已经到达了以安慰自己的情况。
参考译文：
Of all Chinese historical figures, the one who stands out the most, whether it be fore intelligence or treachery, is Cao Cao.
One hot day, he marched his troops under a burning sun through mountainous terrain, but he got lost. The journey was long and the sun was scorching. After their fruitless and tiresome march, the men began to complain about Cao Cao’s leadership. They bitterly complained of their great thirst. Bad feelings among the soldiers were growing fast and they were on the verge of staging a mutiny. The subordinate officers were helpless to cope with the situation.
Cao Cao, however, in the nick of time, cleverly and treacherously gave orders to his troops to march to the nearby plum trees for a rest and announced that soldiers would be allowed to eat as much of the sour, juicy fruit as they desired.
At the thought of the sour fruit the soldiers forgot about their thirst and complaints.
Based on the story, later generations formed the proverb to quench one's thirst by looking at plums, to describe situations where one takes comfort in believing that they have already attained that which was expected or desired.
