During the Warring States period, there was a very clever and eloquent man in the State of Qi named Chunyu Kun. Once, the King of Qi sent him as an envoy to present a very precious swan (called “hu” in ancient times) to the King of Chu as a gesture of goodwill.
Chunyu Kun set off with the cage containing the swan. However, halfway there, he accidentally let the swan fly away! What a disaster! The gift intended for the King of Chu was now gone; how could he explain it to the two rulers?
But Chunyu Kun was very resourceful. He took the empty cage to the State of Chu and met with the King of Chu. He said to the King of Chu,
“Your Majesty, the King of Qi sent me to present you with a swan. While crossing a great river, I saw the swan was thirsty and decided to open its cage to let it drink some water. Unexpectedly, it flew away as soon as it came out!
I was extremely distressed. I considered committing suicide to atone for my sins, but I feared people would say that you drove someone to suicide because of a bird; I also considered buying another bird to substitute, but that would deceive my king and you; I even considered fleeing to another country, but I didn’t want the friendly relations between the King of Qi and the King of Chu to be interrupted because of my mistake. Therefore, I decided to come to you empty-handed, kowtow to you, and beg for your punishment!”
The King of Chu exclaimed, “Excellent! The King of Qi has such an honest minister, truly admirable!”
As a result, not only did the King of Chu not punish Chunyu Kun, but also rewarded him handsomely, much more than if he actually had presented a swan!
From Records of the Grand Historian – Biographies of the Witty and Humorous
#8 淳于髡献鹄
战国时期，齐国有一个很聪明、很会说话的人，名叫淳于髡。有一次，齐王派他做使者，带一只非常珍贵的天鹅（古时候叫“鹄”）去送给楚王，表示友好。
淳于髡带着装天鹅的笼子上路了。可是走到半路，一不小心，他让天鹅飞走了！这下可闯了大祸了！这是要送给楚王的礼物，现在没了，怎么向两个国君交代呢？但是淳于髡非常机智，他拿着空笼子到了楚国，见到了楚王。他对楚王说：
“尊敬的楚王，齐王派我来给您献上天鹅。在经过一条大河的时候，我看天鹅很渴，就想打开笼子让它喝点水。没想到，它一出来就飞走了！
我难过极了。我本想自杀谢罪，但又怕别人议论您竟然因为一只鸟逼人自杀。我也想过买一只别的鸟来代替，但那样又欺骗了我的国君和您。我还想过逃到别的国家去，但又不想让齐王和楚王之间的友好往来，因为我的过错而中断。所以，我最后还是决定空着手来见您，向您磕头请罪，任凭您处罚我吧！”
楚王听了说：“好啊！齐王竟然有这样诚实的臣子，真是令人佩服！”
结果，楚王不但没有惩罚淳于髡，还重重地赏赐了他，赏赐的财物比真正献上天鹅还要多呢！
出自《史记·滑稽列传》