Once upon a time, there was a king who was very fond of the Thousand-mile Horse, so he asked for it with his precious money. After three years, there is still no harvest. At this moment, a lowly courtier in the palace volunteered and said, "Please entrust this task to me!" The king nodded in agreement. In less than three months, this person indeed found a good horse that travels thousands of miles a day, but when he wanted to buy the horse, the thousand-mile horse died. He pondered for a while, but still spent 500 gold to buy back the bones of the dead horse. When he returned to the palace with the bones of a thousand- mile horse to report to the king, the king was very angry when he saw that it was a horse's bones. He angrily rebuked, "I want a live horse. What's the use of buying this dead horse? Didn't you waste 500 gold?" The courtier smiled and said, "Please calm down, your Majesty. Gold is not spent in vain. You are willing to pay a high price to buy a dead horse. When this news spreads, people will believe that you are a true and sincere king who loves good horses, and you know the goods and keep your word. In this way, someone will come to offer a thousand-mile horse yourself." Later, within a year, the king did indeed receive three thousand-mile horses voluntarily offered by others.
This story first came from "Strategies of the Warring States Period". At that time, King Zhao of Yan wanted to recruit talented people, and a strategist beside him, Guo Wei, told him this story. Guo Kui humbly compared himself to a dead horse and told King Zhao of Yan that if the Crown Prince could treat people of average level like himself with respect, talented people would soon come to join him.
从前，有个国君非常喜欢千里马，便用千金征求千里马。过了三年，仍无一点收获。这时，宫里一个职位低下的小侍臣，竟然自告奋勇地站出来说：“请您把这个差事交给我吧！”国君点头同意。不到三个月，这人果然找到了一匹日行千里的良马，可是当他要买马时，这匹千里马却死了。他思虑了一会儿，仍然花费500金，将死马的尸骨买了回来。他带着千里马的尸骨回宫向国君复命时，国君见是马的尸骨，非常生气，怒斥道：“我要的是活马，你买这死马回来有什么用？不是白费了500金吗！”侍臣笑道：“请国君息怒，金不是白费的。一匹死马您都愿意出高价买下来，这消息传开，人们都会相信您是真心实意喜爱良马的国君，而且识货，说话算话。这样，一定有人自己上门献千里马。”后来，不出一年，国君果真得到了三匹别人主动献来的千里马。
这个故事最早出自《战国策》，当时燕昭王想要招纳贤才，他身边的一个谋士郭隗就给他讲了这个故事。郭隗很自谦地把自己比喻成死马，告诉燕昭王如果太子能对自己这样水平一般的人都加以礼遇，那么很快就会有贤才来投奔。