During the Spring and Autumn period, a man brought a fine steed from the border grasslands to the market. A potential buyer approached, and the seller eagerly pitched, "This horse is a grassland breed—sturdy, fast, and can cover seven or eight hundred li a day. It's not a thousand-li horse, but it's close, and the price is fair. Interested?"
The horse buyer glanced at the horse, shook his head, and said, "You must be exaggerating! A horse like this, covering two or three hundred li a day is already impressive! I don't want it!"
Several more potential buyers circled the horse, but despite his tireless sales pitch—talking until his lips were parched and his tongue dry—not a single customer believed his claims or took a liking to the horse.
For three days straight, he tried to sell his horse at the market, but no one even glanced at it. Frustrated, he sought out Bole, the master with an eye for talent, and pleaded, "My horse is truly exceptional, yet after three days of shouting, no one recognizes its worth. I need your help. Tomorrow, could you simply walk through the market and cast a single glance back at my horse? I'll pay you a day's wages for that one look!"
Bole recognized it as an exceptional horse and agreed. The next day, he strolled through the market as promised, pausing before the seller to glance at the horse, then walking past before deliberately turning back for a closer look.
Bo Le's legendary skill at judging horses was renowned throughout the land. After he left, a crowd immediately surrounded the horse, and within moments, the seller had sold it for ten times its original price.
Later, the idiom "A Single Glance from Bole" came to be used as a metaphor for the significant impact of receiving recognition and recommendation from a master.
Source: *Strategies of the Warring States*, Chapter "Strategy of Yan II"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "伯乐一顾" came to describe how the significant impact of receiving recognition and recommendation from a master.