In the first chapter of Sun Tzu’s the Art of War, the “a general” has several intriguing possibilities, depending on who the subject is. It seems that many translators, both Chinese and English, have made the subject in most of their sentences either the ruler or the general. But we mustn’t forget that not only wasn’t Sun Tzu, the author, in a position to dominate, but he was also trying to establish himself because he was a foreigner to the king’s court. Given the circumstances, the tone of these high level negotiations would be much more civil and if anything, the upper hand would be given to the ruler. The title of the first chapter, “Calculation”, alone does not suggest an iron fisted approach, and Sun Tzu was at the beck and call of the ruler and could be freely dismissed at will. This article intends to solve the “listening comprehension” issue in the decision making process that bothers readers for years when they have to deal with the confusions caused by ‘to listen’ and ‘to hear’ and consequently to pause the passage of the first chapter reasonably.