Chinese Idiom - Learn Chinese

 

Chinese Idiom By http://www.echineselearning.com Idiom is a kind of condensed story we Chinese people all love to read. Our ancestors concentrate their collective wisdom and talent in these refined words, revealing the flash side of life from the truth, so that they were passed on generation by generation.

Please read the household idiom story as follows:

守株待兔 宋人有耕者，田中有株，兔走触株，折颈而死，因释其耒而守株，冀复得兔。兔不可复得，而身为宋国笑。 （选自《韩非子》）

Key Words

株 — 树桩 — tree stump 待 — 等待 — waiting for

耕者 — 农民 — farmer

田 — 田地 — field

走 — 跑 — run

触 — 撞上 — dash against

折 — 折断 — break

颈 — 脖子 — neck

释 — 荒废 — abandon

耒 — 耕作 — plough

冀 — 希望 — hope for

复 — 再 — again

Sitting by a Stump, Waiting for a Careless Hare

In the state of Song there was a farmer in whose fields stood a tree stump. A hare, which was running very fast, dashed against the stump and died, having broken its neck. The farmer was so pleased to get a hare by sheer luck that he abandoned his plough and waited by the tree stump day after day, hoping to get another hare. However, no more hare ever came and he became a laughing stock in the state of Song.

(From Han Fei Zi)

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