Chinese idioms learning (1)

Chinese idioms learning (1)
Nov 30, 2007 02:51
ZOEY Points: Join Date: Nov 29, 2004 Status: offline	For those who really want to learn Chinese, I will start Chinese idoms learning lessons from today on. Hope you enjoy your learning. No.1 ???? (Shou 3 Zhu 1 Dai 4 Tu 4). In English, it means :"Stand by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it--trust to chance and strokes of luck." History: Once unpon a time, there was a peasant who just depended on his land to make his living. Everyday he works in his field from sunrise to sunset. One day in late autumn, he was working in his field when some guys went hunting near his field. Suddenly, a hare turned up and dashed himself against a tree stump near his field. He was very happy and cooked the hare to enjoy himself. Since then, he did not work in his field, just waiting by the stump for more hares to dash themselves against the stump. However, no more hares turned up. He was still waiting and waiting......... Do you understand it and learn something from this idom?

Nov 30, 2007 02:51

ZOEY
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For those who really want to learn Chinese, I will start Chinese idoms learning lessons from today on. Hope you enjoy your learning.

No.1 ???? (Shou 3 Zhu 1 Dai 4 Tu 4). In English, it means :"Stand by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it--trust to chance and strokes of luck."

History: Once unpon a time, there was a peasant who just depended on his land to make his living. Everyday he works in his field from sunrise to sunset. One day in late autumn, he was working in his field when some guys went hunting near his field. Suddenly, a hare turned up and dashed himself against a tree stump near his field. He was very happy and cooked the hare to enjoy himself.

Since then, he did not work in his field, just waiting by the stump for more hares to dash themselves against the stump. However, no more hares turned up. He was still waiting and waiting.........

Do you understand it and learn something from this idom?

Nov 30, 2007 03:06

ZOEY
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No.2 叶公好龙 (Ye 4 Gong 1 Hao 4 Long 2). It refers to Lord Ye's love of dragons.

Legend: In ancient times, a guy named Lord Ye is crazy about dragons. You can see dragon patterns everywhere in his house, on the wall, on his bed, his clothes etc. A dragon living in the heaven learned that Lord Ye loves him very much so that he decided to pay a visit to Lord Ye's. While dragon arriving at Lord Ye's house, the dark clouds covered the sky, lightening flashed and the thunder boomed.

When seeing the real dragon, Lord Ye felt very frightened and just ran away. Actually, he did not really love dragon , but something very like dragon.

Nov 30, 2007 07:15

TRAVELLERMIKE
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Excellent thread Zoey, I look forward to reading more as you continue the series!

I think I understand how you would use No.1 守株待兔... the foolishness of trusting to luck is obvious, but I guess we all fall into the trap from time to time, and could use this expression to indicate when we think somebody is wrongly wishing for something, instead of putting in the effort necessary to secure success.

The use of No.2 叶公好龙 I find more difficult to imagine... can you suggest an example of how it might be used? I am not sure whether it could be employed in the same way as in english I could indicate I thought somebody was 'playing with fire', but maybe more 'insult' is implied?

Nov 30, 2007 10:52	#3
GRIZ326 Points: Join Date: Jun 12, 2006 Status: Offline	I understand #1 perfectly! It reminds me of the time I was gambling on nickle slot machines and hit the BIG nickle jackpot. I got so excited that I felt certain one of the other nickle slot machines was going to hit soon...and put all of my winnings back into the slot machine. I no longer play slot machines because of that! hehehe Like Mike...I do not fully understand #2.

Dec 1, 2007 01:27

ZOEY
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Quote: I guess we all fall into the trap from time to time, and could use this expression to indicate when we think somebody is wrongly wishing for something, instead of putting in the effort necessary to secure success.

Yes, Mike. Actually sometimes I make such foolish mistakes. I believe in luck but we could not always depend on luck.

Ok, let me explain 叶公好龙 more clearly. We usually use this idiom to depict those guys who boast that they love something but actually they don't. Here is an example: some Chinese people complain that Golden Week should be cancelled because it causes much convenience. However, when the state made a decision to adjust public holidays and possibly cancel May Day Golden Week. Those who require to cancel Golden Week start to object because they have got used to Golden Week. Without it, they feel uncomfortable. Don't they like Lord Ye? They expect to cancel Golden Week. When it nearly comes true, they find that they can't get used to their lives without Golden Week.

Dec 1, 2007 08:32	#5
TRAVELLERMIKE Points: Join Date: Mar 15, 2007 Status: Offline	Thanks Zoey... now I understand better... more along the lines of 'be careful what you wish for... lest it come true'.

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