Level 6 · Lesson 11

成语（二）：寓言里的成语
Chengyu 2: from the fables

四个字，一个故事。

Four chengyu that each carry a whole fable: 守株待兔, 画蛇添足, 亡羊补牢, 井底之蛙.

听 · Listen

一本寓言书
 安娜 —  李明，这本书里的故事都很短，可是我看不懂。 
Li Ming, the stories in this book are all short, but I can't follow them.  
 李明 —  这是寓言。每个寓言后边都有一个成语。 
They're fables. Each fable has a chengyu at the end of it.  
 安娜 —  守株待兔是什么意思？ 
What does 守株待兔 mean?  
 李明 —  从前有一个农民，看见一只兔子撞在树上死了。他很高兴，就天天在那棵树旁边等，不去种地了。 
Once there was a farmer who saw a hare run into a tree and die. He was delighted, so every day he waited beside that tree instead of going out to farm.  
 安娜 —  后来呢？ 
And then?  
 李明 —  后来他一只兔子也没等到。所以我们说一个人守株待兔，就是说他不做事，只在那儿等。 
After that he never caught another hare. So when we say someone is 守株待兔, we mean they do nothing and just sit and wait.  
 安娜 —  我明白了。那画蛇添足呢？ 
I see. And 画蛇添足?  
 李明 —  很多人一起画蛇，画得最快的人赢。有一个人画得最快，可是他又给蛇画了四只脚，所以他没赢。 
A group of men were drawing snakes, and the one who drew fastest would win. One man finished first, but then he added four feet to his snake — so he lost.  

讲解 · Explanation

守株待兔：守着树，等着兔子。

A fable chengyu is the title of a story, not a description of one. 守 means to guard or stay by, 株 is an old word for a tree stump, 待 is the written word for 等. Four characters, and any Chinese speaker sees the whole farmer standing there. The idiom is used of anyone hoping for a lucky repeat instead of working: 别守株待兔了，快去找工作吧 (bié shǒuzhū-dàitù le, kuài qù zhǎo gōngzuò ba). The story is from 《韩非子》, more than two thousand years old.

画蛇添足：蛇画好了，还给它加四只脚。亡羊补牢：羊丢了以后，才把牢修好。

添 means to add, 足 is the written word for 脚. 画蛇添足 is what you say when someone ruins a finished thing by doing more to it. 亡 here means to lose, and 牢 is the pen the sheep are kept in — so 亡羊补牢 is mending the pen after a sheep has gone. That one is not a criticism: the point of the story, which comes from 《战国策》, is that repairing it now is still worth doing. 现在开始也不晚，亡羊补牢，还来得及 (xiànzài kāishǐ yě bù wǎn, wángyáng-bǔláo, hái láidejí).

井底之蛙只能看见井口那么大的天。

A frog living at the bottom of a well is sure it has seen the whole sky. The picture is from 《庄子》, and 之 is simply the old written 的, so 井底之蛙 is 井底的蛙 — the frog of the well bottom. Notice how a chengyu behaves in a sentence: it drops in as one ordinary word. 他是井底之蛙 uses it as a noun, 我们不要做井底之蛙 as the object of 做, 别守株待兔 as a verb. You never change its four characters, and you never change their order.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
寓言	fable	一个寓言, 一本寓言书
守株待兔	to sit and wait for a windfall	别守株待兔了
画蛇添足	to spoil a thing by overdoing it	蛇 shé a snake, 一条蛇
亡羊补牢	to fix the problem after the loss; better late than never	亡羊补牢，还来得及
井底之蛙	a frog in a well; a person of narrow view	不要做井底之蛙
兔子	hare, rabbit	一只兔子

练习 · Practice

他不努力，只在家里等好事，我们说他______。 Which chengyu fits: he makes no effort and just waits at home for something good to happen?

房间已经很干净了，你还要再打扫，这就是______。 Which chengyu fits: the room is already clean and you want to clean it again?

羊丢了以后，他才把牢修好。人们说：______。 Fill in the four-character idiom for mending the pen after the sheep is lost.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'We shouldn't be frogs in a well.'

寓言、守株待兔、画蛇添足、亡羊补牢、井底之蛙 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

你最喜欢哪个寓言？用三句话说一说，最后说出那个成语。

Pick one of the four and retell it aloud in three sentences — who, what happened, what came of it — then finish with the idiom itself. Now use one of them about your own life in a single sentence: 我以前是井底之蛙，因为我没出过国 (wǒ yǐqián shì jǐngdǐ zhī wā, yīnwèi wǒ méi chū guo guó), or 我上个月才开始复习，可是亡羊补牢，还来得及 (wǒ shàng ge yuè cái kāishǐ fùxí, kěshì wángyáng-bǔláo, hái láidejí). Say it twice, keeping the four characters in one breath.