Sunday 10 October 2010

Sitting by a Stump, Waiting for a Careless Hare

春秋时代,宋国有个农夫,一天在耕田的时候,忽然跑来一只兔子,恰好碰在树桩上,脖子折断死了。农夫把兔子拾回家去,美美地吃了一顿兔肉。晚上他想:“我何必辛辛苦苦的种地呢?每天在树下能捡到一只兔子就够我吃的了。”于是他从此不再耕种,每天坐在树下等待兔子的到来。
这个成语,讥笑那些不想经过努力,存在侥幸心理,希望得到意外收获的人。

idiom story:

In the Spring and Autumn Period, a former in the state of Song was one day working in the fields when he saw a rabbit bump into a tree stump accidentally and break its neck. The former took the rabbit home and cooked himself a delicious meal. That night he thought:”I needn't work so hard. All I have to do is wait for a rabbit each day by the stump.” So from then on he gave up farming, and simply sat by the stump waiting for the rabbits to come and run into it.

This idiom satirizes those who just wait for a stroke of luck, rather than making efforts to obtain what they need.

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