The Farmer and the Rabbit

The Farmer and the Rabbit Illustration

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很久hěn jiǔ以前yǐ qiánzài中国zhōng guóyǒu农夫nóng fū每天měi tiāndōu努力nǔ lìzàitián工作gōng zuòA long time ago, there was a farmer in China who worked hard in the fields every day.一天yī tiān正在zhèng zàimángzhe突然tū rán看到kàn dàozhī兔子tù zicóng远处yuǎn chù飞快fēi kuàide跑来pǎo lái小心xiǎo xīnzhuàngzàitiánbiānde大树dà shùshàng当场dāng chǎng撞死zhuàng sǐleOne day, while he was busy working, he suddenly saw a rabbit running quickly from a distance, accidentally hitting a big tree by the field and dying on the spot.

农夫nóng fū大喜dà xǐ心想xīn xiǎng太好了tài hǎo le不用bù yòng辛苦xīn kǔ工作gōng zuòjiùyǒu兔肉tù ròuchīleThe farmer was overjoyed, thinking: 'Great! I don't have to work hard, and I can eat rabbit meat!'那天nà tiān晚上wǎn shang开心kāi xīndezhǔleguō美味měi wèide兔子肉tù zi ròuchīdehěn满足mǎn zúThat evening, he happily cooked a pot of delicious rabbit meat and ate with great satisfaction.

第二天dì èr tiān农夫nóng fū决定jué dìng不再bù zài耕田gēng tián便biànzuòzài大树dà shùpáng等着děng zhekànhuì不会bù huìzàiyǒu兔子tù zizhuàng过来guò láiThe next day, the farmer decided not to farm anymore and sat beside that big tree, waiting to see if another rabbit would come crashing into it.děngle整天zhěng tiānquè什么shén meméi等到děng dàoHe waited the whole day, but he didn't get anything.

cóng以后yǐ hòu农夫nóng fū天天tiān tiān什么shén mezuòzhǐzuòzàishùpángděng兔子tù ziFrom then on, the farmer did nothing every day, only sitting by the tree waiting for rabbits.当然dāng ránzài没有méi yǒu兔子tù zizhuàngdàoshùshàngOf course, no more rabbits crashed into the tree.de田地tián dì长满zhǎng mǎn野草yě cǎo农作物nóng zuò wù枯死kū sǐleHis fields became overgrown with weeds, and the crops withered away.

现在xiàn zài人们rén menyòng成语chéng yǔ守株待兔shǒu zhū dài tùlái比喻bǐ yùrénhěn懒惰lǎn duòzhǐxiǎng不劳而获bù láo ér huòdezàizǒuyùnquè不愿bù yuàn付出fù chū努力nǔ lìNow, people use the idiom 'waiting by a stump for a rabbit' to describe someone who is very lazy, only wanting to gain without effort by getting lucky again, yet unwilling to work hard.

例如lì rúyǒurénjiào麦克Mài kèyǒumǎi乐透lè tòuzhònglejiǎngFor example, there was a person named Maike who once won the lottery.从此cóng cǐ不再bù zài认真rèn zhēn工作gōng zuò每天měi tiānzhǐmǎi彩券cǎi quàn希望xī wàngnéngzàizhòng大奖dà jiǎngFrom then on, he no longer worked seriously, only buying lottery tickets every day, hoping to win a big prize again.zhè就是jiù shì守株待兔shǒu zhū dài tù——kào运气yùn qi不肯bù kěn努力nǔ lìThis is 'waiting by a stump for a rabbit'—relying on luck, unwilling to work hard.

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