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Mere China
Language
Fun Chinese Lessons - 4:
Waiting
for the Rabbit - A Chinese Saying
In English
there is the expression “a long shot?or “a very long shot,?used to
describe slim or very slim chances of success. In Chinese, a phrase, a fable
really, carries the same meaning ?“The man who waited for the next rabbit
to crash into his favorite tree.?/font>
The story
goes like this. A peasant was toiling along in his field, and he hated his work.
The sun was beating down; he was all sweaty and hungry too. “There must be a
better way to make a living,?he mumbled to himself.
Just then, a
rabbit dashed by him, having just escaped from some hunting dogs. The rabbit was
frightened and was running very fast. Failing to make a proper turn at a
critical moment, it banged right into the trunk of a tree. Its neck broken, the
rabbit died.
The
astounded farmer walked over and picked up the unexpected game. That night he
ate well.
The
farmer then made a decision that would change his whole life (no kidding). He
would give up farming altogether and devote himself to keeping watch of that
amazingly productive tree; he would live comfortably on nutritious rabbits with
broken necks.
Here are the
Chinese characters for the expression:
shou zhu dai tu (watch tree wait rabbit)
Mere China
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