This story is believed to have originated from a Buddhist sutra, the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra 《大般涅槃经》, donated to us by the content team over at Du Chinese. A challenge for HSK 2, should be smoother for HSK 3.
很久很久以前，有四个盲人很想知道大象长什么样，可他们看不见，只能用手摸。
第一个盲人摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个大萝卜。”
第二个盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵，他大叫起来：“不对，不对，大象就像一把大扇子！”
“你们说的都不对，大象只是一根大柱子。” 原来第三个盲人摸到的是大象的腿。
第四个盲人却不同意，他说：“大象哪有那么大，它只不过是一根绳子。”原来他摸到的是大象的尾巴。
四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。
“盲人摸象”告诉人们看问题不能只看一部分，要看全部，那样才能真正地了解问题。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 久 | jǐu | (of a period of time) long |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 四 | sì | four; 4 |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 盲人 | máng rén | blind person |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhi1dao5] |
| 大象 | dà xiàng | elephant; CL:頭|头[tou2] |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 看不见 | kàn bu jiàn | cannot see; cannot be seen; invisible |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 手 | shǒu | hand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work; person skilled in certain types of work; personal(ly); convenient; classifier for skill; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 摸 | mo | to feel with the hand; to stroke; to steal |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 牙齿 | yá chǐ | tooth; dental; CL:顆|颗[ke1] |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 知道了 | zhī dào le | OK!; Got it! |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 萝 | luō | radish |
| 卜 | Bǔ | surname Bu; used in 蘿蔔|萝卜[luo2 bo5] |
| 二 | èr | two; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 耳 | ěr | ear; handle (archaeology); and that is all (Classical Chinese) |
| 朵 | duó | flower; fig. item on both sides |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 不对 | bù duì | incorrect; wrong; amiss; abnormal; queer |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 扇子 | shàn zi | fan; CL:把[ba3] |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 只是 | zhǐ shì | merely; only; just; nothing but; simply; but; however |
| 根 | gēn | root; basis; classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings; CL:條|条[tiao2]; radical (chemistry) |
| 柱 | zhǔ | pillar |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 原 | Yuán | surname Yuan; (Japanese surname) Hara |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 腿 | tuǐ | leg; CL:條|条[tiao2]; hip bone; old variant of 腿[tui3] |
| 却 | què | old variant of 卻|却[que4]; but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different; distinct; not the same; not alike |
| 意 | yì | (bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense; (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination; state of mind; (bound form) Italy (abbr. for 意大利[Yi4 da4 li4]) |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 那么 | nà me | like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ...; then; in that case |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 只不过 | zhǐ bu guò | only; merely; nothing but; no more than; it's just that ... |
| 绳子 | shéng zi | cord; string; rope; CL:條|条[tiao2] |
| 尾 | wěi | tail; remainder; remnant; extremity; sixth of the 28 constellations; classifier for fish |
| 巴 | Bā | Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan); the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality; surname Ba; (bound form) abbr. for 巴… |
| 争吵 | zhēng chǎo | to quarrel; dispute |
| 不休 | bù xīu | endlessly; ceaselessly |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 才 | cái | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) reall…; (variant of 才[cai2]) just now; (variant of 才[cai2]) (before an expression of quantity) only |
| 真正 | zhēn zhèng | genuine; real; true; really; indeed |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 实 | shí | real; true; honest; really; solid; fruit; seed; definitely |
| 际 | jǐ | border; boundary; between; to meet; occasion |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 象 | xiàng | elephant; CL:隻|只[zhi1]; shape; form; appearance; to imitate |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question; problem; issue; topic; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 一部分 | yī bù fen | portion; part of; subset |
| 要看 | yào kàn | (it) depends on ... |
| 全部 | quán bù | whole; all |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 了解 | liǎo jiě | to understand; to know about; to learn about; to find out |
A long long time ago, four blind people wanted to know what an elephant looks like. But they couldn’t see it, and could only touch it with their hands.
The first blind person touched the elephant’s teeth. He said: “I know! An elephant looks like a big radish.”
The second blind person touched the elephant’s ears. He yelled out: “No no, the elephant looks like a big fan!”
“You’re both wrong, the elephant is just a large pillar.” Turns out the third blind person was touching the elephant’s leg.
The fourth blind person disagreed, and said: “The elephant isn’t that big at all, it’s just a rope.” He was touching the elephant’s tail.
The four blind people argued endlessly, and they all said that the part they touched was the elephant’s true appearance. And in reality? None of them were correct.
“Blind people touch an elephant” teaches us that we shouldn’t just look at one part of a problem. We should look at all of it, and only then can we truly understand the problem.