Ever tried explaining something brilliant to someone who just didn’t get it? This classic Chinese story proves that knowing your audience matters more than knowing your art.
从前，有一个人非常会弹琴。他弹得很好听，大家都喜欢听。
有一天，他走到田里，看见一头牛在吃草。他想：这头牛这么安静，一定喜欢音乐。
于是，他坐下来，开始给牛弹琴。他弹了一首很美的曲子，弹得非常认真。
可是牛没有反应。它还是低着头吃草，一直吃，一直吃。
那个人很失望。他又弹了一首，弹得更好，更用心。
牛还是吃草。
这时候，一个老农走过来，看了看他，笑着说：”你别弹了。牛听不懂音乐。你弹得再好，它也只想吃草。”
那个人不说话了。他坐在那里，看着牛，慢慢地明白了。
这个故事告诉我们：跟不懂的人说他不懂的话，是没有用的。说话要看对象。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 弹琴 | tán qín | to play a stringed instrument |
| 安静 | ān jìng | quiet, peaceful |
| 曲子 | qǔ zi | musical piece, tune |
| 认真 | rèn zhēn | earnest, serious |
| 反应 | fǎn yìng | reaction, response |
| 失望 | shī wàng | disappointed |
| 用心 | yòng xīn | devoted, attentive |
| 老农 | lǎo nóng | old farmer |
| 明白 | míng bai | to understand |
| 对象 | duì xiàng | target, audience, object |
| 从前 | cóng qián | previously; formerly; once upon a time |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个人 | yī gè rén | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 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]) |
| 弹 | dǎn | crossball; shot; ball |
| 得很 | de hěn | (after an adjective) very |
| 好听 | hǎo tīng | pleasant to hear |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 听 | yǐn | smile (archaic); to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin"); classifier for canned beverages; to let be; to allow (Taiwan pr. [ting4]); (literary) to administer; t… |
| 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 … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 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… |
| 田 | Tián | surname Tian |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 头 | tóu | head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 牛 | Níu | surname Niu |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 吃草 | chī cǎo | to graze; to eat grass |
| 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) |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 这么 | zhè me | so much; this much; how much?; this way; like this |
| 一定 | yī dìng | surely; certainly; definitely; fixed; settled; a certain ...; a given ... |
| 音 | yīn | sound; noise; note (of musical scale); tone; news; syllable; reading (phonetic value of a character) |
| 乐 | Lè | surname Le |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 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… |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 首 | shǒu | head; chief; first (occasion, thing etc); classifier for poems, songs etc |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 美的 | Měi dí | Midea (brand) |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 低 | dī | low; beneath; to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; to incline |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line); continuously; always; all the way through |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] |
| 那个人 | nà gè rén | lit. that person; fig. the person you have been looking for; Mr Right; the girl of one's dreams |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 这时 | zhè shí | at this time; at this moment |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 走过 | zǒu guò | to walk past; to pass by |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 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.) |
| 别 | Bié | surname Bie; to make sb change their ways, opinions etc |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 懂 | dǒng | to understand; to comprehend |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 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 |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk; to gossip; to tell stories; talk; word |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 故事 | gù shì | old practice |
| 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 |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 跟 | gēn | heel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns) |
| 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… |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 的话 | de huà | if (coming after a conditional clause) |
| 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] |
| 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… |
| 要看 | yào kàn | (it) depends on ... |
Once upon a time, there was a person who was very good at playing the lute. He played beautifully, and everyone loved to listen.
One day, he walked into a field and saw a cow eating grass. He thought: this cow is so peaceful, it must love music.
So he sat down and began to play the lute for the cow. He played a very beautiful piece, playing very earnestly.
But the cow had no reaction. It still kept its head down eating grass, eating and eating.
The man was very disappointed. He played another piece, even better, even more devotedly.
The cow still ate grass.
At this moment, an old farmer walked over, looked at him, and said with a smile: “Stop playing. The cow doesn’t understand music. No matter how well you play, it only wants to eat grass.”
The man stopped talking. He sat there, watching the cow, and slowly understood.
This story tells us: speaking words someone can’t understand to a person who doesn’t understand is useless. When you speak, you must consider your audience.