Ain’t no such thing as free lunch! This well-known Chinese fable is a sharp warning against laziness and wishful thinking. This story is the source of the chengyu 守株待兔, and it’s often used to criticize people who sit around expecting success to find them, instead of earning it.
从前，有一个农夫，每天都在田里辛苦地工作。
有一天，他正在田里干活，突然看见一只兔子飞快地跑过来。兔子跑得太快了，一头撞在田边的一个树桩上，死了。
农夫非常高兴，他捡起兔子，带回家美美地吃了一顿。他想：”要是每天都能这样捡到兔子，那该多好啊！我就不用这么辛苦地干活了。”
从那以后，农夫再也不干活了。他每天都坐在那个树桩旁边，等着兔子来撞死。
一天又一天过去了，再也没有兔子撞到树桩上。农夫的田里长满了野草，庄稼全都死了。
最后，农夫什么也没有得到，反而成了大家的笑话。
这个故事告诉我们：不要想着不劳而获。只有努力工作，才能有收获。
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 农夫 | nóng fū | peasant; farmer |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 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) |
| 田 | Tián | surname Tian |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 辛 | Xīn | surname Xin |
| 苦 | kǔ | bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 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 |
| 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]) |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 干 | gān | old variant of 乾|干[gan1]; surname Gan; variant of 乾|干[gan1]; tree trunk; main part of sth; to manage; to work; to do; capable; cadre; to kill (slang); to fuck (vulgar); (coll.) pissed off; annoyed |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 突然 | tū rán | sudden; abrupt; unexpected |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 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 |
| 兔子 | tù zi | hare; rabbit; CL:隻|只[zhi1] |
| 飞 | fēi | to fly |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 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… |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 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 |
| 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] |
| 撞 | zhuǎng | to knock against; to run into |
| 边 | biān | side; edge; margin; border; boundary; CL:個|个[ge4]; simultaneously |
| 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… |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 桩 | zhuāng | stake; log (一桩事) |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely; damned |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 捡 | jián | to pick up; to collect; to gather |
| 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… |
| 带回 | dài huí | to bring back; to take back with one |
| 家 | jiā | used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]; home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some act… |
| 美 | Měi | (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲[Mei3 zhou1]); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国[Mei3 guo2]) |
| 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] |
| 顿 | dùn | to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one's foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal |
| 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) |
| 要是 | yào shi | (coll.) if |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 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) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 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… |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 该 | gāi | should; ought to; probably; must be; to deserve; to owe; to be sb's turn to do sth; that; the above-mentioned |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 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); (… |
| 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 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… |
| 不用 | bù yòng | need not |
| 这么 | zhè me | so much; this much; how much?; this way; like this |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 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 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 那个 | nà ge | that one; that thing; that (as opposed to this); (used before a verb or adjective for emphasis); (used to humorously or indirectly refer to sth embarrassing, funny etc, or when one… |
| 旁边 | páng biān | side; adjacent place |
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; and so on; etc.; et al.; (bound form) class; rank; grade; (bound form) equal to; same as; (used to end an enumeration); (literary) (… |
| 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 |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 过去 | guò qù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 野草 | yě cǎo | weeds; mistress or prostitute (old) |
| 庄 | zhuāng | variant of 莊|庄[zhuang1]; surname Zhuang |
| 稼 | jiǎ | to sow grain |
| 全都 | quán dōu | all; without exception |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 得到 | dé dào | to get; to obtain; to receive |
| 反而 | fǎn ér | on the contrary; instead |
| 成了 | chéng le | to be done; to be ready; that's enough!; that will do! |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 笑话 | xiào hua | joke; jest; to laugh at; to mock; ridiculous; absurd |
| 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 |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 劳 | Láo | surname Lao |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 获 | huǒ | (literary) to catch; to capture |
| 只有 | zhǐ yǒu | only have ...; there is only ...; (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 qu… |
| 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive; hard-working; conscientious |
| 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 |
| 收 | shōu | to receive; to accept; to collect; to put away; to restrain; to stop; in care of (used on address line after name) |
Once upon a time, there was a farmer who worked hard in the fields every day.
One day, while he was working in the field, he suddenly saw a rabbit running very fast toward him. The rabbit was running so fast that it crashed headfirst into a tree stump at the edge of the field and died.
The farmer was very happy. He picked up the rabbit and took it home for a delicious meal. He thought: “If I could pick up a rabbit like this every day, how wonderful that would be! I would not have to work so hard anymore.”
From then on, the farmer stopped working. Every day he sat beside that tree stump, waiting for a rabbit to come and crash into it.
Day after day passed, but no more rabbits crashed into the tree stump. The farmer’s field became overgrown with weeds, and all his crops died.
In the end, the farmer got nothing and became a laughingstock to everyone.
This story teaches us: Do not hope for gains without effort. Only through hard work can we achieve success.