Two ants tackle the same problem, but one does it recklessly, while the other exercises patience. Who do you think succeeds?
从前，有两只蚂蚁住在河边。一天，它们决定去河对岸寻找食物。
第一只蚂蚁叫小急，它看见河水就说：’我要马上过去！’它找到一片小树叶，跳上去就出发了。
可是风很大，树叶在水上转来转去，小急害怕极了。最后，树叶翻了，小急差点淹死，好不容易才爬回岸边。
第二只蚂蚁叫小稳，它没有着急。它先观察河水，发现上游有一座小石桥。虽然绕路要走很远，但是很安全。小稳慢慢地走，傍晚时分安全到达了对岸，找到了很多食物。
小急看着小稳满载而归，后悔地说：’我太心急了，差点丢了性命。’
这个故事告诉我们：做事不要只图快，找到正确的方法比盲目行动更重要。欲速则不达。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>蚂蚁 | mǎyǐ | ant |
| 对岸 | duìàn | the other side (of river) |
| 树叶 | shùyè | leaf |
| 观察 | guānchá | to observe |
| 上游 | shàngyóu | upstream |
| 绕路 | ràolù | to take a detour |
| 满载而归 | mǎnzàiérguī | to return fully loaded |
| 心急 | xīnjí | impatient/anxious |
| 盲目 | mángmù | blind/blindly |
| 欲速则不达 | yùsùzébùdá | haste makes waste</p> |
| 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) |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 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 |
| 蚂 | má | used in 螞螂|蚂螂[ma1 lang2] |
| 蚁 | yí | ant |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 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) |
| 河边 | hé biān | river bank |
| 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 |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 决定 | jué dìng | to decide; to determine; to make up one's mind; decision (CL:個|个[ge4],項|项[xiang4]) |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 河 | hé | river (CL:條|条[tiao2],道[dao4]); (bound form) the Yellow River; (bound form) the Milky Way; (bound form) (on restaurant menus) rice noodles 河粉[he2 fen3] |
| 寻找 | xún zhǎo | to seek; to look for |
| 食物 | shí wù | food |
| 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… |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 急 | jí | urgent; pressing; rapid; hurried; worried; to make (sb) anxious |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 河水 | hé shuǐ | river water |
| 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 |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 马上 | mǎ shàng | at once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force) |
| 过去 | guò qù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 片 | piān | disk; sheet |
| 小树 | xiǎo shù | shrub; small tree; sapling; CL:棵[ke1] |
| 叶 | xié | to be in harmony; surname Ye |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump; to hop; to skip over; to bounce; to palpitate |
| 上去 | shàng qù | to go up |
| 出发 | chū fā | to set off; to start (on a journey) |
| 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 |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 风 | fēng | wind; news; style; custom; manner; CL:陣|阵[zhen4],絲|丝[si1] |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 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) |
| 水上 | shuǐ shàng | on water; aquatic |
| 转 | zhuǎi | see 轉文|转文[zhuai3 wen2] |
| 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… |
| 转去 | zhuàn qù | to return; to go back |
| 害怕 | hài pà | to be afraid; to be scared |
| 极 | jí | extremely; pole (geography, physics); utmost; top |
| 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") |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 翻 | fān | to turn over; to flip over; to overturn; to rummage through; to translate; to decode; to double; to climb over or into; to cross; variant of 翻[fan1] |
| 差点 | chà diǎn | almost; nearly |
| 淹 | yan | to flood; to drown; to delay |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely; damned |
| 好不 | hǎo bù | not at all ...; how very ... |
| 容 | Róng | surname Rong |
| 易 | Yì | surname Yi; I Ching; Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]) |
| 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 |
| 爬 | pá | to crawl; to climb; to get up or sit up |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 岸边 | àn biān | shore |
| 二 | èr | two; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid |
| 稳 | wén | settled; steady; stable |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 着急 | zháo jí | to worry; to feel anxious; to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry; Taiwan pr. [zhao1ji2] |
| 先 | xiān | beforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now; (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect; a discovery |
| 座 | zuò | seat; base; stand; (bound form) constellation; (archaic) suffix used in a respectful form of address (e.g. 師座|师座[shi1 zuo4]); classifier for large immovable objects such as buildin… |
| 石 | Shí | surname Shi; abbr. for Shijiazhuang 石家莊|石家庄[Shi2 jia1 zhuang1], the capital of Hebei |
| 桥 | qiáo | bridge; CL:座[zuo4] |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 可是[ke3 shi4] or 但是[dan4 shi4] etc) |
| 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… |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 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] |
| 安全 | ān quán | safe; secure; safety; security |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 傍 | bǎng | near; to depend on; Taiwan pr. [pang2], [bang1], [bang4] |
| 晚 | wǎn | evening; night; late |
| 时分 | shí fēn | time; period during the day; one of the 12 two-hour periods enumerated by the earthly branches 地支 |
| 到达 | dào dá | to reach; to arrive |
| 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- |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 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 |
| 悔 | huí | (bound form) to regret; to repent |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 丢 | dīu | to lose; to put aside; to throw |
| 性 | xǐng | nature; property; attribute; sex; suffix forming adjective from verb; essence |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 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 |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing; item; work; affair; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2] |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 图 | tú | diagram; picture; drawing; chart; map; CL:張|张[zhang1]; to plan; to scheme; to attempt; to pursue; to seek |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 正确 | zhèng què | correct; sound; right; proper |
| 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… |
| 方 | Fāng | surname Fang |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 比 | Bǐ | Belgium; Belgian; abbr. for 比利時|比利时[Bi3 li4 shi2] |
| 行动 | xíng dòng | operation; action; CL:個|个[ge4]; to move about; mobile |
| 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) |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
Once upon a time, two ants lived by a river. One day, they decided to cross to the other side to find food.
The first ant was named Xiaoji (Little Hasty). When it saw the river, it said: ‘I must cross immediately!’ It found a small leaf, jumped on it, and set off.
But the wind was strong, and the leaf kept spinning on the water. Xiaoji was terrified. Finally, the leaf flipped over, and Xiaoji nearly drowned, barely managing to crawl back to the shore.
The second ant was named Xiaowen (Little Steady). It didn’t rush. It first observed the river and discovered a small stone bridge upstream. Although the detour was much longer, it was very safe. Xiaowen walked slowly and arrived safely on the other side by evening, finding plenty of food.
Xiaoji watched Xiaowen return loaded with food and said regretfully: ‘I was too hasty and almost lost my life.’
This story tells us: Finding the right method is more important than acting blindly. Haste makes waste.