古时候有个音乐家，名字叫公明仪。
他擅长音乐，琴声非常美，人们听到他的琴声都很享受。
有一年春天，他带着琴来到城外散步，天气和环境都很好。
他发现在不远的地方有一头牛在吃草，突然想为这头牛演奏音乐，于是他弹了一首非常高雅的曲子。
虽然他的音乐非常好听，但是牛却根本不理他，继续低头吃草。
公明仪发现好听的音乐不能打动这头牛，就开始弹一些奇怪的声音，有的像小虫，有的像小牛。
这时候这头牛好像听明白了，认真听起来。
后来人们用“对牛弹琴”这个成语形容对愚蠢的人讲深刻的道理，或者是对外行人说内行话，都是白白浪费时间，也用来嘲笑说话不看对象的人。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL1BsYXlfbXVzaWNfdG9fYV9jb3dfLV81MTA1Lm1wMw&filename=Play-music-to-a-cow.mp3&signature=a23fa90a681fc6da8ecbb7c96dd6b390eed5ba431d8110a1cc594ab5bd995cc3
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 古 | gǔ | ancient / old |
| 时候 | shí hou | time / length of time / moment / period |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 音乐家 | yīn yuè jiā | musician |
| 名字 | míng zi | name (of a person or thing) |
| 叫 | jiào | to be called |
| 公明仪 | Gōng Míng Yí | An ancient musician named Gongming Yi. |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 擅长 | shàn cháng | to be good at; to be expert in |
| 音乐 | yīn yuè | music |
| 琴 | qín | guqin 古琴 (a type of zither) / musical instrument in general |
| 声 | shēng | sound / voice / tone / noise / reputation |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really |
| 美 | měi | beautiful / very satisfactory; good |
| 人们 | rén men | people |
| 听 | tīng | to listen to; to hear |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive / to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) / (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 享受 | xiǎng shòu | to enjoy / to live it up |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 春天 | chūn tiān | spring (season) |
| 带 | dài | to wear / to carry / to take along / to bear / to bring |
| 着 | zhe | aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state |
| 来 | lái | to come |
| 城 | chéng | city walls / city / town |
| 外 | wài | outside / external |
| 散步 | sàn bù | to take a walk; to go for a walk |
| 天气 | tiān qì | weather |
| 和 | hé | and; together with |
| 环境 | huán jìng | environment / circumstances / surroundings |
| 好 | hǎo | good / appropriate; proper |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of / to discover; to find; to detect |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 远 | yuǎn | far / distant / remote |
| 地方 | dì fang | place; location; area; space; territory / aspect; part |
| 头 | tóu | classifier for pigs or livestock |
| 牛 | niú | ox / cow / bull / newton (abbr. for 牛頓|牛顿) |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume / to eat at |
| 草 | cǎo | grass / straw / manuscript / draft (of a document) |
| 突然 | tū rán | sudden; abrupt; unexpected |
| 想 | xiǎng | to desire; to want (to) |
| 为 | wèi | because of / for / to |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 演奏 | yǎn zòu | to perform on a musical instrument |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 弹 | tán | to pluck (a string) / to play (a string instrument) / to spring or leap / to shoot / (of cotton) to fluff or tease / to flick / to flip / to accuse / to impeach |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 首 | shǒu | classifier for poems, songs etc |
| 高雅 | gāo yǎ | dainty / elegant |
| 曲子 | qǔ zi | poem for singing / tune / music |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though |
| 好听 | hǎo tīng | pleasant to hear |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 却 | què | but / yet / however / while / nevertheless / even though |
| 根本 | gēn běn | simply / absolutely (not) / (not) at all |
| 理 | lǐ | to manage / to pay attention to / to run (affairs) / to handle / to put in order / to tidy up |
| 继续 | jì xù | to continue; to proceed with; to go on with |
| 低头 | dī tóu | to bow the head / to yield / to give in |
| 能 | néng | can / to be able to / might possibly |
| 打动 | dǎ dòng | arousing (sympathy) / touching |
| 就 | jiù | as soon as; immediately after |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin / to start |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 奇怪 | qí guài | strange / odd |
| 声音 | shēng yīn | voice / sound |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...) / some (exist) |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble / to be like / to look as if |
| 小 | xiǎo | small / tiny / few |
| 虫 | chóng | lower form of animal life, including insects, insect larvae, worms and similar creatures / (fig.) person with a particular undesirable characteristic |
| 好像 | hǎo xiàng | to seem like |
| 明白 | míng bai | to understand; to realize |
| 认真 | rèn zhēn | conscientious / earnest / serious |
| 起来 | qǐ lái | indicating the beginning and continuation of an action or a state / indicating an upward movement / indicating completion / expressing preliminary judgment |
| 后来 | hòu lái | afterwards; later |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 对牛弹琴 | duì niú tán qín | to cast pearls before swine / to preach to deaf ears / to talk over sb's head |
| 成语 | chéng yǔ | Chinese set expression, typically of 4 characters, often alluding to a story or historical quotation; idiom; proverb; saying; adage |
| 形容 | xíng róng | to describe |
| 对 | duì | towards; at; for / concerning; regarding |
| 愚蠢 | yú chǔn | silly / stupid |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 讲 | jiǎng | to speak / to explain / to negotiate |
| 深刻 | shēn kè | profound / deep / deep-going |
| 道理 | dào lǐ | reason / argument / sense / principle / basis / justification |
| 或者 | huò zhě | possibly; maybe; perhaps |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 外行 | wài háng | layman / amateur |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 内行 | nèi háng | adept / experienced |
| 话 | huà | spoken words / speech / talk / words / conversation / what sb said |
| 白白 | bái bái | in vain / for nothing |
| 浪费 | làng fèi | to waste / to squander |
| 时间 | shí jiān | time |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 嘲笑 | cháo xiào | to jeer at / to deride / to ridicule |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak / to say / to talk / to gossip / to tell stories |
| 看 | kàn | to see; to look at / to read / to watch / to visit; to call on / to consider; to regard as / to look after / to treat (a patient or illness) / to depend on / to feel (that) / (after a verb) to give it a try / to watch out for |
| 对象 | duì xiàng | target; object / partner; boyfriend; girlfriend |