两千年以前，有一个燕国人，他没有自信，常常觉得什么都比别人差——别人的衣服更好看，别人的饭菜更好吃，别人站的样子坐的样子更高雅。
他看见什么学什么，学习了很多东西，但是一件事都做不好。
他甚至觉得自己走路的样子太丑了，别人都在笑他。
他听说邯郸人走路的样子很美。
邯郸人走路的样子有多美呢？
他不知道。
这是他的心病，然后他就去邯郸学习走路了！
到了邯郸，他觉得真有意思。
看见小孩走路活泼，他学；
看见老人走路高雅，他学；
看见女人走路美，他也学。
不到半个月，他就忘了自己以前是怎么走路的，钱也用完了，只能爬着回去了。
邯郸学步，意思是只学习别人，没有学到别人好的东西，又忘了自己的优点。
这是《庄子》里的故事。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL0ZvcmdldF9ob3dfdG9fd2Fsa18zMDEyLm1wMw&filename=Forget-how-to-walk.mp3&signature=b949dfc6cc2b1f7ffa805e544757eddfa7645a3246912457dbcc918a378a83be
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 千 | qiān | thousand |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before / formerly / previous / ago |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 燕国 | Yān guó | Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in modern Hebei and Liaoning / north Hebei / the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 自信 | zì xìn | self-confidence |
| 常常 | cháng cháng | frequently; often |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ... |
| 什么 | shén me | something; anything |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 比 | bǐ | (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun} / (in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese) |
| 别人 | bié rén | other people; others; other person |
| 差 | chà | different / wrong; mistaken / not up to standard; inferior |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 衣服 | yī fu | clothes |
| 更 | gèng | more / even more / further / still / still more |
| 好 | hǎo | good / appropriate; proper |
| 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 |
| 饭 | fàn | meal |
| 菜 | cài | dish (of food) |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume / to eat at |
| 站 | zhàn | to stand / to halt / to stop |
| 样子 | yàng zi | appearance / manner / pattern / model |
| 坐 | zuò | to sit / to take a seat / to take (a bus, airplane etc) / to bear fruit |
| 高雅 | gāo yǎ | dainty / elegant |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 学 | xué | to learn / to study / to imitate |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn / to study |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 东西 | dōng xi | thing / stuff / person |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 件 | jiàn | classifier for events, things, clothes etc |
| 事 | shì | matter / thing / item / affair |
| 做 | zuò | to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc) |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 甚至 | shèn zhì | even; so much so that |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 走路 | zǒu lù | to walk; to go on foot / to leave; to depart / (informal) to clear off; to beat it / (of sb who gets fired or resigns) to leave the job; to get out |
| 太 | tài | too (much) / very / extremely |
| 丑 | chǒu | shameful / ugly / disgraceful |
| 别 | bié | (bound form) other; another; different |
| 在 | zài | (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh at |
| 听说 | tīng shuō | to hear (sth said) / one hears (that) |
| 邯郸 | Hán dān | Handan, a city in Hebei Province, China. |
| 美 | měi | beautiful / very satisfactory; good |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?") |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of |
| 这是 | zhè shì | this is; this is the case |
| 心 | xīn | heart / mind / intention |
| 病 | bìng | illness / disease / defect |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 就 | jiù | in that case; then |
| 去 | qù | to go, to go to |
| 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) |
| 真 | zhēn | really / truly / indeed |
| 意思 | yì si | interest / fun |
| 小孩 | xiǎo hái | child |
| 活泼 | huó pō | lively / vivacious / brisk / active / (chemistry) reactive |
| 老 | lǎo | old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / of the past / outdated |
| 女人 | nǚ rén | woman |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 半 | bàn | half / semi- |
| 月 | yuè | month / monthly |
| 忘 | wàng | to forget / to overlook / to neglect |
| 是 | shì | indeed (used for emphasis) |
| 怎么 | zěn me | how? / what? / why? |
| 钱 | qián | coin / money / unit of weight, one tenth of a tael |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 完 | wán | to finish / to be over |
| 只 | zhǐ | only; merely; just |
| 能 | néng | can / to be able to / might possibly |
| 爬 | pá | to crawl / to climb / to get up or sit up |
| 着 | zhe | aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state |
| 回去 | huí qù | to return / to go back |
| 邯郸学步 | Hán dān xué bù | to copy the way they walk in Handan (idiom) |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again |
| 优点 | yōu diǎn | merit / benefit / strong point / advantage |
| 庄子 | Zhuāng zǐ | Zhuangzi (369-286 BC), Daoist author |
| 里 | lǐ | lining / interior / inside |
| 故事 | gù shi | narrative; story; tale |