春秋时期，有一个人叫叶公，他非常喜欢龙。
叶公家的大门、窗户、花园、石头、墙、家具全都有龙的图案。
不但住的地方随时随地可以看到龙，他每天一有空就会写龙、画龙，连孩子们的名字都有“龙”。
天上的龙被叶公感动了，决定到人间来见他，向他表示感谢。
有一天，叶公正在睡觉，屋子外面突然电闪雷鸣，风雨交加。
叶公赶紧起来关窗户，这时候真正的龙从窗户外把头伸进来，他非常惊恐，转身往里跑，又看见一条巨大的龙尾巴。
叶公发现自己无处可逃，就被吓晕了。
龙看着晕倒的叶公，感到很失望，只好飞回天上去了。
后来人们用“叶公好龙”这个成语比喻一些人表里不一，看起来很喜欢某些东西，实际并不爱好，也不了解，甚至害怕它、反对它。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vc2VjdXJlL2xlYXJuY2hpbmVzZS80MTMzLm1wMw&filename=Ye-Gong-hao-long.mp3&signature=55fe23c2fdd244e876151e0a5f25172470188422f1e4a86665a5751764ce7215
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 春秋 | Chūn qiū | Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) / Spring and Autumn Annals, chronicle of Lu State (722-481 BC) |
| 时期 | shí qī | period / phase |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 叫 | jiào | to be called |
| 叶公 | Yè Gōng | Lord Ye |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 龙 | lóng | Chinese dragon; loong / (fig.) emperor / dragon / (bound form) dinosaur |
| 家 | jiā | home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest |
| 门 | mén | gate / door / gateway / doorway / opening / valve / switch / way to do something / knack / family / house / (religious) sect / school (of thought) / class / category / phylum or division (taxonomy) / (suffix) -gate (i.e. scandal; derived from Watergate) |
| 窗户 | chuāng hu | window |
| 花园 | huā yuán | garden (for flowers, ornamental plants etc); (landscaped) park; yard with decorative plants |
| 石头 | shí tou | stone |
| 墙 | qiáng | wall |
| 家具 | jiā jù | furniture |
| 全 | quán | all / whole / entire / every / complete |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 图案 | tú àn | design; pattern |
| 不但 | bù dàn | not only (... but also ...) |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay |
| 地方 | dì fang | place; location; area; space; territory / aspect; part |
| 随时 | suí shí | at any time; at all times / at the right time; whenever necessary |
| 随地 | suí dì | according to the location / everywhere / any place / from any location / from wherever you like |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can / may / possible / able to |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 空 | kòng | space / leisure / free time |
| 就 | jiù | as soon as; immediately after |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 写 | xiě | to write |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint / to draw (a line) |
| 连 | lián | continuously / in succession / including / even |
| 孩子 | hái zi | child |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 名字 | míng zi | name (of a person or thing) |
| 天上 | tiān shàng | the sky; the heavens |
| 被 | bèi | used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb) / (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes |
| 感动 | gǎn dòng | to move (sb) / to touch (sb emotionally) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 决定 | jué dìng | to decide; to determine; to make up one's mind |
| 人间 | rén jiān | the human world / the earth |
| 来 | lái | (between two verbs) in order to |
| 见 | jiàn | to see / to meet / to appear (to be sth) / to interview |
| 向 | xiàng | towards / shortly before / formerly / always / all along |
| 表示 | biǎo shì | (of sb) to express; to state; to show / (of sth) to indicate; to signify; to show |
| 感谢 | gǎn xiè | (express) thanks / gratitude / thanks |
| 正在 | zhèng zài | to be in the process of (doing sth); to be currently ...-ing |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to go to bed / to sleep |
| 屋子 | wū zi | house / room |
| 外面 | wài miàn | outside |
| 突然 | tū rán | sudden; abrupt; unexpected |
| 电闪雷鸣 | diàn shǎn léi míng | Lightning flashes and thunder roars; a storm with intense thunder and lightning. |
| 风雨交加 | fēng yǔ jiāo jiā | (idiom) wild and stormy; windy and wet |
| 赶紧 | gǎn jǐn | hurriedly / without delay |
| 起来 | qǐ lái | to stand up; to get up |
| 关 | guān | to close; to shut; to turn off / to confine; to lock (sb) up; to shut (sb in a room, a bird in a cage etc) / to concern; to involve |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 时候 | shí hou | time / length of time / moment / period |
| 真正 | zhēn zhèng | genuine; real; true |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via / (bound form) retainer; attendant / (bound form) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate / (bound form) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor |
| 外 | wài | outside / external |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 头 | tóu | head / the top / end / beginning or end / chief / boss / side / aspect |
| 伸 | shēn | to stretch / to extend |
| 进 | jìn | to go in / to enter / to put in / to submit / to take in / to admit |
| 惊恐 | jīng kǒng | to be alarmed / to be frightened |
| 转 | zhuǎn | to turn / to change direction / to transfer / to forward (mail) / (Internet) to share (sb else's content) |
| 身 | shēn | body / the main part of a structure or body |
| 往 | wǎng | to / towards / (of a train) bound for |
| 里 | lǐ | lining / interior / inside |
| 跑 | pǎo | to run / to run away / to escape / to run around (on errands etc) / (of a gas or liquid) to leak or evaporate |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 条 | tiáo | classifier for long thin things |
| 巨大 | jù dà | huge; immense; enormous; gigantic |
| 尾巴 | wěi ba | tail |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of / to discover; to find; to detect |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 无处可逃 | wú chù kě táo | nowhere to escape; having no place to run away to |
| 吓 | xià | to frighten / to scare |
| 晕 | yūn | to faint / to swoon / to lose consciousness / to pass out |
| 着 | zhe | aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state |
| 晕倒 | yūn dǎo | to faint / to swoon / to black out / to become unconscious |
| 感到 | gǎn dào | to feel; to sense; to perceive |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 失望 | shī wàng | disappointed |
| 只好 | zhǐ hǎo | to have no other option but to ...; to have to; to be forced to |
| 飞 | fēi | to fly |
| 回 | huí | to go back / to turn around / to answer / to return |
| 去 | qù | (after a verb of motion) movement away from the speaker; (after certain verbs) detachment or separation |
| 后来 | hòu lái | afterwards; later |
| 人们 | rén men | people |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ / (coverb) with; using |
| 叶公好龙 | Yè Gōng hào lóng | lit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons (idiom) / fig. to pretend to be fond of sth while actually fearing it / ostensible fondness of sth one really fears |
| 成语 | chéng yǔ | Chinese set expression, typically of 4 characters, often alluding to a story or historical quotation; idiom; proverb; saying; adage |
| 比喻 | bǐ yù | metaphor / analogy / figure of speech |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 表里不一 | biǎo lǐ bù yī | outside appearance and inner reality differ (idiom); not what it seems / saying one thing but meaning sth different |
| 某些 | mǒu xiē | some; certain (things) |
| 东西 | dōng xi | thing / stuff / person |
| 实际 | shí jì | practical / realistic / real / actual |
| 并 | bìng | (not) at all |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 爱好 | ài hào | to like; to be fond of; to take pleasure in; to be keen on |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 了解 | liǎo jiě | to understand / to realize / to find out |
| 甚至 | shèn zhì | even; so much so that |
| 害怕 | hài pà | to be afraid; to be scared |
| 它 | tā | it |
| 反对 | fǎn duì | to oppose; to be against; to object to |