Four Idiom Stories
FoundationWaiting by the stump warns against luck, pulling seedlings warns against haste, the frog in the well shows narrow horizons, and Yu Gong moves mountains with perseverance.
- Idioms are mostly condensed from historical stories.
- Waiting by the stump: reward without work never comes.
- Pulling up seedlings: rushing spoils the result.
文體小知識：故事文講述四個成語故事，讀完故事就明白成語的意思和道理。
§Text Passage
1Idioms are the gems of the Chinese language, mostly condensed from historical stories. Understand the story, and there is no need to memorise the idiom by rote.
2Waiting by the stump for rabbits: a farmer saw a rabbit crash to its death against a tree stump beside his field. From then on he dropped his hoe and waited by the stump every day. No rabbit ever came again, but the field went to weeds. The idiom warns us not to live on luck but on our own effort.
3Pulling up seedlings to help them grow: an impatient farmer, unhappy at how slowly the shoots grew, tugged each one upwards — and they soon withered. Growth has its own rhythm; in study and in work, rushing for results only spoils them. The frog at the bottom of the well: the frog thought the sky was only as big as the mouth of the well; when a little bird told it the sky was boundless, it would not believe. The idiom compares narrow-minded people, who need to open their horizons.
4Yu Gong moves the mountains: old Yu Gong resolved to dig away the two great mountains before his door, a little every day, believing that if his children and grandchildren kept on, they must succeed. With perseverance, even the hardest task can be done. Four stories, four lessons — remember them and they will serve you for life.
1Summary 重點摘要
Waiting by the stump warns against luck, pulling seedlings warns against haste, the frog in the well shows narrow horizons, and Yu Gong moves mountains with perseverance.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
A fixed phrase, usually of four characters, whose meaning is complete.
To hope for reward by luck instead of working for it.
To rush for results and spoil the matter instead.
A person of narrow experience and horizons.
With resolve and persistence, even the hardest task can be done.
Hoping to succeed by accidental good luck.
The spirit of persisting to the end despite difficulty.
The range of one's experience; see and learn more, and it widens.
The lesson a story means to teach.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Hear the story, then learn the idiomTo remember an idiom well, first hear its story. After hearing about the farmer who sat by a tree stump waiting for a rabbit to crash into it, the idiom waiting by the stump stays in the mind; after hearing about the farmer who pulled up his seedlings to help them grow, pulling up the seedlings is easy to recall. Some people think idioms can be memorised as four bare characters, but stories have pictures and plots — far more fun, remembered longer, and understood more truly.
- Step 2: State the lesson of each idiomEvery idiom hides a lesson, and after learning it you should be able to say what it is. Waiting by the stump tells us luck does not come every day, so do not depend on it but work steadily; pulling up the seedlings reminds us everything takes time to grow, and rushing spoils the work; the frog in the well warns against a narrow view; Yu Gong moving the mountains praises perseverance that finally succeeds. Some people think idioms are pretty words, but each is a little teacher.
- Step 3: Use them in lifeIdioms truly become yours only when you use them in life. When a classmate skips revision and just guesses at answers, remind him not to wait by the stump; when your little sister wants to learn cycling in a single day, tell her that pulling up the seedlings only slows her down. Some people think idioms live only in textbooks, but once you can say them and use them, they step into your own language, and your writing grows livelier.
- Step 4: Compare the two farmersThe two farmers made different mistakes, and comparing them teaches more. The farmer waiting by the stump wanted reward without work: he left his tools and waited daily, until his fields lay wasted. The farmer pulling up the seedlings rushed for results and tugged each seedling higher, and they soon withered and died. Some people think one was lazy and the other diligent, so they share nothing, yet one would not work and the other worked too hastily — neither attitude deserves copying.
- Step 5: Think about your own horizonsThe frog at the bottom of the well could see only one small patch of sky above its head and believed that was the whole world. The story asks us to check our own horizons: if you play only one kind of game and read only one kind of book, you are like that frog. Some people think their knowledge is already enough, but reading different sorts of books, meeting new things and talking with more people widens the view and matures the thinking.
- Step 6: Learn Yu Gong's perseveranceYu Gong faced two great mountains before his door and neither complained nor gave up: with his family he dug shovelful by shovelful, believing that if his children and grandchildren carried on, one day the mountains would be moved. Learning is the same: fifteen minutes of handwriting a day adds up to over three hundred pages a year; twenty minutes of reading a day is more than a hundred hours a year. Some people think small efforts are useless, but with perseverance they grow into great results.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example: Ming revised for one day and expected full marks; the next day, seeing poor results, he gave up revising. Comment on him with two idioms.
- Trying to cram a year's knowledge into one day is pulling up the seedlings — rushing for results.
- Giving up after one poor result is waiting by the stump — counting on luck.
- The right way: make a revision timetable and improve a little every day.
- Keep going like Yu Gong moving the mountains, and the results will rise naturally.
- Answer: Ming first pulled up the seedlings, rushing for results, then waited by the stump, counting on luck. He should follow a daily revision plan step by step, persevering like Yu Gong moving the mountains.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What does waiting by the stump warn against?
Q2What was the result of pulling up the seedlings?
Q3Whom does the frog in the well compare to?
Q4What spirit does Yu Gong moving the mountains praise?
Q5Where do most idioms come from?
8Recap Recap
- Idioms are mostly condensed from historical stories.
- Waiting by the stump: reward without work never comes.
- Pulling up seedlings: rushing spoils the result.
- The frog in the well: open your horizons.
- Yu Gong moves mountains: perseverance achieves great things.