为什么留着老词

我有一个朋友，最近总是守株待兔，不好好找工作，只想着能有一次好运气。

I have a friend who's been "guarding the stump, waiting for a rabbit" lately, not really looking for work, just hoping for one stroke of good luck.

守株待兔？这四个字我都认识，但是连在一起，我不知道是什么意思。

Shou zhu dai tu? I know all four characters, but put together, I have no idea what it means.

这是一个成语。成语是四个字的词，大部分成语后面都有一个典故，就是一个老故事。四个字就能说清楚一件事，很简洁。

It's a chengyu. A chengyu is a four-character phrase, and behind most chengyu there's a diangu, an old story. Four characters can say a whole thing clearly. It's very concise.

四个字就能说清楚一件事？那守株待兔后面的典故是什么故事？

Four characters can say a whole thing clearly? So what's the story behind shou zhu dai tu?

从前有一个农民，每天都在地里劳动，很辛苦。有一天，一只兔子跑得太快，撞到了旁边的一棵树，就死了。农民不用劳动就得到了一只兔子，非常高兴。

Long ago there was a farmer who worked in his field every day, very hard. One day a rabbit was running too fast, crashed into a tree nearby, and died. The farmer got a rabbit without doing any work at all, and he was overjoyed.

后来呢？他又等到兔子了吗？

And then? Did he get another rabbit?

从那以后，他觉得劳动太辛苦了，所以每天都坐在那棵树下，等着，希望还有兔子跑过来。可是，他等啊等，再也没有兔子来了，他的地也没有人照顾了。

After that, he decided working was too hard, so every day he sat under that same tree, waiting, hoping another rabbit would come running. But he waited and waited, and no rabbit ever came again, and no one tended his field anymore.

我明白了，守株待兔的意思是，不应该只靠一次运气，应该自己努力。可是，如果不知道这个典故，守株待兔这四个字对我来说什么意思都没有。这对学中文的人是不是一个很高的门槛？

I get it. Shou zhu dai tu means you shouldn't rely on one stroke of luck, you should make an effort yourself. But if you don't know this allusion, the four characters shou zhu dai tu mean nothing to me at all. Isn't that a pretty high barrier for people learning Chinese?

你说得对，如果不知道典故，只看四个字，真的看不懂。其实，很多中国的年轻人也不知道这些老故事，看到成语的时候，也常常不明白是什么意思。

You have a point. If you don't know the allusion, just looking at the four characters really doesn't tell you anything. Actually, a lot of young Chinese people don't know these old stories either. When they see a chengyu, they often don't understand it either.

那你们为什么还要用成语？直接说不要只靠运气，要自己努力，不是更简洁吗？

So why do you still use chengyu? Wouldn't it be more concise to just say don't rely only on luck, put in your own effort?

因为成语很简洁，而且有意思。守株待兔这四个字，比一句话更好记，我们一听就能想到那个农民和那棵树。学一个成语，也是在学一点中国的历史和文化。

Because chengyu are concise, and interesting. The four characters shou zhu dai tu are easier to remember than a whole sentence, and the moment we hear them we picture that farmer and that tree. Learning a chengyu is also learning a bit of Chinese history and culture.

我懂你的意思，这四个字确实比一句话好记。但是我觉得，对于还不知道典故的人，这个门槛还是在的，也许我应该多学几个成语的故事，这样门槛就能变矮一点。

I get what you mean, these four characters really are easier to remember than a whole sentence. But I think, for someone who doesn't know the allusion yet, that barrier is still there. Maybe I should learn the stories behind a few more chengyu, so the barrier gets a little lower.

好啊，那我再给你讲一个成语的故事吧！

Sounds good, then let me tell you the story behind another chengyu!