Chinese Idiom - Ignorance of the Objective World

Walt Guan -- Fri 22, 2014, 10:07 am

                                                                              Ignorance of the Objective World 

  

In the State of Lu, there was a couple of husband and wife, the former being an expert shoemaker and the latter a skilled hand in wearing taffeta. One day after consultations they decided to go to the state of Yue to earn a livelihood. 

The neighbors advised them not to go when they learned about their plan. "Don't go there," said one neighbor, "If you go, you can never earn a livelihood." 

"We cannot understand you," interrogated the couple, "We have a find command of our art, how could we not earn our living with our work? Don't make a fool of us, please."

"Indeed, you have your skill," explained the man, "But have you taken notice of the fact that shoes are made for people and the silk taffeta are for hat-making? The people of Yue don't wear shoes, for they are barefooted. Again, they like to have their hair spread out over their heads and they never use hats. To whom should you sell your shoes and hats then?" Experienced though you are in the arts, yet the arts you have mastered are useless there." 

After this explanation, the husband and wife now understood that anything that was not adaptable to the objective world would be useless and unpractical.

  

                                                                              不合时宜

鲁国有对夫妻,男的是鞋匠,鞋子做的很好;女的是织绢能手。有一天,他们商量想到越国去谋生。消息传到四邻后,有人对他们说:"不要到那儿去!否则你们一定无法生存的!"那对夫妇说:"我们不明白你的意思,我们都有一套手艺,怎么 会生活不了呢?别胡说了!" 那人说:"对呀,你们虽然都有一套手艺,可是你们要知道,鞋子是给人穿的,但越国人都赤脚不穿鞋子,你们织的丝绢原是做帽子用的,但越国人喜欢披着头发,不戴帽子,你们的本领虽大,手艺虽高,但你们做的鞋子、帽子去卖给谁呢?那对夫妇这才明白,凡事如果不合时宜,不适合客观环境就不中用了。

                                                                              Bú hé shí yí 

Lǔ guó yǒu duì fū qī, nán de shì xié jiàng, xié zǐ zuò de hěn hǎo; Nǚ de shì zhī juàn néng shǒu. Yǒu yī tiān, tā men shāng liàng xiǎng dào yuè guó qù móu shēng. Xiāo xī chuán dào sì lín hòu, yǒu rén duì tā men shuō: "Bú yào dào nà ér qù! Fǒu zé nǐ men yī dìng wú fǎ shēng cún de!" Nà duì fū fù shuō: "Wǒ men bú míng bái nǐ de yì sī, wǒ men dōu yǒu yī tào shǒu yì, zěn me  huì shēng huó bú le ne? Bié hú shuō le!" Nà rén shuō: "duì ya, nǐ men suī rán dōu yǒu yī tào shǒu yì, kě shì nǐ men yào zhī dào, xié zǐ shì gěi rén chuān de, dàn yuè guó rén dōu chì jiǎo bú chuān xié zǐ, nǐ men zhī de sī juàn yuán shì zuò mào zǐ yòng de, dàn yuè guó rén xǐ huān pī zhe tóu fā, bú dài mào zǐ, nǐ men de běn lǐng suī dà, shǒu yì suī gāo, dàn nǐ men zuò de xié zǐ, mào zǐ qù mài gěi shuí ne? Nà duì fū fù zhè cái míng bái, fán shì rú guǒ bú hé shí yí, bú shì hé kè guān huán jìng jiù bú zhōng yòng le. 


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