Mandarin course hong kong -Sitting by a Stump, Waiting for a Careless Hare

 

Mandarin Lesson

In the Spring and Autumn Period, a farmer in the State ofSongwas one day working in the fields when he saw a rabbit bump into a tree stump accidentally and break its neck. The farmer took the rabbit home, and cooked himself a delicious meal. That night he thought, ‘I needn’t work so hard. All I have to do is wait for a rabbit each day by the stump.’ So from then on he gave up farming, and simply sat by the stump waiting for rabbits to come and run into it.

This idiom satirizes those who just wait for a stroke of luck, rather than making efforts to obtain what they need.

守株待兔
春秋時代,宋國有個農夫,一天在耕田的時候,忽然跑來一隻兔子,恰巧碰在樹樁上,脖子折斷死了。農夫把兔子拾回家去,美美地吃了一頓兔肉。晚上他想:“我何必辛辛苦苦地種地呢?每天在樹下能撿到一隻兔子就夠我吃的了。”於是,他從此不再耕作,每天坐在樹下等待兔子的到來。
 

“守株待兔”這個成語,譏笑那些不想經過努力,存在僥倖心理,希望得到意外收穫的人。