Learning to Walk in Handan

◎劉 凱

“邯鄲學步”出自《莊子·秋水》：“且子獨不聞夫壽陵余子之學行于邯鄲與？未得國能，又失其故行矣，直匍匐而歸耳。”后用以比喻模仿別人不成，反而喪失了原有的技能。

During the Warring States Period, a young man lived in Shouling, the State of Yan.He always felt that he was not so perfect.One day, he heard that people in Handan walked in a1)graceful way, so he decided to learn to walk there.

One morning, he set off for Handan without telling anyone.Upon arrival at Handan, he was surprised when he saw the situation.Everyone walked in a different but graceful way, children walking actively, the old walking2)steady and women walking3)charmingly.So he made up his mind to learn how the people in Handan walked.

No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to learn the4)gait of the people there.On the contrary, he even forgot completely how he walked in Shouling in short days.In the end, he had no choice but to crawl back to his hometown.

1) gracefuladj.優雅的

2) steadyadv.沉穩地

3) charminglyadv.迷人地

4) gaitn.步伐；步態

戰國時期，燕國壽陵有一個年輕人。他常感覺自己不完美。有一天，他聽說邯鄲人走路的姿勢非常優美，于是他決定到邯鄲學走路。

一天早上，他不辭而別前往邯鄲。一到邯鄲，他感到處處新鮮。每個人走路的姿勢雖不同但都優美。看到小孩走路，他覺得活潑；看見老人走路，他覺得穩重；看到婦女走路，他覺得搖擺多姿。于是，他決定跟著邯鄲人學走路。

然而，不管他多么努力地學習，他都學不會。相反，短短幾天，他甚至連原來的走路方式也全部忘記了。最后，他別無選擇，只好爬著回家鄉了。

True or False:

The young man in Shouling has learned to walk successfully in Handan.

Know More

Handan City is a national historical and cultural city with a history of over 3,100 years.During the Warring States Period, Handan served as the capital of Zhao for 158 years.There are 1,584 idioms and allusions from Handan or related to Handan,which is known as “the capital of Chinese idioms and allusions”.

邯鄲市是國家歷史文化名城，有3100 多年的建城史。戰國時期，邯鄲作為趙國都城達158 年。邯鄲被譽為“中國成語典故之都”，出自邯鄲或與邯鄲有關的成語典故多達1584 條。