Waiting for Another Hare

◎涂淑梅

“守株待兔”出自《韓非子·五蠹》。比喻不主動地努力，而存萬一的僥幸心理，希望得到意外的收獲。也比喻死守狹隘的經驗，不知變通。

Track 2

One day,a farmer in the State of Song during the Warring States Period was laboring in the fields when he saw a hare running past him,dashing itself into a tree1)stumpa few metres away.It fell beside the tree stump without a move.

The farmer went over and found that the hare had broken its neck and died.The farmer was overjoyed.He thought aloud,“If I can pick up one hare a day,I wouldn’t need to2)sweatin the fields any more.The tree stump on my plot must be the blessed place to wait for3)windfalls.”

So,starting the next day,the farmer stopped tending his crops and did nothing but wait by the tree stump for more hares to come by and knock themselves out.

Several days passed,and no hare appeared.Meanwhile,the field had quickly become overgrown with weeds,and the farmer became the laughingstock all across the state.

1) stumpn.樹樁

2) sweatv.流汗

3) windfalln.意外之財

戰國時期的宋國有個農夫，一天，他正在田里勞作，突然看見一只野兔從他身邊跑過，撞在幾米外的樹樁上。只見野兔倒在樹樁旁，一動不動。

農夫走過去一看，野兔因脖子折斷而死亡。農夫喜出望外。他自言自語道：“如果每天都能撿到一只野兔，我就再也不用在田里流汗干活了。我地里的那個樹樁，肯定是我發財的寶地。”

于是，從第二天開始，農夫不再照顧莊稼，而是無所事事地守在樹樁旁，一心等著有更多的野兔跑過來撞樹樁。

幾天過去了，農夫連野兔的影子都沒看見。與此同時，農夫的田地很快雜草叢生，農夫也成了大家的笑柄。

True or False:

Finally,no hare appeared.

Know More

Han Fei,also known as Han Feizi,was a famous philosopher during the Warring States Period.He is considered to be the major representative figure of Legalism school.His works proposed many theories of Legalism and had a great impact on the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.

韓非也被稱為韓非子，是戰國時期著名的哲學家。他被認為是法家學派的主要代表人物。他的作品中有許多法家理論，對秦始皇的影響很大。