Language Corner: Mid-autumn Festival

Chinese Idioms

熟能生巧

Practice Makes Perfect

北宋時期,有個技藝高超的射手。一天, 他練習射箭, 引來了一大群人觀看。大家都稱贊他的技藝,他也很得意。但是,人群中有個年長的賣油翁只是淡淡地點點頭,這使射手很不高興。他問那賣油翁: “你認為我的技術如何?” 賣油翁回答: “沒什么特別的,你只不過是反復練習,所以手法熟練罷了?！鄙涫致牶蠛懿环?。于是,賣油翁把一個葫蘆放在地上,在葫蘆口上放了一枚銅錢, 然后從大油壺里舀起一勺油, 從高處往葫蘆里倒。只見油就像線一樣從銅錢中間的小孔里滴下去,一滴都沒有漏出來。圍觀者都驚呆了。賣油翁說: “其實這只不過是天天練的結果?！焙髞? 人們用這個成語來表示一件事熟練了就能做好。

Běisòng shíqī, yǒuge jìyì gāochāode shèshǒu. Yìtiān, tā liànxí shèjiàn, yǐnlái le yí dàqún rén guānkàn. Dàjiā dōu chēngzàn tāde jìyì, tā yě hěn déyì. Dànshì, rénqúnzhōng yǒuge niánzhǎng de màiyóuwēng zhǐshì dàndàn de diǎndiǎntóu, zhèshǐ shèshǒu hěn bù gāoxìng. Tā wèn nà màiyóuwēng: “Nǐ rènwéi wǒde jìshù rúhé?” Màiyóuwēng huídá: “Méishénme tèbié de, nǐ zhǐbúguò shì fǎnfù liànxí, suǒyǐ shǒufǎ shúliàn bàle.” Shèshǒu tīnghòu hěn bù fúqì. Yúshì, màiyóuwēng bǎ yíge húlu fàngzài dìshàng, zài húlu kǒushàng fàngle yìméi tóngqián, ránhòu cóng dàyóuhú lǐ yǎoqǐ yìsháo yóu, cóng gāochù wàng húlu lǐ dào. Zhǐjiàn yóu jiùxiàng xiàn yíyàng cóng tóngqián zhōngjiān de xiǎokǒng lǐ dīxiàqù, yìdī dōu méiyǒu lòu chūlai. Wéiguānzhě dōu jīngdāile. Màiyóuwēng shuō: “Qíshí zhè zhǐbúguò shì tiāntiān liànde jiéguǒ.” Hòulái, rénmen yòng zhège chéngyǔ lái biǎoshì yí jiànshì shúliàn le jiùnéng zuòhǎo.

There lived during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) an accomplished archer. As he was doing his daily practice one day, a big crowd gathered around him, and cheered each time he hit his target. This made him feel pleased with himself, but among the crowd stood an old oil peddler who merely nodded. His pride hurt, the archer asked the old oil peddler, “What do you think of my archery?” The old man answered, “Nothing special. You’ve become skilled through regular practice, that’s all.” The archer was unconvinced. Thereupon, the oil peddler put a gourd bottle on the ground and covered its mouth with a copper cash coin. He then scooped a ladle of oil from his jar, held it high in the air and poured it into the gourd. The crowd watched in amazement as the thread of oil fell from the ladle through the hole at the center of the coin into the gourd. The old man said, “This is nothing special. It’s something I can do because I’ve practiced every day.” Later, people used this idiom to mean practice makes perfect.

Source: China Today