酷兔英语

亡羊补牢 Wáng Yáng Bǔ Láo



亡羊补牢
Wáng Yáng Bǔ Láo


        从前,有个人养了一群羊。一天早晨,他发现少了一只,仔细一看,原来羊圈破了个窟窿,夜里狼钻进来把羊叼走了一只。邻居劝他说:"赶快把羊圈修一修,堵上窟窿吧!"那个人不肯接受劝告,回答说:"羊已经丢了,还修羊圈干什么?"第二天早上,他发现羊又少了一只。原来,狼又从窟窿钻进来,叼走了一只羊。他很后悔自己没听从邻居的劝告,便赶快堵上窟窿,修好了羊圈。从此,狼再也不能钻进羊圈叼羊了。

Once there was a man who raised a flock of sheep and kept them in a sheepfold. One morning, he went to the sheepfold and found that one of the sheep was missing. He examined the sheepfold and found a hole in it. A wolf must have sneaked in from the hole and carried off the sheep.   His neighbor advised him to mend the hole as soon as possible. The man ignored his advice and  said, " Since the sheep is already  lost, it is  no use mending the hole". The next morning, another sheep was lost. The wolf had come again and got one more sheep. He regretted very much for not listening to his neighbor's advice. He mended the hole immediately and from then on the wolf came for his sheep no more.


词语注释:

群:(qún) m.w. a flock of, herd

羊圈:(yáng juàn) n. sheepfold

窟窿:(kūlong) n. hole

钻:(zuān) v. to get into, to enter (a hole)

叼:(diāo) v. to hold in the mouth

劝:(quàn) v. to persuade, to advise

堵:(dǔ) v. to block

后悔:(hòuhuǐ) adj. regretful

意义:

       "亡"是"逃跑,丢失"的意思;"补",修补;"牢"指的是关牲畜的圈,这里指"羊圈"。羊丢失了之后再去修羊圈,还不算晚。比喻人们一旦犯了错误,立即改正,就能减少错误;出了问题后,想办法补救,可以避免继续出现同样的损失。

In this idiom, "亡(wáng)" means "escape or lost", and "补(bǔ)" means "to mend or repair". "牢(láo)" refers to a fence which is used to keep livestock, and in the story it means "a sheepfold or sheepcote". It is not too late to mend the sheepfold after the sheep have been lost. This idiom tells us that we can avoid more mistakes if we are able to correct the ones we have already committed. As long as we seek to remedy what we have done wrong, we'll be able to avoid similar mistakes in the future.



例句:

1、 这次没考好,要找出原因吸取教训,亡羊补牢,为时不晚。
You should find out the reason why you failed the exam. Just like亡羊补牢, it's never too late to draw a lesson from it.


2、犯了错误不要紧,要勇于承认和改正,做到亡羊补牢。
It doesn't matter that you made a mistake this time. You should亡羊补牢.