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.
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.