对牛弹琴
对着牛弹琴,牛根本听不懂。比喻对不懂的人讲大道理,白费力气。
Playing the lute to an ox — explaining something to someone who can't or won't understand.
古时候,有一位音乐家,名叫公明仪。他最爱弹琴,琴弹得非常好听。
有一天,他到野外散步,看见一头牛正低着头吃草。公明仪兴致来了,就坐下来,对着牛认认真真地弹起一首高雅的曲子。
可是那头牛呢?它头也不抬,只顾吃自己的草,一点反应也没有。公明仪想了想,换了一种曲子,学牛犊叫的声音,学蚊子的嗡嗡声。这回,牛停下嘴,竖起耳朵,摇起了尾巴——它听懂的,是自己熟悉的声音。
公明仪笑着说:“不是我的琴不好,是我弹错了对象。”后来,人们就用“对牛弹琴”来比喻跟不懂的人讲道理,白白浪费功夫。
In ancient times there was a musician named Gong Ming Yi. He loved playing the qin, and he played it beautifully.
One day, walking in the countryside, he saw an ox with its head down, quietly munching grass. Feeling inspired, he sat down and played a refined, elegant piece for the ox.
And the ox? It didn't even look up. It went on chewing its grass, as if he weren't there at all. Gong Ming Yi thought for a moment, then changed his tune — imitating the cry of a calf and the buzz of mosquitoes. This time the ox stopped chewing, pricked its ears, and swished its tail. It had recognized sounds it knew.
“It isn't my qin that's wrong,” Gong Ming Yi said with a laugh, “it's my audience.” From this comes “playing the lute to an ox,” a phrase for wasting your words on someone who cannot understand them.
Let's