临渊羡鱼
光是羡慕没有用,不如动手去做。空想不如行动。
Wishing for fish at the pond's edge is useless — better go home and weave a net.
古时候,一位老师带着学生在河边散步。河水清清,一群鱼在水里游来游去,鱼鳞在阳光下闪闪发亮。
一个学生看呆了,咂着嘴说:“这些鱼真肥,要是能吃上一条,该多好啊!”另一个学生也跟着叹气:“可惜我们又没有网,只能看着。”
老师听了,笑着说:“临渊羡鱼,不如退而结网。站在水边羡慕鱼,还不如回家去织一张网。”
学生们听了,都低下了头。他们明白了:光是站在那里空羡慕,鱼是不会跳到岸上的;要想吃到鱼,就要动手准备工具,认真去做。
这句话出自汉代的《汉书》。后来,人们常用“临渊羡鱼”来提醒自己:空想没有用,行动才重要。
Long ago, a teacher took his students for a walk along a river. The water was clear, and schools of fish were swimming back and forth, their scales flashing in the sunlight.
One student stared and said with a click of his tongue, “Those fish look so fat! If only we could eat one — how wonderful that would be.” Another sighed, “But we have no net. All we can do is look.”
Their teacher smiled. “Standing by the pool wishing for fish is not as good as going home and weaving a net.”
The students lowered their heads. They understood: no matter how much they envied the fish, the fish would never jump onto the bank. To eat fish, one must prepare the tools and do the work.
The saying comes from the Han dynasty history Hanshu. Today “envying fish by the water” reminds us that wishing alone changes nothing — only action does.
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