弄巧成拙 (nòngqiǎochéngzhuó) Making a Fool of Oneself When Trying to Be Smart
Key Learning Points (Preview):
画画 (huàhuà) v. to paint/ draw
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着色 (zhuósè) v. to color
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Běisòng shíqī, yǒu wèi huàjiā jiào Sūn Zhīwēi.
北宋 时期, 有 位 画家 叫 孙 知微。
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During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a painter named Sun Zhiwei, who also taught painting.
Yí cì huàhuà shí, péngyou qǐng tā qù yǐnjiǔ.
一次 画画 时, 朋友 请 他 去 饮酒。
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Once while he was teaching a class, his friends invited him to go drinking.
Tā duì dìzǐmen shuō: "zhè fú huà zhǐ shèngxià zhuósè.
他 对 弟子们 说:“这 幅 画 只 剩下 着色。
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He said to his students: "All that is left is to color the painting.
Wǒ huílái shí, xīwàng nǐmen yǐjīng huà hǎo le."
我 回来 时,希望 你们 已经 画 好 了。”
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When I return, I hope you will have finished."
Sūn Zhīwēi zǒu hòu, yígè jiào Tóng Rényì de dìzǐ shuō:
孙 知微 走 后,一个 叫 童 仁益 的 弟子 说:
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After he left, a student named Tong Renyi said:
"Lǎoshī zǒng yào zài píng zhōng huà yìzhī xiānhuā, kě zhècì què méiyǒu.
“老师 总 要 在 瓶 中 画 一枝 鲜花,可 这次 却 没有。
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"Our teacher always adds a flower, but this time he did not.
Yéxǔ shì láibùjí huàhǎo, wǒmen háishì huàhǎo le zài zhuósè ba."
也许 是 来不及 画好, 我们 还是 画好 了 再 着色 吧。”
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Maybe he didn't have time to finish it. We might as well complete the flower first."
Yúshì, Tóng Rényì huà le yìzhī hóng liánhuā.
于是, 童 仁益 画 了 一枝 红莲花。
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And so he added a red lotus.
Sūn Zhīwēi huílái shí shuō:
孙 知微 回来 时 说:
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When he came back, Sun Zhiwei said:
"Zhè běn shì zhènyāopíng, nǐmen què bǎ tā biànchéng le huāpíng."
“这 本 是 镇妖瓶, 你们 却 把 它 变成 了 花瓶。”
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"The vase was originally a "Zhen Yaoping," which keeps away demons. Now you have turned it into an ordinary flower vase."
Shuō zhe, bǎ huà sī le gè fěnsuì.
说 着,把 画 撕了 个 粉碎。
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As he said that, he tore the painting into pieces.
Nòngqiǎochéngzhuó jiùshì bǐyù zìzuòcōngmíng zuò le duōyú de shìqíng
弄巧成拙 就是 比喻 自作聪明 做 了 多余 的 事情
fǎn'ér shǐ qíngkuàng biànde gèng zāogāo.
反而 使 情况 变得 更 糟糕。
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"Making a fool of oneself when trying to be smart " means that extra efforts perceived to be helpful may make matters worse.
Key Learning Points:
画画 (huàhuà) v. to paint/ draw
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Chinese people like to "画画" with a brush and ink.
Example:
Tā zuìdà de àihào shì huàhuà.
他 最大 的 爱好 是 画画。
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His greatest passion is to paint.
着色 (zhuósè) v. to color
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"着色" means to decorate a picture with color.
Example:
Tā yòng huáng làbǐ gěi huà zhuósè.
他 用 黄 蜡笔 给 画 着色。
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He colored the picture with a yellow crayon.
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This is a nice story but I cannot seem to find the idiom itself anywhere in the post. What is the changyu for this?
Hi, thanks for concern. The chengyu for this story is 弄巧成拙 (nòngqiǎochéngzhuó).