Chinese Fable

黔驴技穷🔊

Qián Lǘ Jì Qióng
📚 Fables⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This fable describes someone who has exhausted all their tricks and abilities.

The Story 🔊

Gǔ shíhou yǒu rén bǎ yì tóu lǘ yùn dào le Guìzhōu
古时候Gǔ shíhou🔊有人yǒu rén🔊🔊一头yì tóu🔊🔊运到了yùn dào le🔊贵州Guìzhōu🔊
Guìzhōu de lǎohǔ méi jiànguo lǘ hěn hàipà
贵州Guìzhōu🔊de🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊没见过méi jiànguo🔊🔊很害怕hěn hàipà🔊
Lǘ dà jiào yì shēng lǎohǔ xià de yuǎnyuǎn duǒ kāi
🔊大叫dà jiào🔊一声yì shēng🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊吓得xià de🔊远远yuǎnyuǎn🔊躲开duǒ kāi🔊
Hòulái lǎohǔ jiànjìàn xíguàn le lǘ de jiàoshēng
后来Hòulái🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊渐渐jiànjìàn🔊习惯了xíguàn le🔊驴的lǘ de🔊叫声jiàoshēng🔊
Lǘ yòu tī le lǎohǔ yì jiǎo lǎohǔ fāxiàn lǘ búguò rúcǐ
🔊yòu🔊踢了tī le🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊一脚yì jiǎo🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊发现fāxiàn🔊🔊不过如此búguò rúcǐ🔊
Lǎohǔ gāoxìng de shuō nǐ de běnshì búguò rúcǐ éryǐ
老虎Lǎohǔ🔊高兴地gāoxìng de🔊shuō🔊你的nǐ de🔊本事běnshì🔊不过búguò🔊如此而已rúcǐ éryǐ🔊
Yúshì lǎohǔ pū shàngqù bǎ lǘ chī diào le
于是Yúshì🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊扑上去pū shàngqù🔊把驴bǎ lǘ🔊吃掉了chī diào le🔊
English Translation:
In ancient times, someone brought a donkey to Guizhou. The tigers in Guizhou had never seen a donkey and were afraid. The donkey brayed loudly, and the tiger was scared and stayed far away. Later, the tiger gradually got used to the donkey's braying. The donkey kicked the tiger, and the tiger realized the donkey was nothing special. The tiger said happily: "Your abilities are only this much!" So the tiger pounced and ate the donkey.

Key Vocabulary

黔驴技穷
qián lǘ jì qióng
exhausted all tricks
donkey
老虎
lǎohǔ
tiger
害怕
hàipà
afraid
本事
běnshì
ability
习惯
xíguàn
get used to

The Moral

Don't show all your cards! This idiom describes someone who has exhausted all their tricks and has nothing left.

Cultural Insight

黔驴技穷 comes from a essay by Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元). It describes limited abilities that have been fully exposed.