Chinese Idiom

亡羊补牢🔊

Wáng Yáng Bǔ Láo
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means it is never too late to fix a problem.

The Story 🔊

Cóngqián yǒu gè rén yǎng le yì qún yáng
从前Cóngqián🔊有个人yǒu gè rén🔊养了yǎng le🔊一群yì qún🔊yáng🔊
Yì tiān zǎoshang tā fāxiàn shǎo le yì zhī yáng yángjuàn pò le gè dòng
一天Yì tiān🔊早上zǎoshang🔊🔊发现fāxiàn🔊少了一只shǎo le yì zhī🔊yáng🔊羊圈yángjuàn🔊破了个pò le gè🔊dòng🔊
Línjū quàn tā gǎnkuài xiūbǔ yángjuàn
邻居Línjū🔊劝他quàn tā🔊赶快gǎnkuài🔊修补xiūbǔ🔊羊圈yángjuàn🔊
Tā shuō yáng yǐjīng diū le hái xiū shénme
🔊shuō🔊yáng🔊已经yǐjīng🔊丢了diū le🔊hái🔊xiū🔊什么shénme🔊
Dì èr tiān yòu diū le yì zhī yáng tā zhè cái gǎnjǐn xiū hǎo le yángjuàn
第二天Dì èr tiān🔊yòu🔊丢了diū le🔊一只yì zhī🔊yáng🔊🔊这才zhè cái🔊赶紧gǎnjǐn🔊修好xiū hǎo🔊le🔊羊圈yángjuàn🔊
English Translation:
Once there was a man who kept a flock of sheep. One morning, he found one sheep missing and a hole in the pen. His neighbor advised him to repair the pen quickly. He said: "The sheep is already lost, why repair?" The next day, he lost another sheep, and only then did he hurry to repair the pen.

Key Vocabulary

亡羊补牢
wáng yáng bǔ láo
mend the pen after sheep is lost
羊圈
yángjuàn
sheep pen
修补
xiūbǔ
repair
丢失
diūshī
lose
quàn
advise
赶紧
gǎnjǐn
hurry

The Moral

Better late than never! This idiom means it is never too late to correct a mistake.

Cultural Insight

亡羊补牢 comes from "Strategies of the Warring States" (战国策).