Chinese story-Teach a fish to swim-ban men nong fu-班门弄斧
Do you want to learn Chinese through stories? Here is a story named-Teach a fish to swim. Have you ever heard it before? Let's take a look.
Lu Ban was born in the State of Lu during the Warring States Period.
鲁班是战国时代的鲁国人。
lǔ bān shì Zhàn guó shí dài de lǔ guó rén。
He was a dab hand at making delicate instruments,
他是一个善于制作精巧器具的能手，
tā shì yī gè shàn yú zhì zuò jīng qiǎo qì jù de néng shǒu，
People call him "Qiao Man",
人们叫他“巧人”，
rén men jiào tā“qiǎo rén"，
People always regard him as the ancestor of carpenter.
民间历来把他奉为木匠的始祖。
mín jiān lì lái bǎ tā fèng wèi mù jiàng de shǐ zǔ。
One day, a young carpenter casually walked up to a house with a large red door,
有一天，一个年轻的木匠漫不经心地走到一个大红门的'房子前，
yǒu yī tiān,yī gè nián qīng de mù jiàng màn bù jīng xīn de zǒu dào yī gè dà hóng mén de fáng zi qián，
Holding up the axe in his hand, he said, "This axe is not much, but whatever wood it is,
举起自己手里的斧子，说:“我这把斧子，别看它不起眼，可不管是什么木料，
jǔ qǐ zì jǐ shǒu li de fǔ zi,shuō:“wǒ zhè bǎ fǔ zi, bié kàn tā bù qǐ yǎn,kě bù guǎn shì shén me mù liào，
As soon as it gets into my hands,
只要到了我的手里，
zhǐ yào dào le wǒ de shǒu li ，
With my axe like this,
用我的斧头这么一弄，
yòng wǒ de fǔ tou zhè me yī nòng，
You're going to make something really beautiful.
就会做出漂亮无比的东西来。”
jiù huì zuò chū piào liang wú bǐ de dōng xi lái。”
The people nearby listened,
旁边的人听了，
páng biān de rén tīng le，
I thought he was too boastful,
觉得他太夸口，
jué de tā tài kuā kǒu，
He pointed to the big red door behind him and said, "Little master, can you make a better door than this one?"
就指着身后的大红门说:“小师傅，那你能做出比这扇还好的门吗?”
jiù zhǐ zhe shēn hòu de dà hóng mén shuō : “ xiǎo shī fu ， nà nǐ néng zuò chū bǐ zhè shàn hái hǎo de mén ma?”
The young carpenter said haughtily, "I don't mean to brag, but I used to be a student of Lu Ban. It is a joke that I can't make such a simple door."
年轻的木匠傲慢地说:“不是我吹牛，告诉你们，我曾经当过鲁班的学生，难道还做不出这样一扇简单的大门来，简直是笑话。"
nián qīng de mù jiàng ào màn de shuō : “ bù shì wǒ chuī niú ， gào su nǐ men ， wǒ céng jīng dāng guò lǔ bān de xué sheng ， nán dào hái zuò bù chū zhè yàng yī shàn jiǎn dān de dà mén lái ， jiǎn zhí shì xiào hua。"
When they heard this, they couldn't help laughing and said, "This is Mr. Lu Ban's home. This door is made by his own hands. Can you really make a better door than this one?"
众人听了，忍不住大笑起来，说:“这就是鲁班先生的家，这扇就是他亲手做的，你真的能做出比这扇还好的门吗?"
zhòng rén tīng le ， rěn bù zhù dà xiào qǐ lái ， shuō : “ zhè jiù shì lǔ bān xiān sheng de jiā ， zhè shàn jiù shì tā qīn shǒu zuò de ， nǐ zhēn de néng zuò chū bǐ zhè shàn hái hǎo de mén ma ? "
The young carpenter ran away in shame.
那位年轻的木匠不好意思地跑掉了。
nà wèi nián qīng de mù jiàng bù hǎo yì si de pǎo diào le 。