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  。