What does 守株待兔 mean?

守株待兔 (shǒu zhū dài tù) literally means 'guard the stump, wait for the rabbit'; 株 (zhū) is a tree stump. It describes someone who waits for luck instead of working, or who clings to one lucky experience and refuses to adapt.

Where does the story of the farmer and the tree stump come from?

It comes from the Han Feizi, chapter Wu du (The Five Vermin), by the Warring States philosopher Han Fei, who died in 233 BCE. He used the farmer of Song to mock those who wanted to rule the people of his day with the methods of the ancient kings.

What is the moral of Waiting for Rabbits by the Tree Stump?

Don't mistake a lucky accident for something that will happen again, and don't expect rewards without effort. Steady work brings a harvest; waiting by the stump brings only weeds.

Is there an English saying like 守株待兔?

There's no exact match, but 'lightning never strikes twice in the same place' captures the idea that a fluke rarely repeats, and 'waiting for your ship to come in' describes sitting around hoping for luck.

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Fable · VoiceSmiths adaptation · 3:58

Waiting for Rabbits by the Tree Stump

A rabbit runs into a stump and gives a farmer of Song a free dinner, so he drops his hoe to wait for the next one. The idiom shou zhu dai tu, retold.

Narrator

The Farmer

The Farmer's Wife

Old Wang

The Rabbit

0:000:00

其他語言版本 · 2 種語言

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

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關於這個故事

Waiting for Rabbits by the Tree Stump tells the story behind the Chinese idiom 守株待兔 (shǒu zhū dài tù), which literally means 'guard the stump, wait for the rabbit.' It comes from the Han Feizi, the book of the philosopher Han Fei (third century BCE), in the chapter The Five Vermin (Wu du): a farmer of Song sees a rabbit run into a stump and break its neck, throws down his plough to wait for another, and becomes the laughing stock of the kingdom. Han Fei used it to mock people who wanted to govern the present with the methods of the ancient kings. This version adds the farmer's wife and his neighbour, Old Wang, and turns a few lines of fable into a lively little play.

故事告訴我們

A lucky accident won't happen to order. If you stop working and wait for luck to come back, you lose what honest work would have given you, and when things change, your plans have to change too.

適合

Ages 5 and up

講給孩子聽的小貼士

Pause before the thump, or knock on the table, so your child laughs first; then let the farmer's silliness sink in.
Ask: what did the farmer do wrong? Was he lazy, or stuck on one lucky day? Both answers are right.
Pair it with The Farmer Who Pulled Up His Rice (拔苗助长): one farmer waits far too long, the other can't wait at all.

常見問題

What does 守株待兔 mean?: 守株待兔 (shǒu zhū dài tù) literally means 'guard the stump, wait for the rabbit'; 株 (zhū) is a tree stump. It describes someone who waits for luck instead of working, or who clings to one lucky experience and refuses to adapt.
Where does the story of the farmer and the tree stump come from?: It comes from the Han Feizi, chapter Wu du (The Five Vermin), by the Warring States philosopher Han Fei, who died in 233 BCE. He used the farmer of Song to mock those who wanted to rule the people of his day with the methods of the ancient kings.
What is the moral of Waiting for Rabbits by the Tree Stump?: Don't mistake a lucky accident for something that will happen again, and don't expect rewards without effort. Steady work brings a harvest; waiting by the stump brings only weeds.
Is there an English saying like 守株待兔?: There's no exact match, but 'lightning never strikes twice in the same place' captures the idea that a fluke rarely repeats, and 'waiting for your ship to come in' describes sitting around hoping for luck.