半途而廢 (Bàn tú ér fèi)
To give up halfway (idiom); to leave something unfinished
Explanation: To stop and not continue forward when one is already half-way [to the goal line]. It is a metaphor for starting something but not finishing it.
This idiom originated from the Book of Rites – Doctrine of the Mean (禮記 – 中庸), “A man of noble character follows the Way and walks it. To abandon it half-way, that I cannot do.”
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a virtuous woman whose name was not known to the people. We now only know that she was the wife of Yue Yangzi (or Le Yangzi, as the characters are 樂羊子).
[Note: some other sources have this man living in the Warring States period.]
One day, Yue Yangzi found a piece of gold on the road and handed it to his wife upon returning home. His wife said: “I have heard that a goal-oriented man does not drink water [taken] from the Bandit Spring, as its name is detestable; and would rather die starving than eat charity food given out by others. [He would not do any of that,] let alone picking up someone else’s lost items. This act of conduct is a blemish on one’s character.” Yue Yangzi was ashamed when he heard his wife’s words. He picked up the piece of gold and threw it away [in the wilderness/field], then went to distant lands in search of new knowledge.
[Note: Bandit Spring (盜泉) is a spring of water named Bandit.]
Yue Yangzi returned home one year later. His wife knelt and asked him why he had returned, and he said: “I was homesick after being away for a long time, there was no other reason.” After hearing this, his wife picked up a knife and went to the loom and said: “The silk fabric was produced from silkworm cocoons and woven on this machine. One strand after another was accumulated to obtain an inch of silk; one inch after another was accumulated to obtain a bolt [of silk, cloth]. If I was to cut it off today, all that I had achieved would have gone down the drain, all the time that I had spent would have been wasted.”
His wife went on and said: “The same is true for reading [studying], to accumulate knowledge, you must add new knowledge daily, thereby increasingly perfecting your conduct with each passing day. If you were to return [while] half-way [to your destination], how is that any different from cutting off a silk thread?”
Yue Yangzi was deeply touched by his wife’s words. Thereupon he went back to complete his study, and did not return home for seven years.
—– VOCABULARY —–
途 tú – way, route, road [[đồ: đường, lối; phương diện, phạm vi]]
庸 yōng – ordinary; to use [[dong: cần; dùng, nhậm dụng, sử dụng; báo đáp, thù tạ; thường, bình thường; ngu dốt, kém cỏi; công lao; việc làm thuê]]
遵 zūn – to observe; to obey; to follow; to comply with [[tuân: thuận theo, đi theo; noi theo, y chiếu]]
吾 wú – I; my (old) [[ngô: ta, tôi; của ta, của tôi; họ “Ngô”; chống giữ]]
弗 fú – not [[phất: chẳng; trừ khử tai họa cầu phúc]]
矣 yǐ – classical final particle, similar to modern 了 [[hĩ: đặt cuối câu, biểu thị khẳng định; biểu thị cảm thán: thay, vậy thay; đặt cuối câu, biểu thị nghi vấn]]
賢慧 xián huì – (of a wife) wise and kind; perfect in her traditional roles
賢 xián – worthy or virtuous person; honorific used for a person of the same or a younger generation [[hiền: người có đức hạnh, tài năng; tốt lành, có tài đức; tôn sùng, coi trọng]]
慧 huì – intelligent [[huệ: trí thông minh, tài trí; khôn, sáng trí, lanh lẹ, mẫn tiệp]]
拾 shí – to pick up; to collate or arrange; ten (banker’s anti-fraud numeral [[thập: nhặt, mót; thu dọn, thu xếp; mười, chữ “thập” 十 viết cho khó sửa chữa; cái bao bằng da bọc cánh tay (để bắn cung thời xưa)]]
盜 dào – to steal; to rob; to plunder; thief; bandit; robber [[đạo: kẻ trộm, kẻ cắp, giặc cướp; ăn trộm, ăn cắp]]
泉 quán – spring (small stream); mouth of a spring; coin (archaic) [[tuyền: suối, nguồn; tiền]]
令 lìng – to order; to command; an order; warrant; writ; to cause; to make sth happen; virtuous; honorific title; season; government position (old) [[lệnh: mệnh lệnh; chức quan (thời xưa); thời tiết, mùa; ra lệnh, ban lệnh; tốt đẹp, tốt lành; linh: khiến, sai sử, làm cho]]
厭惡 yàn wù – to loathe; to hate; disgusted with sth
厭 yàn – to loathe [[yếm: chán ghét, chán ngán; no đủ, thỏa mãn; áp: đè, ép; yêm: yên; ấp: ướt át]]
施舍 shī shě – to give in charity; to give alms (to the poor)
舍 shě – to give up; to abandon, to give alms [[xả: bỏ, vất; giản thể của 捨; xá: quán trọ]]
過來 guò lái – to come over; to manage; to handle; to be able to take care of
食物 shí wù – food
寧可 nìng kě – (1) preferably
(2) one would prefer to…(or not to…)
(3) would rather
(4) (would) be better to
(5) (to pick) the lesser of two evils
寧 nìng – peaceful; to pacify; to visit (one’s parents etc) [[ninh: yên ổn; thăm hỏi, vấn an; thà, nên]]
何況 hé kuàng – let alone; to say nothing; besides; what’s more
拾取 shí qǔ – to pick up; to collect
取 qǔ – to take; to get; to choose; to fetch [[thủ: lấy, cầm; chọn lấy; chuốc lấy, tìm lấy; dùng; lấy vợ; làm]]
玷 diàn – blemish; disgrace; flaw in jade [[điếm: tì, vết (của ngọc); khuyết điểm, sai sót; điếm nhục, làm cho mang tiếng xấu; dùng trong lời nói khiêm]]
汙 wū – variant of 污; dirty; filthy; foul; corrupt; to smear; to defile; dirt; filth [[ô: vật dơ bẩn; đục, bẩn; không liêm khiết; làm bẩn, vấy bẩn; hủy báng; “oa”: đào đát; chỗ trũng; “ố”: rửa sạch, giặt sạch]]
慚愧 cán kuì – ashamed [[xấu hổ, hổ thẹn]]
慚 cán – ashamed [[tàm: hổ thẹn]]
愧 kuì – ashamed [[quý: lấy làm thẹn, lấy làm xấu hổ; làm nhục người khác, làm cho người khác hổ thẹn; phụ lòng; hổ thẹn, xấu hổ]]
扔 rēng – to throw; to throw away [[nhưng: vứt bỏ; ném, liệng]]
尋 xún – to search; to look for; to seek [[tầm: tìm; dùng tới, sử dụng; vin vào, dựa vào; bình thường; gần, sắp; lại; dần dần; thường, thường hay; chẳng bao lâu, rồi]]
跪 guì – to kneel [[quỵ: quỳ, quỳ gối; chân]]
其他 qí tā – other; (sth or sb) else; the rest
緣故 yuán gù – reason; cause
緣 yuán – cause; reason; karma; fate; predestined affinity; margin; hem; edge; along [[duyên: đường viền áo quần; rìa, cạnh; cơ hội; lí do, nguyên cớ; leo; quẩn quanh]]
絹 juàn – thin, tough silk fabric [[quyên: lụa sống, lụa mộc; khăn vuông nhỏ]]
帛 bó – silk [[bạch: lụa (dệt bằng tơ)]]
蠶繭 cán jiǎn – silkworm cocoon
蠶 cán – silkworm [[tàm, tằm: con tằm]]
繭 jiǎn – cocoon; callus [[kiển: cái kén tằm; quần áo bằng tơ, bông; phồng da (tay, chân)]]
絲 sī – silk, thread, trace [[ti: tơ (tằm nhả ra); chỉ chung đồ dệt bằng tơ; số lượng cực nhỏ]]
積累 jī lěi – to accumulate; accumulation; cumulative; cumulatively
積 jī – to amass; to accumulate; to store; measured quantity (such as area of volume); product (the result of multiplication); to integrate (math.); old; long-standing [[tích: chứa, trữ, gom góp; chồn chất, đọng; nghẽn tắc, trở ngại không thông; lâu ngày, lâu đời]]
累 lěi – to accumulate; to involve or implicate; continuous; repeated [[lũy: thêm]]
乃至 nǎi zhì – and even; to go so far as to
乃 nǎi – to be; thus; so; therefore; then; only; thereupon [[nãi: là; bèn, rồi thì, bởi vậy; nếu, như quả; mà; mới, thì mới; chỉ; thì ra, lại là; đây, này, như thế, v.v.]]
割斷 gē duàn – to cut off; to sever
割 gē – to cut; to cut apart [[cát: cắt, gặt, xẻo; chia, phân; dứt bỏ, đoạn tuyệt; tổn hại]]
前功盡棄 qián gōng jìn qì – to waste all one’s previous efforts (idiom); all that has been achieved goes down the drain
棄 qì – to abandon; to relinquish; to discard; to throw away [[khí: quên, bỏ]]
從前 cóng qián – previously; formerly; once upon a time [[trước đây, về trước]]
掉 diào – to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to show off; to shed (hair) [[điệu: rơi, rớt; mất, đánh mất, bỏ sót; giảm sút; lay động, vẫy; ngoảnh, qua lại; trao đổi, thay thế]]
接著 jiē zhe – to catch and hold on; to continue; to go on to do something; to follow; to carry on; then; after that; subsequently; to proceed; to ensue; in turn; in one’s turn
獲得 huò dé – to obtain; to receive; to get
日益 rì yì – day by day; more and more; increasingly; more and more with each passing day [[tăng lên hàng ngày, tăng lên dần dần]]
益 yì – benefit; profit; advantage; beneficial; to increase; to add; all the more [[ích: thêm lên, tăng gia; giúp; giàu có; có lợi; càng]]
完美 wán měi – perfect; perfection; perfectly [[hoàn mỹ; hoàn hảo; tuyệt hảo]]
兩樣 liǎng yàng – two kinds; difference