Touching the Elephant

Illustration for the Chinese story “Touching the Elephant”

Tap any word for its meaning

从前cóng qián,有yǒu四sì个人gè rén,眼睛yǎn jing都dōu看不见kàn bù jiàn。Long ago, there were four men whose eyes could not see.他们tā men想xiǎng知道zhī dào大象dà xiàng是shì什么shén me样子yàng zi。They wanted to know what an elephant looks like.他们tā men只能zhǐ néng用手yòng shǒu摸mō。They could only touch it with their hands.

第dì一个人yī gè rén摸到mō dào牙齿yá chǐ:“大象dà xiàng像xiàng萝卜luó bo!”The first man touched a tusk: "An elephant is like a radish!"

第二个人dì èr ge rén摸到mō dào耳朵ěr duo:“大象dà xiàng像xiàng扇子shàn zi!”The second man touched an ear: "An elephant is like a fan!"

第三个dì sān gè人rén摸到mō dào腿tuǐ:“大象dà xiàng像xiàng大树dà shù!”The third man touched a leg: "An elephant is like a big tree!"

第四个dì sì gè人rén摸到mō dào尾巴wěi ba:“大象dà xiàng像xiàng绳子shéng zi!”The fourth man touched the tail: "An elephant is like a rope!"

四sì个人gè rén都dōu说shuō自己zì jǐ对duì,吵chǎo了le起来qǐ lai。All four said they were right and started to argue.其实qí shí,他们tā men都dōu错了cuò le。In fact, they were all wrong.每个人měi ge rén只zhǐ摸到了mō dào le一点点yī diǎn diǎn。Each of them had only touched one little part.

这个zhè ge成语chéng yǔ是shì“盲人摸象máng rén mō xiàng”。This idiom is "blind men touching an elephant."意思yì si是shì:只zhǐ看到kàn dào一点yī diǎn,就jiù觉得jué de都dōu知道了zhī dào le。It means: you see only a little, but think you know it all.小明xiǎo míng只zhǐ看了kàn le一yī页yè书shū,就jiù说shuō这zhè本běn书shū不好bù hǎo,真是zhēn shi盲人摸象máng rén mō xiàng。Xiao Ming read only one page and said the book was bad — truly blind men touching an elephant.

Want to read along with audio? Every story in the Literate Chinese app is narrated by a native speaker — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin — so you can listen while you read, and tap any word to save it as a flashcard. See what's in the app.

More free stories: more HSK 5–6 stories · all Idioms for Beginners stories · traditional characters · test your reading level

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 1,000+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →