亡羊补牢 [亡羊補牢]

Pinyin: wáng yáng bǔ láo


Meaning: (Literal) To mend the pen after the sheep are lost
(Figurative) Better late than never


Simplified

从前有一个牧民,养了几十只羊,白天放牧,晚上赶进一个用柴草和木桩等物围起来的羊圈内。

一天早晨,这个牧民去放羊,发现羊少了一只。原来羊圈破了个窟窿,夜间有狼从窟窿里钻了进来,把一只羊叼走了。

邻居劝告他说:“赶快把羊圈修一修,堵上那个窟窿吧。”

他说:“羊已经丢了,还去修羊圈干什幺呢?”没有接受邻居的好心劝告。

第二天早上,他去放羊,发现又少了一只羊。原来狼又从窟窿里钻进羊圈,又叼走了一只羊。

这位牧民很后悔没有认直接受邻居的劝告,去及时采取补救措施。于是,他赶紧堵上那个窟窿,又从整体进行加固,把羊圈修得牢牢实实的。

从此,这个牧民的羊就再也没有被野狼叼走过了。

牧民的故事告诉我们:犯了错误,遭到挫折,这是常见的现象。只要能认真吸取教训,及时采取补救措施,就可以避免继续犯错误,遭受更大的损失。 


Traditional

從前有一個牧民,養了幾十只羊,白天放牧,晚上趕進一個用柴草和木樁等物圍起來的羊圈內。

一天早晨,這個牧民去放羊,發現羊少了一只。原來羊圈破了個窟窿,夜間有狼從窟窿裏鑽了進來,把一只羊叼走了。

鄰居勸告他說:“趕快把羊圈修一修,堵上那個窟窿吧。”

 他說:“羊已經丟了,還去修羊圈幹什麼呢?”沒有接受鄰居的好心勸告。

第二天早上,他去放羊,發現又少了一只羊。原來狼又從窟窿裏鑽進羊圈,又叼走了一只羊。

 這位牧民很後悔沒有認直接受鄰居的勸告,去及時采取補救措施。於是,他趕緊堵上那個窟窿,又從整體進行加固,把羊圈修得牢牢實實的。

從此,這個牧民的羊就再也沒有被野狼叼走過了。

牧民的故事告訴我們:犯了錯誤,遭到挫折,這是常見的現象。只要能認真吸取教訓,及時采取補救措施,就可以避免繼續犯錯誤,遭受更大的損失。




English Translation:

Once upon a time, there was a herdsman who raised a herd of sheep. During the daytime, he let the sheep out to graze. At night, he herded the sheep back into their pen.

One morning, the herdsman found out that a sheep was missing. It turns out that there was a hole in the sheep pen, and a wolf snatched a sheep through the hole.
          
A neighbor told the herdsman, “Quickly fix the hole in the sheep pen.”
     
The herdsman didn’t follow his neighbor’s advice, and said, “The sheep is already gone. There’s no need to fix it now.”

The next morning, he found out that another sheep was missing. The wolf had snatched another sheep through the hole in the pen.

After seeing this, the herdsman regretted not following his neighbor’s advice to fix the broken pen. He immediately fixed the hole in the pen.

From then on, the herdsman’s sheep never got taken away by the wolf again.


This story teaches us: If you’ve make a mistake or you encounter a setback, it’s a part of life. As long as you learn from your mistake and fix the problem, you will prevent the same mistake from happening again and avoid further losses.