Chinese story-Tian Ji horse racing-tian ji sai ma-田忌赛马

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Do you want to learn Chinese through stories? Here is a story named-Tian Ji horse racing. Have you ever heard it before? Let's take a look.

During the Warring States Period, the nobles of the State of Qi liked horse racing very much.
战国时期,齐国的贵族很喜欢赛马,
Zhàn  guó  shí  qī,qí  guó  de  guì  zú  hěn  xǐ  huan  sài  mǎ,

The king of Qi was no exception. He and General Tian of the State of Qi avoided horse racing.
而齐威王也不例外,他与齐国将军田忌赛马,
ér  qí  wēi  wàng  yě  bù  lì  wài,tā  yù  qí  guó  jiāng  jūn  tián  jì  sài  mǎ,

Each selected three horses, divided into the top, middle and bottom three classes to race.
各自选出三匹马,分上中下三个等级进行赛跑。
gè  zì  xuǎn  chū  sān  pǐ  mǎ,fēn  shàng  zhōng  xià  sān  gè  děng  jí  jìn  xíng  sài  pǎo。  

The result was obvious. King Wei had a strong army,
结果显而易见,齐威王兵强马壮,
jié  guǒ  xiǎn  ér  yì  jiàn,qí  wēi  wàng  bīng  qiáng  mǎ  zhuàng,

A horse of the same rank always wins, and Tian Ji ended up losing.
同等级的马总能略胜一筹,田忌最终以失败收场。
tòng  děng  jí  de  mǎ  zǒng  néng  lüè  shèng  yī  chóu,tián  jì  zuì  zhōng  yǐ  shī  bài  shōu  chǎng。

Tian Ji refused to accept, but his horse is worse than others, there is no way.
田忌不服归不服,但是自己的马比人家差,也是没有办法的事情。
tián  jì  bù  fú  guī  bù  fú,dàn  shì  zì  jǐ  de  mǎ  bǐ  rén  jia  chà,yě  shì  méi  yǒu  bàn  fǎ  de  shì  qing。  

Tian Ji's good friend Sun Bin saw that King Wei's horses were always stronger.
田忌的好友孙膑见齐威王的马总是强一点,
tián  jì  de  hǎo  yǒu  sūn  bìn  jiàn  qí  wēi  wàng  de  mǎ  zǒng  shì  qiáng  yī  diǎn,

So out of the scheme, let Tian Ji with inferior horses against superior horses;
于是出了计谋,让田忌用下等马对上等马;
yú  shì  chū  le  jì  móu,ràng  tián  jì  yòng  xià  děng  mǎ  duì  shàng  děng  mǎ; 

A fine horse against a medium; Medium horse against inferior horse.
上等马对中等马;中等马对下等马。
shàng  děng  mǎ  duì  zhōng  děng  mǎ,zhōng  děng  mǎ  duì  xià  děng  mǎ。
 
The result was a two-game winning streak after the first rout.
结果在第一场大败之后就连胜两场。
jié  guǒ  zài  dì  yī  chǎng  dà  bài  zhī  hòu  jiù  lián  shèng  liǎng  chǎng。 

The horse is still the same horse,
马还是同样的马,
mǎ  hái  shi  tóng  yàng  de  mǎ,

Just changing the order of play can turn a loser into a winner.
只是调换一下比赛的出场顺序,就能转败为胜。
zhǐ  shì  diào  huàn  yī  xià  bǐ  sài  de  chū  chǎng  shùn  xù,jiù  néng  zhuàn  bài  wèi  shèng。  

Tian Ji then told King Wei what had happened, and Sun Bin gained King Wei's appreciation.
之后田忌和齐威王讲述了事情的经过,而孙膑获得了齐威王的赏识。  
zhī  hòu  tián  jì  hé  qí  wēi  wàng  jiǎng  shù  le  shì  qing  de  jīng  guò,ér  sūn  bìn  huò  dé  le  qí  wēi  wàng  de shǎng  shí。

The moral of this story is that we should make good use of our strengths to deal with others' weaknesses, so as to win in the competition.
这个故事告诉我们:要善用自己的长处去对付别人的短处,这样才能在竞技中获胜。
zhè  ge  gù  shi  gào  su  wǒ  men:yào  shàn  yòng  zì  jǐ  de  cháng  chu  qù  duì  fu  bié  rén  de  duǎn  chu,zhè  yàng cái  néng  zài  jìng  jì  zhōng  huò  shèng  。

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