There was a farmer in the state of Song who worked hard in his fields every day. One day, as he was weeding, a rabbit ran by at top speed—probably too fast to see the tree stump ahead—and "bang!" it crashed into the stump and died.
The farmer was delighted. He picked up a fat rabbit for free—dinner was sorted. He carried it home, thinking: "If I can find a rabbit every day, why farm at all? How comfortable that would be!"
From then on, he stopped farming. He threw his tools aside and sat by the stump every day, waiting for another rabbit to crash into it. Day after day he waited, his field grew weeds, but no more rabbits came.
In the end, his field was overgrown and he harvested nothing. He became the laughingstock of Song. A rabbit dying by crashing into a stump was an extremely rare coincidence—how could it happen every day?
This is the story of "Waiting by the Stump for a Rabbit." It means relying on luck instead of working hard, hoping for windfall gains. Today we use this idiom to mock people who want something for nothing. No free lunch falls from the sky—success comes from your own effort, not luck.
The tale: a farmer of Song, working his field, saw a rabbit run so fast it struck a stump and died. He gained a free rabbit, delighted.
From then on he put down his hoe, guarding the stump daily, waiting for another rabbit. None ever came, while his field lay waste.
The story mocks those who expect pie from the sky. It says: luck may happen once, but luck is not a law - do not treat the accidental as inevitable.
Today, people dreaming of "instant wealth" or "earning while lying down" are modern stump-waiters. The reliable road is always steady work and continued accumulation.
It also warns against clinging to old experience. Times change; methods must change. Solving today problems with ten-year-old ways is waiting by a stump.
For learners it reminds: language has no shortcut - a few words and phrases a day becomes a big step in a year.
It can also encourage: instead of waiting for "rabbits", farm your own field - every plot you till yields real harvest.
Remember: the second rabbit will not come to the stump, but your field will grow the good days you planted.
There is an amusing contrast - Yugong moving mountains. Facing difficulty, Yugong digs daily; the stump-waiter waits daily. The digger wins, the waiter loses.
Chinese wisdom always admires Yugong over the stump-waiter: one pins hope on luck, the other on himself.
Learning Chinese: waiting for the luck of "learning at once" is worse than daily effort. Luck is accidental; effort is inevitable.
