英语绘本 ▏每日一读之《囫囵吞枣 Swallow Dates Whole》

有几个人在一起聊天，一个年纪大的人说：“吃梨对人的牙齿有好处，不过吃多了的话是会伤脾的。吃枣对脾有好处，但是吃多了却对牙齿有伤害。”

Several people were chatting together. An older person said, "Eating pears is good for teeth, but eating too much will hurt the spleen. Eating dates is good for the spleen, but eating too much will hurt the teeth."

  一个青年人想了想说：“我有一个好主意，可以吃梨又有利于牙齿又不伤脾，吃枣健脾又不伤牙齿。”

A young man thought for a while and said, "I have a good idea. Eating pears is good for teeth and does not hurt the spleen, and eating dates can strengthen the spleen without hurting teeth."

年纪大的人连忙问他：“你有什么好主意？说给大家听听！”

The older person asked him quickly, "What good idea do you have? Tell us please!"

青年人说：“吃梨的时候，我只用牙齿去嚼，却不咽下去，它就伤不着脾了。吃枣的时候呢，我就不嚼一口吞下去，这样就不会伤着牙齿了。”

The young man said, "When I eat pears, I only chew them with my teeth, but I don't swallow them, so it won't hurt my spleen. When I eat dates, I don't chew them and swallow them, so I won't hurt my teeth."

一个人听了青年说的话，问道：“如果这样枣核也被你吞下去了，根本不好消化，哪儿还能健脾呢？”

After listening to what the young man said, a person asked, "If you swallow the date pits like this, it will be difficult to digest, so how can it strengthen the spleen?"

后来，人们常常用囫囵吞枣来形容学习知识时不加分析不充分理解就全都接受的行为。

Later, people often used "Swallow Dates Whole" to describe the behavior of accepting all knowledge without analysis and full understanding.

这个故事告诉我们：读书学习时要学懂弄通，不能含含糊糊，一知半解。对事物也要有全面的认知。

This story tells us that when we study, we must understand thoroughly, not be vague or have only a superficial understanding. We must also have a comprehensive understanding of things.