Learning to Walk in Handan邯郸学步

“ 邯郸学步” 出自《庄子· 秋水》： “ 且子独不闻夫寿陵余子之学行于邯郸与？ 未得国能， 又失其故行矣， 直匍匐而归耳。” 后用以比喻模仿别人不成， 反而丧失了原有的技能。

During the Warring States Period， a young man lived in Shouling， theState of Yan. He always felt that he was not so perfect. One day， he heardthat people in Handan walked in a 1）graceful way， so he decided to learn towalk there.

One morning， he set off for Handan without telling anyone. Uponarrival at Handan， he was surprised when he saw the situation. Everyonewalked in a different but graceful way， children walking actively， the oldwalking 2）steady and women walking 3）charmingly. So he made up hismind to learn how the people in Handan walked.

No matter how hard he tried， he was unable to learn the 4）gait of the people there. On the contrary， heeven forgot completely how he walkedin Shouling in short days. In the end， hehad no choice but to crawl back to hishometown.

1） graceful adj. 优雅的

2） steady adv. 沉稳地

3） charmingly adv. 迷人地

4） gait n. 步伐；步态

战国时期，燕国寿陵有一个年轻人。（剩余692字）