9. (Wáng yáng bǔ láo)

It’s Never Too Late to Take Action

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Cóngqián yǒu gè rén, yǎng le jǐ zhī yáng.

Once upon a time, there was a shepherd who kept several sheep.

Yì tiān zǎoshang, tā fāxiàn shǎo le yì zhī yáng.

One morning, the shepherd discovered that one of his sheep was missing.

Yuánlái yángjuàn pò le gè kūlong, yèjiān láng cóng kūlong lǐ zuān jìnlái bǎ yáng diāo zǒu le.

It turned out that, during the night, a wolf had stolen his sheep through a hole in the sheep pen.

Línju quàngào tā shuō: "gǎnkuài bǎ yángjuàn xiūyìxiū, dǔ shàng nà gè kūlong ba."

His neighbor suggested to him: "You should fix the pen and cover the hole right away."

Tā shuō: "yáng yǐjīng diū le, hái xiū yángjuàn gànshénme ne?" Tā méi jiēshòu línju de quàngào.

But the shepherd said: "The sheep are already lost, so I don't need to repair it."

And so he rejected the neighbor's suggestion.

Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, tā qù fàngyáng, fāxiàn yòu shǎo le yìzhī yáng.

The next morning, he discovered that another sheep was missing.

Yuánlái láng yòu cóng kūlong lǐ zuān jìnlái bǎ yáng diāo zǒu le.

Once again, the wolf had stolen the sheep through the hole in the fence.

Tā hěn hòuhuǐ, bùgāi bù jiēshòu línju de quàngào.

The shepherd regretted not taking the neighbor's advice.

Tā gǎnkuài dǔ shàng nà gè kūlong, bǎ yángjuàn xiū de jiējieshíshi de.

So he plugged the hole to secure the sheep pen.

Cóngcǐ, tā de yáng zài méiyǒu bèi láng diāo zǒu le.

From then on, the wolf stole no more sheep .

Key Learning Points

1. (láng): n. Wolf.

Example:

Nǐ tīngguò "láng hé xiǎo yáng" de gùshi ma?

Have you ever heard the story of The Wolf and the Little Lamb?

2. (jiēshòu): v. To take/ to accept.

Example:

Wǒ jiēshòu nǐ de dàoqiàn le, wǒmen háishì hǎo péngyou.

I accept your apology, and we are still close friends.