(Duì niú tán qín)
Note: If you are reading this story via Adobe Reader, Foxit Reader or PDF-XChange, you can listen to the audio files by scrolling over the red speaker button and double-clicking.
"
(duì niú tán qín)" is used by Chinese people to describe someone who is explaining something complicated to a fool, or sometimes this idiom is used to describe a person who is trying to tell something to the wrong audience. In English, people sometimes joke around by sarcastically saying "whistle jigs to a milestone" or "cast pearls before swine" to mean "
(duìniútánqín)."
Zhànguó shídài, yǒu yí gè jiào Gōngmíng Yí de yīnyuèjiā, tā hěn huì tánqín.
During the Warring States Period, there was a musician named Gongming Yi, who played musical instruments very well.
Hěn duō rén dōu xǐhuan tīng tā tánqín, rénmen hěn jìngzhòng tā.
There were a great number of people fond of listening to him play, and who respected him greatly.
Yìtiān, Gōngmíng Yí zài jiāowài yóuwán shí, kàn dào le yì tóu niú.
One day, Gongming Yi saw a cow when he was relaxing in the countryside.
Tā xiǎng: dàjiā dōu zànyáng wǒ de qínjì, bùrú wǒ gěi niú yě tán yì qǔ ba.
He thought, "Everybody compliments my music. Why don't I play some music for this cow?"
Tā gěi niú tánzòu le yì qǔ gǔyǎ de qǔzi, niú máitóu chī cǎo bù lǐ tā.
He played a piece of elegant quaint music for the cow, but the cow just kept grazing the grass with its head down.
Tā yòu tánzòu le yìqǔ huānkuài de qǔzi, niú yīrán máitóu chī cǎo bù lǐ tā.
He played another piece of joyful music, but the cow still kept its head down to graze the grass and totally ignored him.
Gōngmíng Yí náchū zìjǐ de quánbù běnlǐng, jiéguǒ niú háishì bù lǐ tā.
Gongming Yi showed off all his skills, but the cow still ignored him.
Gōngmíng Yí fēicháng shīwàng, kāishǐ huáiyí zìjǐ de qínjì.
Gongming Yi was disappointed and started to question his ability.
Lùrén shuō: "búshì nǐ tán de qín bù hǎo, érshì niú gēnběn tīng bù dǒng a."
A passerby said to him,"It's not because your ability is bad. It is because the cow can not understand music at all."
The cow could not understand the beautiful music like humans. The swanky musician tried his best to play for the cow, but it was just like trying to tell something to somebody who can hardly understand. The idiom " 
(duìniútánqín)" is used to describe this sort of situation, or kind of person.
Key Learning Points
(duì niú tán qín)
Érzi: Māma, zhècì kǎoshì wǒ yòu méi jígé.
Son: Mum, I failed this exam.
Māma: Wǒ měitiān dōu zhǔfu nǐ hǎohao xuéxí, jiǎnzhí shì duì niú tán qín a.
Mother: I asked you to work hard everyday, but it’s just like playing a harp to a cow.
Shuōle nàme duō, tā dōu tīng bù dǒng, wǒ zhēn shì duì niú tán qín a.
He cannot understand even when I say it again and again. It seems that I am just playing a harp to a cow.