shén me
什么
shì
chéng yǔ
成语
What Is a Chengyu?
lǎo shī老师yòngxiǎomì mì秘密hé zi盒子zhè gè这个bǐ yù比喻xiàngxiǎo měi小美jiě shì解释leshén me什么shìchéng yǔ成语

Teacher 李 uses the metaphor of a 'little secret box' to explain to 小美 what a chengyu is.

李芳
xiǎo měi小美jīn tiān今天wǒ men我们láixuéyí gè一个xīndōng xī东西jiàochéng yǔ成语

小美, today we're going to learn something new called 'chengyu.'

小美
chéng yǔ成语shìshén me什么ya

Chengyu? What's that?

李芳
chéng yǔ成语jiùxiàngyí gè一个xiǎohé zi盒子lǐ miàn里面zhuāng mǎn装满lemì mì秘密měi gè每个chéng yǔ成语bèi hòu背后dōuyǒuyí gè一个wán zhěng完整degù shì故事dànbiǎo miàn表面zhǐ yǒu只有duǎn duǎn短短jǐ gè几个

A chengyu is like a little box filled with secrets. Behind each chengyu, there's a complete story, but on the surface, it's just a few short characters.

小美
xiǎohé zi盒子shì bú shì是不是xiàngdewán jù玩具yī yàng一样dǎ kāi打开yǒujīng xǐ惊喜

A little box! Is it like my toy box, with surprises inside when you open it?

李芳
duìjiùxiàngduì niú tán qín对牛弹琴zhè gè这个xiǎohé zi盒子jiǎngleyí gè一个duìzheniútán qín弹琴degù shì故事

Exactly! For example, the chengyu '对牛弹琴' is like a little box—it tells a story about playing music to a cow.

小美
hā hā哈哈niúkěn dìng肯定tīng bù dǒng听不懂

Haha, the cow definitely can't understand!

李芳
shìdesuǒ yǐ所以zhè gè这个chéng yǔ成语deyì sī意思jiù shì就是gēntīng bù dǒng听不懂derénshuō huà说话shìméi yòng没用de

That's right. So this chengyu means it's useless to talk to someone who doesn't understand.

小美
dǒnglexiǎohé zi盒子zhēnyǒu qù有趣

I get it! The little box is really fun!

李芳
zhēncōng míng聪明yǐ hòu以后wǒ men我们yì qǐ一起dǎ kāi打开gèngduōyǒu qù有趣dechéng yǔ xiǎo hé zi成语小盒子hǎoma

You're so smart! Let's open more interesting 'chengyu boxes' together next time, okay?

小美
hǎoyaxiǎngkàn kàn看看lǐ miàn里面hái yǒu还有shén me什么gù shì故事

Okay! I want to see what other stories are inside!