Chinese idioms：半途而废( Bàntú-érfèi )

半途而废 Bàntú-érfèi

Dōnghàn shí, yǒu yíwèi cōngmíng de nǚzǐ, rénmen dōu bùzhī tā jiào shénme míngzì, zhī zhīdào tā shì Lè yángzǐ de qīzǐ.
东汉时，有一位聪明的女子，人们都不知她叫什么名字，只知道她是乐羊子的妻子。
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there lived a very intelligent woman known to people only as Leyangzi’s wife.

Yǒu yìnián, Lè yángzǐ qù yuǎnfāng qiúxué. Yì nián hòu, Lè yángzǐ huí lái le. Qīzǐ guì zhe wèn tā wèishénme huíjiā, Lè yángzǐ shuō:” chūmén shíjiān cháng le xiǎng jiā, méiyǒu qítā yuányīn.” Qīzǐ tīng le, ná qǐ yì bǎ dāo zǒudào zhībù jī qián shuō:” zhèlǐ de sī shì yìgēn yìgēn zhī zài yìqǐ, jīlèi qǐlái cái yǒu yícùn cháng, rán hòu yícùn cùn dì jīlèi , cái yǒu yízhàng, zhí zhì yìpǐ. Xiànzài rúguǒ wǒ bǎ tā gē duàn, jiù huì qiángōng jìnqì, qiánmiàn de shíjiān yě jiù báibái làngfèi le.”
有一年，乐羊子去远方求学。一年后，乐羊子回来了。妻子跪着问他为什么回家，乐羊子说：“出门时间长了想家，没有其他原因。”妻子听了，拿起一把刀走到织布机前说：“这里的丝是一根一根织在一起，积累起来才有一寸长，然后一寸寸地积累，才有一丈，直至一匹。现在如果我把它割断，就会前功尽弃，前面的时间也就白白浪费了。”
One year, Leyangzi went to a distant school to study. A year later, when he returned, his wife kneeled on the ground and asked why he’d come home. He said, “There are no reasons other than missing home.” On hearing this, his wife walked to the loom with a knife and said, “This silk is weaved one by one. It’s now one-inch long. And one zhang (3.33 meters) was formed only after I weaved several inches. Finally, I was able to produce one bolt of cloth. If I cut it off now, all of my previous efforts and invested time will have been wasted.”

Qīzǐ jiē zhe shuō: ” dúshū yě shì zhèyàng, nǐ yīnggāi měitiān huò dé xīn de zhīshí, màn màn jīlèi, ránhòu shǐ zìyǐ de pǐnxíng rìyì wán měi.Rúguǒ zhōngtú huíjiā le, nà hé gēduàn zhè xiē sī yǒu shénme fènbié ne?”
妻子接着说：“读书也是这样，你应该每天获得新的知识，慢慢积累，然后使自已的品行日益完美。如果中途回家了，那和割断这些丝有什么分别呢？”
His wife continued, “It’s the same with study. You should acquire new knowledge and slowly accumulate it in order to perfect yourself. If you go home in the middle, is it any different than chopping the silk off the loom?”
词语注释Words
求学(qiúxué): seek education(v.)
织布机( zhībùjī): loom machine(n.)
寸( cùn): inch(n.)
丈( zhàng): ten scales(n.)
匹( pǐ): a bolt of cloth(m.w..)
前功尽弃( qián gōng jìn qì): go down the drain(v.)
积累( jīlěi): accumulate(v.)
品行( pǐnxíng): morality(n.)
日益( rìyì): increasingly(adv.)

意义
“半途而废”原指走路走到一半停下来。比喻事情没有做完就不做了。半途，半路上；废，荒废，停止。
Meanings
The original meaning of “半途而废” refers to stopping halfway through a walk. metaphorically, it means to give up halfway. 半途 is the halfway-point; 废 is to waste previous efforts and stop.
例句
Sentences
Chuàngyè běn lái jiùshì yígè màncháng de guòchéng, nǐ bù néng bàntú-érfèi.
创业本来就是一个漫长的过程，你不能半途而废。
Establishing a business is a long process. You cannot give up halfway.
Nǐ de fāyīn yǐjīng yǒu hěndà jìnbù le, zhīyào nǐ bù bàntú-érfèi, wǒ xiàngxìn nǐ yídìng néng shuō yìkǒu liúlì de hànyǔ.
你的发音已经有很大进步了，只要你不半途而废，我相信你一定能说一口流利的汉语。
Your pronunciation has made great progress. As long as you do not give up halfway. I’m sure you will learn to speak Chinese fluently.