Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 老马识途 (Lǎomǎshítú)

Guǎn Zhòng dàilǐng Qí Guó jūn duì qù gōng dǎ Gūzhú, zuìzhōng qǔ dé le shèn l, kěshì tāmen zài huí Qí Guó de tú zhōng què mílù le. Yuánlái tāmen shì chūntiān chūfā de, ér huílái shí yǐjīng shì dōngtiān le, zhōuwéi de jǐngwù dōu fāshēng le biànhuà. Suīrán pài le hěn duō rén qù tànlù, dànshì dōu shībài le. Dāngshí qíngkuàng fēicháng wēixiǎn, rúguǒ zài zhǎo bú dào huíqù de lù, dàjiā jiù huì è sǐ zài shān lǐ. Zhè shí Guǎn Zhòng xiǎng chū le yī gè zhǔyì, tā tiāo chū jǐ pǐ lǎomǎ, ràng tāmen zài qiánmiàn zìyóu xíngzǒu, ji guǒ zhè xiē lǎomǎ yī diǎn ér dōu bù yóuyù, dōu wǎng yī gè fāngxiàng zǒu, zhèyàng dàjiā gēn zhe lǎomǎ zhǎo dào le huí Qí Guó de lù.
管仲带领齐国军队去攻打孤竹，最终取得了胜利，可是他们在回齐国的途中却迷路了。原来他们是春天出发的，而回来时已经是冬天了，周围的景物都发生了变化。 虽然派了很多人去探路，但是都失败了。当时情况非常危险，如果再找不到回去的路，大家就会饿死在山里。这时管仲想出了一个主意，他挑出几匹老马，让他们在 前面自由行走，结果这些老马一点儿都不犹豫，都往一个方向走，这样大家跟着老马找到了回齐国的路。

Kuan Chung led the troops of Qi to attack Guzhu. They won the battle but lost their way when returning to their country. Since they departed in spring and returned in winter, the landscape had changed a lot with the changes of seasons. Although many soldiers were sent to find the road, they all failed at last, and if they could not find the right way back they would starve to death. Right at this moment Kuan Chung got an idea. He selected several old horses and let them wander around freely. The horses walked in the same direction involuntarily, and, by following these old horses, they found the way back to Qi in the end.

Words：
带领dàilǐng ： lead (v.)
攻打gōngdǎ： attack (v.)
胜利shènglì： success (n.)
派pài： send (v.)
失败shībài： fail (v.)
危险wēixiǎn： dangerous (adj.)
挑tiāo： choose (v.)
自由zìyóu： freely (adv.)
犹豫yóuyù： hesitate (v.)

Meanings：

老马识途： “途”的意思是“路”。“老马识途”是说老马认识以前走过的路。比喻有经验的人熟悉情况，能起到一定的指引作用。

老 马识途："途(tú)" means "路(lù)" (a path, road, or way). "老马识途" means that an old horse knows the path it has taken before, and therefore can serve as a good guide. metaphorically, this proverb refers to the value of experience — people who are experienced have a way of doing things and therefore can guide other people.

Sentences：

1.Tā duì Běijīng fēicháng shúxī, suǒyǐ ràng tā gěi wàiguó péngyǒu dāng dǎoyóu hěn héshì, lǎomǎ-shítú ma.
他对北京非常熟悉，所以让他给外国朋友当导游很合适，老马识途嘛。

He is very familiar with Beijing, so he is very suitable to be the guide for the foreign friends, just as the proverb says 老马识途.

2.Zhècì tánpàn, xìngkuī Lǎo Wáng lǎomǎ-shítú, fǒuzé wǒ men bù kěnéng qǔ dé rúcǐ dà de jìnzhǎn.
这次谈判，幸亏老王老马识途，否则我们不可能取得如此大的进展。

We can't have got so much progress without Mr. Wang who is so experienced and professional.