Idiom story
Xunzi cited examples of poisonous snakes and mice in "Persuasion", urging people to learn more and specialize in skills.
Legend has it that the ancient poisonous snake is a kind of dragon. It has no hands, feet and wings, but it can fly in the clouds. Legend has it that there was another animal called flying squirrel in ancient times. Flying squirrels can fly short distances by using peritoneum, but even houses can't fly. It can climb a tree, but it can't climb so high that it can't even climb the top of the tree; It can swim, but it can't even swim in a small river ditch; It can also dig holes, but it can't dig holes to hide; It can also run, but it can't outrun other animals, and even people can easily catch up.
Wu Shu has five skills, but they are all bad and lack self-knowledge. One day, the mouse met a poisonous snake, and he said in a ostentatious tone, "What's so great about you?"? What can you do besides flying? " Look at me, I can fly, run, swim, climb trees and dig holes. I have five stunts! " ?
The snake smiled faintly and said to the mouse, "Look, the eagle is coming!" " The Rat looked up and saw an eagle in the sky and swooped down on them. With a leisurely jump, the poisonous snake flew to the clouds and the sky, and was at large.
The mouse looked at the approaching eagle and tried to escape. It took a step to escape, but it didn't run fast; It wants to fly, but it can't fly high; It tried to climb the tree, but it fell after a few climbs; It was supposed to dive into the river, but it was almost flooded just after a short swim. It had to use the stunt of digging a hole to hide, but it was in a hurry for a long time and didn't even dig a small hole. ?
Wu Shu has used up all five stunts. I've tried every move, but I still can't save myself. Finally, I was helpless and was caught by the eagle.
Idiom implication
The poisonous snake is a kind of dragon. Although it has no hands, feet and wings, it can fly in the clouds. Although mice have five skills, they don't need any when they run for their lives.
People's energy is limited, and it is impossible to learn all the knowledge in the world. Instead of dabbling, it is better to concentrate on learning and learn the professional skills you are interested in, so that you can have a skill in a certain field. If you catch everything, you will end up with nothing and nothing. Idioms tell people not to be complacent with a little knowledge, and no amount of skills is good.