当我用英语跟读《成语故事之专心致志》

The Story Behind the Idiom "Focused and Determined"

The idiom "focused and determined" originates from an ancient story about the chess master Yi Qiu and his two students.

Yi Qiu was an exceptionally skilled chess player, which attracted many students to learn from him. Among his students, two stood out in particular. One student was always focused and meticulous when Yi Qiu explained the chess moves. His mind was entirely devoted to learning chess, unaffected by any external distractions.

The other student, however, was completely different. Although he sat next to Yi Qiu and listened to the lecture, his mind was not on the chess game. While the teacher was explaining, the student's eyes were on the chessboard, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Sometimes he imagined the fields and forests outside the window, and other times he fantasized about the geese flying in the sky. Especially when he saw a flock of geese passing by the window, his mind wandered, and he started to imagine how delightful it would be if he had a bow and some arrows to shoot down a goose for a meal. Due to his constant absent-mindedness, he did not absorb any of Yi Qiu's teachings.

After a period of study, the two students showed a significant difference in their chess skills. The focused and determined student made rapid progress, quickly grasping the essence of chess and becoming an excellent player. In contrast, the absent-minded student, due to his lack of dedication, showed almost no improvement in his chess skills.

This story tells us that, no matter what we do, we need to be focused and determined. Only by devoting our full attention can we achieve good results. Later, people used the idiom "focused and determined" to describe those who are single-minded and focused in their endeavors.