蒙學漢文初階 第五十一課 Beginning Chinese - Entry Level Lesson #151 天雨不霽 sky rain not clearing 越日為游會之期 exceed/crossover day because wander meeting [pp] duration 某兒向天叩首 one child towards sky kow-tow head 求放晴光 beg release fine_weather light 一兒從旁嗤之曰 one child from side sneer/jeer him said 天高何知 sky high how know 且晴雨 moreover fine_weather rain 豈天之所為乎 how heaven [pp] because from ? 不明事理 not understand things/matter logic 徒信虛妄 exceed believe false absurd 雖破其额 even break your forehead 亦無益耳 also no benefit that_is_all The sky was cloudy because of the rain and that the next day, there is an excursion, a child knowtowed to heaven to beg for sunny weather. A nearby child sneered at him saying, "If you don't know how high is the sky, let alone the weather, how can you know the ways of heaven? To believe without understanding is absurd. Even if you break your forehead knocking [on the ground] will not benefit." Notes: 1. 越 means "to surpass" or "to exceed". Hence越日just means "the next day". In other context, it may be short for 越南日本, Vietnam and Japan. It won't be correct to reverse the terms around as in 日越 because of cultural preferences. Historically, Vietnam was part of the Chinese Empire and thus considered to be Chinese. However, Japan was never occupied by the Chinese and hence treated as a foreign country. China will always precede all other countries in Chinese usage. For example, 中英 for China and England. Also it is more of a pecking order when imperial China considered itself to be the center of the world. It is exactly like in English usage of Anglo-Chinese; Anglo American, American Chinese when referring to the race. Due to grammar rules, when using "sino", then China will always come first. As an example, Sino-American. 2. 求晴光 literally means "begging for sunlight". However, this is awkward in English. Technically, there is sunlight otherwise it would be known as night! 3. See also the commentary for徒 in Lesson #128. Here it means "utterly". 徒信 in other context can also to mean "utterly trusting".