Chinese Idioms Stories 盲人摸象 Once upon a time, there were four blind men who wanted to know like what an elephant looks. However, due to their blindness, all they could was to touch the elephant. The fat man felt/touched the elephant's teeth and said: "I know it. The elephant is a big, thick, and smooth carrot." The tall man reached the ear, "No! The elephant is definitely a palm-leaf fan!", he shouted. "You're talking nonsense. The elephant is only a massive/huge pillar." The short man stroked the elephant's leg and said. However, the old man touched the tail and murmured: "The elephant is not so big; it is just a straw rope." The four men started arguing and could not stop; they all believed that the elephant was like what they had touched. Nonetheless, none of them were right. Nowadays, the idiom 盲人摸象(literally, Blind People Touch Elephant) is used as a metaphor/allegory for overgeneralization. When people comment on certain person or certain phenomenon, they often make judgement based on partial information. That leads to ignorance and bias. The only way to avoid that is to observe, to gather information, and not to jump to conclusions. ------------------ 从前，有四个盲人很想知道大象是什么样子，可他们看不见，只好用手摸。胖盲人先摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个又大、又粗、又光滑的大萝卜。”高个子盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵。“不对，不对，大象明明是一把大蒲扇嘛！”他大叫起来。“你们净瞎说，大象只是根大柱子。”原来矮个子盲人摸到了大象的腿。而那位年老的盲人呢，却嘟嚷：“唉，大象哪有那么大，它只不过是一根草绳。”原来他摸到的是大象的尾巴。四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。 后以“盲人摸象”比喻看问题以偏概全。人们在评论一个人、一种社会现象的时候，往往因为只看到局部而下结论，便造成了片面性。要避免这种现象，唯一的办法是多观察，多了解，不要轻易下结论。 原文： 《大般涅盘经》三二：“尔时大王，即唤众盲各各问言：‘汝 见象耶？’众盲各言：‘我已得见。’王言：‘象为何类？’其触牙者即言象形如芦菔根，其触耳者言象如箕，其触头者言象如石，其触鼻者言象如杵，其触脚者言象如木臼，其触脊者言象如床，其触腹者言象如瓮，其触尾者言象如绳。”