A young designer named Xiaoming ruins a simple poster by adding too many elements. His boss, Mr. Li, explains the idiom ‘画蛇添足’ (draw snake add feet) to teach him that sometimes, less is more in design.
第一集：画蛇添足的设计师
李明是一位年轻的平面设计师。他在一家广告公司工作，每天努力学习设计。他的老师是公司的老板李先生。李先生也是李明的好朋友，常常帮助他。
一天，李先生让李明设计一张音乐会的海报。李明很高兴，他花了很多时间设计。但是，他把海报设计得太复杂了。海报上有很多颜色、很多字和很多图片。
李先生看了海报以后说：“李明，你的设计被太多元素破坏了。这就像‘画蛇添足’。古代有一个人画蛇，他画得最快，但是他给蛇画了脚，结果输了比赛。只有简单、清楚的设计才是好设计。”
李明理解了这个问题。他重新设计海报，这次很简单、很漂亮。他的家人和朋友都很喜欢。李明明白了：有时候，少就是多。
Dì yī jí: Huà shé tiān zú de shè jì shī
Lǐ Míng shì yī wèi nián qīng de píng miàn shè jì shī。 Tā zài yī jiā guǎng gào gōng sī gōng zuò， měi tiān nǔ lì xué xí shè jì。 Tā de lǎo shī shì gōng sī de lǎo bǎn Lǐ xiān sheng。 Lǐ xiān sheng yě shì Lǐ Míng de hǎo péng you， cháng cháng bāng zhù tā。
Yī tiān， Lǐ xiān sheng ràng Lǐ Míng shè jì yī zhāng yīn yuè huì de hǎi bào。 Lǐ Míng hěn gāo xìng， tā huā le hěn duō shí jiān shè jì。 Dàn shì， tā bǎ hǎi bào shè jì de tài fù zá le。 Hǎi bào shàng yǒu hěn duō yán sè、 hěn duō zì hé hěn duō tú piàn。
Lǐ xiān sheng kàn le hǎi bào yǐ hòu shuō：“Lǐ Míng， nǐ de shè jì bèi tài duō yuán sù pò huài le。 Zhè jiù xiàng ‘huà shé tiān zú’。 Gǔ dài yǒu yī gè rén huà shé， tā huà de zuì kuài， dàn shì tā gěi shé huà le jiǎo， jié guǒ shū le bǐ sài。 Zhǐ yǒu jiǎn dān、 qīng chu de shè jì cái shì hǎo shè jì。”
Lǐ Míng lǐ jiě le zhè ge wèn tí。 Tā chóng xīn shè jì hǎi bào， zhè cì hěn jiǎn dān、 hěn piào liang。 Tā de jiā rén hé péng you dōu hěn xǐ huān。 Lǐ Míng míng bái le： Yǒu shí hou， shǎo jiù shì duō。
Episode 1: The Designer Who Drew a Snake and Added Feet (to ruin something by adding unnecessary extras)
Li Ming is a young graphic designer. He works at an advertising company and studies design hard every day. His teacher is the company’s boss, Mr. Li. Mr. Li is also Li Ming’s good friend and often helps him.
One day, Mr. Li asked Li Ming to design a poster for a concert. Li Ming was very happy and spent a lot of time on the design. However, he made the poster too complicated. The poster had many colors, many words, and many pictures.
After looking at the poster, Mr. Li said, “Li Ming, your design has been ruined by too many elements. This is like ‘drawing a snake and adding feet.’ In ancient times, a man drew a snake the fastest, but he added feet to the snake and lost the competition. Only a simple, clear design is a good design.”
Li Ming understood the problem. He redesigned the poster, and this time it was very simple and beautiful. His family and friends all liked it very much. Li Ming learned that sometimes, less is more.
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 工作 | gōng zuò | work; job |
| 学习 | xué xí | to study; to learn |
| 老师 | lǎo shī | teacher |
| 学生 | xué sheng | student |
| 朋友 | péng you | friend |
| 家人 | jiā rén | family members |
| 时间 | shí jiān | time |
| 问题 | wèn tí | problem; question |
| 帮助 | bāng zhù | to help; help |
| 理解 | lǐ jiě | to understand; understanding |
把字句
The 把 (bǎ) sentence is used to emphasize the disposal or handling of an object. The structure is: Subject + 把 + Object + Verb + Other elements. It indicates that the subject does something to the object, often resulting in a change of state or location.
他把海报设计得太复杂了。
被字句
The 被 (bèi) sentence is a passive voice construction. The structure is: Receiver of action + 被 + Doer of action + Verb + Other elements. It is used when the focus is on the receiver of the action or when the doer is unknown or unimportant.
你的设计被太多元素破坏了。
画蛇添足
to ruin something by adding unnecessary extras. Origin: draw snake add feet. This idiom is used when someone adds something superfluous to an already complete or good thing, thereby spoiling it. It comes from an ancient story where the fastest painter of a snake lost by adding feet to his drawing.
Chinese Idioms (Chengyu)
画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) is a classic chengyu from the ancient text ‘Strategies of the Warring States.’ It warns against overcomplicating things. In modern Chinese, it’s commonly used in business, art, and daily life to critique unnecessary additions that detract from the original quality. Understanding chengyu like this is key to grasping Chinese thought patterns that value balance, appropriateness, and avoiding excess.
- 李明做什么工作？ (答案)
- 谁让李明设计海报？ (答案)
- 李明第一次设计的海报有什么问题？ (答案)
- 李先生用什么成语解释这个问题？ (答案)
- 古代’画蛇添足’的故事里，那个人为什么输了？ (答案)
- 最后，李明明白了什么道理？ (答案)
- 李明在什么地方工作？
A. 学校 B. 广告公司 C. 医院 (答案) - 李先生是李明的什么人？
A. 家人 B. 老师也是朋友 C. 学生 (答案) - 李明第一次设计海报花了什么？
A. 很多钱 B. 很多时间 C. 很多帮助 (答案)
- ‘画蛇添足’的意思是什么？
A. 画得很快 B. 给已经好的东西加不必要的东西，结果破坏了它 C. 学习很努力 (答案) - 李先生认为什么是好设计？
A. 复杂的 B. 简单清楚的 C. 颜色多的 (答案) - 谁喜欢李明最后设计的海报？
A. 只有老板 B. 他的家人和朋友 C. 没有人 (答案)
- 李明是一个学生。 (答案)
- 李明把海报设计得很简单。 (答案)
- 李先生用’画蛇添足’的故事帮助李明理解问题。 (答案)
- 只有简单的设计才是好设计。 (答案)
- 李明的家人和朋友不喜欢他最后的设计。 (答案)
- 李明没有理解老板的话。 (答案)
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