初生牛犊不怕虎 New-born Calves are not Afraid of Tigers (Beginner)

Key Learning Point (Preview):

怕 (pà): v to fear/ be afraid of
Towards the end of Eastern Han Dynasty, “刘备 (Liú Bèi) Liu Bei” captured the city “汉中 (Hànzhōng) Hanzhong” from “曹操 (Cáo Cāo) Cao Cao” and proclaimed himself king. He ordered his famed general “关羽 (Guān Yǔ) Guan Yu” to capture “襄阳 (Xiāngyáng) Xiang yang” in the north. 刘备 (Liú Bèi)’s army defeated 曹操 (Cáo Cāo)’s army, which fell back on“樊城 (Fánchéng) Fancheng.” “曹操 (Cáo Cāo) Cao Cao” sent a young and brave officer “庞德 (Páng Dé) Pang De” to lead the soldiers into “樊城 (Fánchéng) Fancheng” for support.

When “庞德 (Páng Dé) Pang De” led his troops into “樊城 (Fánchéng) Fancheng,” he said that he would have a “决战 (juézhàn) decisive battle” with “关羽 (Guān Yǔ) Guan Yu.” Both fought hard against each other in the following battles but neither prevailed. After the battles, “关羽 (Guān Yǔ) Guan Yu” came back to the military camp and said to his subordinates: “ ‘庞德 (Páng Dé) Pang De’ had very good sword skills, and he was “初生牛犊不怕虎 (chū shēng niúdú bú pà hǔ) a new-born calf that is not afraid of tiger.” We can’t look down upon him.”

“初生 (chū shēng)” means new-born and “牛犊 (niúdú)” means calf. This idiom is often used to describe young people who are not afraid of obstacles and are very brave.

For example：
Zhèxiē xiǎohuǒzi wúlùn zuò shénme shì dōu shuō gàn jiù gàn ，
这些 小 伙子 无论 做 什么 事 都 说 干 就 干， bú hàipà rènhé kùnnan ，zhēn kě wèi chū shēng niúdú bú pà hǔ ā ！
不 害怕 任何 困难， 真 可 谓 初 生 牛犊 不 怕 虎 啊！ 　
Whatever these young men decide to do they will start without delay and they aren’t afraid of any difficulty. “New-born calves are not afraid of tigers!”

Key Learning Point：

怕 (pà): v to fear/ be afraid of 　

Example:

Wǒ jiějie gàosu wǒ xué hànyǔ bú shì jiàn jiǎndān de shìqing,
我 姐姐 告诉 我 学 汉语 不 是 件 简单 的 事 情，
dànshì wǒ yí diǎn dōu bú pà, wǒ jué dé xué hànyǔ hěn yǒu yìsi.
但 是 我 一 点 都 不 怕，我 觉 得 学 汉语 很 有 意 思。 　
My older sister told me that it is not easy to learn Mandarin, but I am not afraid of learning it at all. I think it is very interesting to learn Mandarin.

生词 (shēngcí) Vocabulary: 　
决战 (juézhàn): n a decisive battle 　
初生牛犊 (chū shēng niúdú): new-born calves 　
虎 (hǔ): n tigers