取长补短 To Draw upon One Another’s Strong Point to Overcome Deficiencies

取长补短 (qǔchángbǔduǎn) To Draw upon One Another’s Strong Point to Overcome Deficiencies

有一天，大象和蚂蚁发生了一场争论，他俩都认为自己的力气比对方大。
Yǒu yì tiān, dàxiàng hé mǎyǐ fāshēngle yì chǎng zhēnglùn, tā liǎ dōu rènwéi zìjǐ de lìqi bǐ duìfāng dà.
One day, there arose an argument between an elephant and an ant, they both thought their strength was greater than the other.

大象指着一棵大树对蚂蚁说：“你能拔起这棵树吗？”
Dàxiàng zhǐzhe yìkē dàshù duì mǎyǐ shuō: “nǐ néng báqǐ zhè kē shù ma?”
The elephant pointed to a tree and said to the ant: “can you pull up this tree?”

蚂蚁无能为力，大象就用鼻子把树连根拔起。
Mǎyǐ wúnéngwéilì, dàxiàng jiù yòng bízi bǎ shù liángēnbáqǐ.
The ant couldn’t do anything to it, and then the elephant uprooted the tree with its nose.

蚂蚁走到一片草叶前，对大象说：“你能搬动这片草叶吗？”
Mǎyǐ zǒudào yípiàn cǎoyè qián, duì dàxiàng shuō: “nǐ néng bāndòng zhè piàn cǎoyè ma?”
The ant walked to a grass-blade, and said to the elephant: “can you move this grass-blade?”

大象无论如何也不能用鼻子卷起地上的草叶，而蚂蚁却能背起草叶轻松自如地走动。
Dàxiàng wúlùnrúhé yě búnéng yòng bízi juǎnqǐ dìshàng de cǎoyè, ér mǎyǐ què néng bēiqǐ cǎoyè qīngsōngzìrú de zǒudòng.
The elephant couldn’t move the grass-blade with his nose no matter what, but the ant was able to carry the grass-blade to walk with ease.

最后，他们请天神来评判。
Zuìhòu, tāmen qǐng tiānshén lái píngpàn.
Finally, they asked the god to judge.

天神听了他们各自诉说的理由，也无法判断谁的力气大。
Tiānshén tīngle tāmen gèzì sùshuō de lǐyóu, yě wúfǎ pànduàn shuí de lìqi dà.
Even after listening to the reasons that the elephant and the ant provided, neither could the god determine whose strength was greater.

这个故事告诉我们：各有所长，对待别人的优缺点要取长补短。
Zhège gùshi gàosu wǒmen: Gèyǒusuǒcháng, duìdài biérén de yōu quē diǎn yào qǔchángbǔduǎn.
This story tells us: Every man has his merits, and we should draw upon one another’s strong point when facing other people’s advantages and disadvantages.

生词 (shēngcí) Vocabulary
大象 (dàxiàng): n elephant
蚂蚁 (mǎyǐ): n ant
拔起 (báqǐ): v to pull up
争论 (zhēnglùn): n argument

“争 (zhēng)” refers to dispute and “论 (lùn)” refers to discuss.

Example:

他俩之间的争论持续了很长时间。
Tāliǎ zhījiān de zhēnglùn chíxùle hěncháng shíjiān.
The argument between them has continued for a very long time.

判断 (pànduàn) v to judge
The character “判 (pàn)” and “断 (duàn)” both means to judge.

Example:你来判断一下，到底谁该承担责任呢？
Nǐ lái pànduàn yíxià, dàodǐ shuí gāi chéngdān zérèn ne?
Please judge, who should bear the responsibility eventually?