Idiom Explanation:
One leaf blocking the eyes，it is a metaphor for being blinded by the small, partial things in front of you and not seeing the essence of things and the whole. This idiom has the next sentence, the complete sentence is “一叶障目，不见泰山”，Meaning one leaf blocks the eyes from seeing the huge Tarzan.
Pronunciation:
一叶障目，不见泰山
yī yè zhàng mù ，bú jiàn tài shān
origin:
《鹖冠子·天则》：一叶蔽目，不见太山；两豆塞耳，不闻雷霆。
story:
In ancient times, there was a poor scholar in Chu who read the book Huainanzi and saw that the praying mantis covered its body with a leaf so that other small insects could not see it, and if someone could get that leaf, he could use it to hide his body. Seeing this, the scholar dumbly thought: If I could get that leaf, how good it would be. I use the leaf to cover themselves, what you want to just go to the market to get, and never live this miserable life again.
Thinking of this, he threw down the book and ran to the woods, looking for the kind of mantis hiding leaves. He looked up, one tree after another to find the past, the neck is sore, but did not find that leaf. Suddenly, he saw a praying mantis hiding behind a leaf. He was so happy that he hurriedly climbed up the tree and prepared to pick that leaf. But coincidentally, a gust of wind blew over, the leaves fell, and the leaf he was going to pick also fell to the ground. Exactly which leaf is the mantis hiding that piece, he could not tell how. I can’t leave the precious leaves that I found so easily! It must be in this pile of leaves. The scholar took off his clothes and wrapped all the leaves on the ground back.
After returning, he took the leaves one by one to cover his eyes and asked his wife, “Can you see me?” At first, his wife told him honestly: “Yes.” Later, when she saw him asking endlessly, she became impatient and said, “Don’t ask, I can’t see.” He jumped up with joy and shouted, “The baby is found! Baby can be found!” After saying that, he ran to the market. The market was really lively, and there was everything. The scholar was so happy that he took a leaf to cover his eyes with one hand and went to steal something from someone with the other.
When the officer interrogated him, he said honestly: “I found a leaf that can be invisible, use it to cover their eyes, nothing can be seen, and then go to take things from others. Somehow, this leaf failed to work, and I was caught when I was seen.” The magistrate listened and could not help but laugh, knowing that he was a nerd, reprimanded him and released him.
Similar Idioms:
- 盲人摸象
- 一叶蔽目
