The Blind Man and the Elephant
Once upon a time, there were four blind men who very much wished to know what an elephant looked like, but, being blind, could do nothing but feel it with their hands. The fat blind man, reaching out with his hand, first felt the elephant’s tusk, and said, "I got it, the elephant is like a great, thick, smooth radish." The tall blind man's hand first touched the elephant's ear, and he shouted, "No, no, the elephant is clearly like a great fan!" "The elephant is just a big pillar," said the short blind man, as he felt the elephant's leg. But the old blind man said, "Huh? The elephant is not so big, because, it's nothing more than a length of rope." The four blind men quarreled without end, all insisting that the part they had felt was the true shape of an elephant. But in reality? None of them were right.
Moral:
The moral of the story of the blind men feeling an elephant is that one must not only see a part of something, but rather must take in the entirety of a situation in order to understand it truly and completely. The allegory mocks shortsighted people who mistake a part for the whole.
Examples:
1) 像你这样东读一点,西背一点地记单词,就像盲人摸象,是学不好英语的。
If you just read a little here and memorize a few words there, it's like the blind feeling an elephant, you'll never learn English well.
2) 做调查的时候，如果只调查单一的方面，好像盲人摸象，就永远也不能掌握问题的全貌。
When conducting investigation, to only investigate one aspect is like the blind feeling an elephant; one will never be able to grasp the whole picture.
3) 不了解事情的前因后果，总是去猜测，就像盲人摸象，解决不了问题。
Without finding cause and effect for something and always guessing is like the blind feeling an elephant, and will not solve the problem.
