精卫填海

the

bird

jingwei

trying

to

fill

the

sea

once

upon

a

time,

the

youngest

daughter

of

emperor

yan,

legendary

ruler

of

primitive

china,

went

boating

on

the

eastern

sea.

while

she

was

enjoying

herself,

a

strong

wind

rose

on

the

sea

and

her

boat

capsized.

just

before

she

was

b旦乏测何爻蛊诧坍超开uried

by

the

surging

waves,

her

spirit

turned

into

a

beautiful

bird.

as

it

flew

over

the

roaring

sea,

it

cried

sadly

in

the

sound

"jinwei,

jingwei".

that

was

why

people

called

it

"jingwei".

the

bird

lived

on

a

mountain

near

the

sea.

it

hated

the

sea

so

much

that

it

decided

to

fill

it

up.

every

day,

it

flew

to

and

fro

between

the

mountain

and

the

sea,

carrying

in

a

twig

or

a

pebble

from

the

mountain

and

dropping

it

into

the

sea.

one

day,

the

roaring

sea

said

to

jingwei,

"poor

little

bird,

stop

doing

that

meaningless

thing!

you'll

never

fill

me

up."

jingwei

replied,

"i'll

fill

you

up

no

doubt!

i

will,

even

if

it'll

take

me

thousands

of

years!

i'll

fight

on

until

doomsday!"

the

brave

little

bird

kept

carrying

twigs

and

pebbles

from

the

mountain

to

the

eastern

sea

without

taking

a

rest.

from

this

fable

comes

the

idiom

"the

bird

jingwei

trying

to

fill

the

sea".

we

use

it

to

describe

people

who

are

firm

and

indomitable

and

will

not

stop

until

they

reach

their

goal.