ChinesePod

1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)

做一天和尚撞一天钟

zuò yī tiān hé shang zhuàng yī tiān zhōng

1 lit. as a monk for today, toll today's bell (idiom)
2 fig. to do one's job mechanically
3 to hold a position passively

Sample Sentences

我说这行诗是象征诗派的代表，因为它具体而又微妙地表现出许多哲学家所无法说清的话；它表现出人性里两种相对的本质，但同时更表现出那两种相对的本质的调和。

wǒ shuō zhè xíng shī shì xiàngzhēng shī pài de dàibiǎo ，yīnwèi tā jùtǐ ér yòu wēimiào de biǎoxiàn chū xǔduō zhéxué jiā suǒ wúfǎ shuōqīng dehuà ；tā biǎoxiàn chū rénxìng lǐ liǎng zhǒng xiāngduì de běnzhì ，dàn tóngshí gèng biǎoxiàn chū nà liǎng zhǒng xiāngduì de běnzhì de tiáohé 。

The reason I say this line of poetry is representative of Symbolism, is because in a concrete but subtle way, it shows that which many philosophers have been unable to explain clearly; It shows the essences of the two opposing forms of humanity, but, at the same time, it shows the harmony between the essences of these two opposing forms.

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只有原诗才算恰到好处，因为猛虎象征人性的一方面，蔷薇象征人性的另一面，而“细嗅”刚刚象征着两者的关系，两者的调和与统一。

zhǐyǒu yuán shī cái suàn qiàdàohǎochù ，yīnwèi měng hǔ xiàngzhēng rénxìng de yīfāngmiàn ，qiángwēi xiàngzhēng rénxìng de lìng yīmiàn ，ér “xì xiù ”gānggāng xiàngzhēng zhe liǎng zhě de guānxi ，liǎng zhě de tiáohé yǔ tǒngyī 。

It's only the original poem that really gets it just right, because the fierce tiger symbolizes one aspect of humanity, the rose represents the other, and the act of sniffing represents the link between these two, the harmony between them and their unity.

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