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Welcome once again to the Chinese Idiom Stories: The Magic Four series。 We want to show you that Chinese idioms are magical! If you are still not sure，here is an example of when you might want to use them。
Imagine you are playing a video game with your friends but you keep losing。 You want to bury your head in the sand，hoping the embarrassment will go away if you close your eyes and block your ears。 That does not work，so you decide to throw in the towel。
But where is the sand you want to bury your head in? In fact，this is an example of figurative language。 Instead of saying you want to avoid an unpleasant situation by pretending it does not exist，you can use colourful imagery and actions to make the description memorable。 The same goes for “throw in the towel”，which means to quit because you know you cannot succeed。 The origin of this idiom comes from boxing trainers literally throwing a towel in the boxing ring to immediately stop a fight and admit defeat if they see their fighter getting hurt。
You may not be familiar with those two English idioms，but you have probably heard of 掩耳盜鈴 and 半途而廢 to express the same ideas respectively。 These Chinese idioms consist of only four characters，but they conjure up stories of a foolish burglar with blocked earholes attempting to smash a bronze bell and of a tough wife berating her weak-willed husband for quitting his studies and coming home early。 So much can be told with so little。
The theme for Chinese Idiom Stories: The Magic Four 2 is attitude and behaviour。 By reading these stories，you will gain a deeper understanding of Chinese wisdom accumulated over the centuries。 The modern world is vastly different to imperial China，but universal truths will always remain。 Just like the plays of William Shakespeare，stories that teach us about the human condition will always remain relevant and timeless，and these idiom stories have proven they will never die out or go out of fashion。
Catherine Chan，Simon Lau & William Ma
