亡羊补牢
Mending the sheep pen
Read, find evidence, and explain in your own words.
Read
有个养羊人，每天早上都到羊圈里数羊。一天，他发现少了一只。仔细一看，围栏上有个洞。邻居劝他赶快修好，他却说：羊已经丢了，现在修还有什么用？于是，他照常出门，没有补洞。
A shepherd counted his sheep each morning. One day one was missing. Looking closely, he found a hole in the fence. A neighbour urged him to repair it, but he asked what use that would be now that the sheep was gone. He left without fixing the hole.
第二天，羊又少了一只。养羊人站在洞口，想起邻居的话。这一次，他没有再说太晚了。他找来木板和工具，把破损的地方补好，又沿着围栏走了一圈，检查别处有没有松动。
The next day another sheep was missing. Standing by the hole, he remembered his neighbour’s words. This time he did not say it was too late. He repaired the gap with boards and tools, then walked around the fence to check for other loose parts.
后来，他每天数羊，也留心羊圈的情况。丢掉的羊没有因为修围栏就回来，可是剩下的羊有了更好的保护。他明白了：不能改变昨天，不等于今天什么也做不了。
After that, he counted the sheep and checked the pen each day. Fixing the fence did not bring the lost sheep back, but it protected the ones that remained. He learned that being unable to change yesterday does not mean being unable to act today.
Explore the text
亡羊而补牢，未为迟也，见于《战国策·楚策四》。原文是庄辛劝说楚襄王时引用的话；这篇养羊故事是为理解成语编写的情境，不是原典逐句翻译。牢在这里是牲畜的圈，不是监狱。
The saying that it is not too late to mend a pen after losing sheep appears in Strategies of the Warring States, Chu IV. Zhuang Xin uses it when advising the king. This shepherd story is a teaching scenario, not a line-by-line translation of that source. Here lao means an animal enclosure, not a prison.
Words to practise
羊补牢围改