馬馬虎虎So-So

很久以前，有一位畫家，Once upon a time, there was a painter,

他不但喜歡畫馬而且喜歡畫老虎。He not only likes to draw horses but also likes to draw tigers.

有一天，他的朋友請求他畫一幅馬。One day, his friend asked him to draw a horse.

朋友走了以後，After his friend left,

他就在剛剛畫好的老虎下面，畫了一個馬的身體。The painter is added a horse body under a tiger’s head that he had just finished.

他想這樣送給朋友就行了。He thought this would be good enough for his friend.

他的大兒子看見了，問道：His elder son saw it and asked:

爸爸！ 您在畫什麼？Daddy! what are you drawing?

畫家回答：哈哈！我在畫馬呀！The painter replied: Haha! I’m drawing(painting) a horse!

大兒子心想:哦,原來有一種馬,牠的頭長得很像老虎。The eldest son thought: Oh, I see. So, there is a kind of horse whose head looks like a tiger.

畫家把畫好的畫掛在牆上。The painter hangs the finished picture on the wall.

小兒子看見了，問道：The younger son saw it and asked:

爸爸！ 這是什麼動物？ 是老虎嗎？Daddy! What kind of animal is this? Is it a tiger?

畫家說：嗯—也沒錯！The painter said: Well — that’s also right!

小兒子想：原來有一種老虎，身體是這個樣子。The youngest son thought: So, there is a kind of tiger whose body looks like this.

有一天，大兒子遠遠看見一隻老虎，One day, the eldest son saw a tiger in the distance,

他還以為是馬。He thought it was a horse.

他忽然聽見老虎吼的聲音，才連忙逃走。Suddenly he heard the roar of a tiger,

Then he ran away hurriedly.

又有一天，小兒子看見前面有幾匹高大的馬，One another day, the youngest son saw several large horses in front of him.

他认为一定是老虎，所以就把牠们射伤了。He thought for sure they were tigers,

So he pulled his bow and shot them with arrows.

馬的主人找畫家賠錢。The owner of the horse came to the painter to demand compensation.

他們看見牆上的這張畫就問道：When they saw the picture on the wall, they asked:

這是什麼？ 不是馬也不是虎，好奇怪！What’s this? It’s neither a horse nor a tiger. How strange!

畫家回答說：哎，大兒子以為是馬，The painter sighed replied: “Ai, the eldest son thought it was a horse.

小兒子以為是老虎，才發生這些事。The youngest son thought it was a tiger, that’s why all this misfortune happened.

大家聽了，忍不住哈哈大笑，Everyone listened and couldn’t help burst out laughing,

後來，馬虎和馬馬虎虎變成了成語，Ever since, house-tiger and horse -horse-tiger-tiger became idioms,

表示不認真、不細心的意思。Which means doing something casually and carelessly.

馬馬虎虎還有so-so的意思。It also means so-so.