囫囵吞枣

囫囵吞枣

从前有个人看书的时候，总会把书中文章大声念出来，可是他从来不动脑筋想一想书中的道理，还自以为看了很多书，懂得许多道理。有一天，他去买水果，卖梨的老人对他说：“ 吃梨对牙齿很好，但是吃多了伤胃。” 旁边一位卖枣的老人对他说：“枣子能健胃，可惜吃多了会伤牙齿。” 读书人说：“这很简单嘛！吃梨子时只嚼不咽，就不会伤胃；吃枣子时只吞不嚼，就不会伤牙啦！” 说完，他很得意，拿枣就往嘴里塞，结果，他被噎住了。

后来，人们就用“囫囵吞枣”，来形容一个人不动脑子，只是死记硬套，照搬规定的做法。

Gulping down a whole date

Once upon a time, there lives a young man who likes to read aloud, but he never thoroughly understands his literature's contents, or he only catches part of the importance of what he is reading, or maybe he does not grasp the importance at all. Yet he considered himself knowledgable. One day he went to buy some fruit. On the market the old man selling pears told him that raw pears are good for one's teeth but bad for one's spleen. Another old man selling dates told him raw dates are good for one's spleen but bad for one's teeth. Hearing those words the self-important man said he knew a way to enjoy the nutritional benefits from both, while avoiding the negative side effects. "I could chew pears, but don't swallow them and swallow dates without chewing them." he said. "By doing this, both of my teeth and my spleen will not be hurt." He did what he said and he was choked by a date.

This joke gave rise to the idiom, which refers to lapping up information without digesting it, or reading without comprehension.