睡前故事
话说很久很久以前，宋朝时代——
宝宝们先不要急着翻历史书哈，就一句话：那年头，画画也有不靠谱的。
当时有这么一位画家，手艺不能说没有吧，但问题出在哪儿呢？
一个字：懒。
两个字：马虎。
三个字：很马虎。
四个字：马马虎虎
诶，怎么回事呢？
是这样的。
有一天，他正画着画呢，先画了个老虎的头，虎眼一瞪，虎须一翘，看着还挺吓人。
恰好，这时候，有人登门了：“先生，给我画匹马吧。”
任何一个认真一点的画家，那肯定是——
“来，铺新纸，重新起稿。”
可这位不一样，他一看：
“哟，纸上已经有个头了，重新画？那多费事啊。”
于是——
虎头不动，后头一接，刷刷刷，画了个马身子。
宝宝你想想，那画成什么了？
前面是头凶猛的野兽，后面是绅士且不停蹄的马，
不伦不类，四不像。
来取画的人左看右看，上看下看，终于忍不住问：
“先生，这……是马啊，还是虎啊？”
画家连头都懒得抬，随口一句：
“马马虎虎吧。”
好家伙！
这话一出口，画肯定没卖成，倒是留下一句千古名言。
这画卖不出去，画家也不在乎，顺手就把这画挂家里了。
结果，问题来了。
他大儿子看见这幅画，问：
“爹，这是不是老虎？”
画家张嘴就来：
“对，是老虎。”
大儿子走了，小儿子进来了。小儿子一看，又问：
“爹，这不是马吗？”
画家想都没想：
“嗯，是马。”
宝宝，听出来问题没有？
同一张画，两种说法；
这就叫——
自己都不当回事，还指望宝宝们分得清？
后来有一天，大儿子上山打猎。
远远一看，一匹马在那儿吃草。
他脑子里“啪”一下想起那幅画：
“这是老虎啊！”
一箭射过去——
马倒了。
画家只能赔钱给马的主人。
还没完。
小儿子有一天出门，真碰上一只老虎。他心想：
“哟，这画我见过，爹说能骑。”
老虎那是什么？猛兽啊。
它才不会在意你有没有把它误会成马。
这小儿子刚一靠近——
一口下去，人没了。
画家这时候才彻底醒悟了。
哭得是不要不要的，后悔死了。
马上就把那张画一把火烧了，还写了首诗：
“马虎图，马虎图，似马又似虎，长子依图射死马，次子依图喂了虎。草堂焚毁马虎图，奉劝诸君莫学吾。”
从那以后，
“马虎”或“马马虎虎”
就成了形容人做事粗心、不认真的词。
所以啊，宝宝们，
做事、说话马马虎虎，既害自己也害别人。
故事告诉宝宝
这个故事告诉我们做事不能随便、不能粗心大意。责任心很重要，模棱两可很有可能造成很严重的后果。
Bedtime story
A long, long time ago in the Song Dynasty, there lived a painter who was a bit… well, careless. He liked to paint quickly, without checking the little details, so sometimes people couldn’t tell what his pictures were meant to be.
One day, the painter finished a fierce tiger’s head. Just then, a customer walked in and said, “Could you paint me a horse, please?”
The painter didn’t want to start over. “Hmm,” he thought, “I’ll just add a horse’s body to this tiger head.” So that’s exactly what he did!
The customer stared and stared. “Er… is this a horse, or a tiger?”
The painter shrugged. “Sort of a horse, sort of a tiger,” he said. In Chinese, that’s “马马虎虎,” which sounds like “horse-horse, tiger-tiger,” and means “careless.”
The customer didn’t want such a muddled picture, so the painter hung it up at home.
Later, the older son saw the painting. “Father, what animal is this?” he asked.
“It’s a tiger,” said the painter.
Another day, the younger son asked the same question.
“It’s a horse,” the painter answered.
Oh dear. That was the start of trouble.
One day, the older son went hunting. He remembered the painting and, by mistake, he shot the horse thinking it was a tiger. We had to pay a hefty fee to the owner.
Even worse, the younger son later met a real tiger. Thinking the tiger was a horse, he went too close and the tiger ate him alive!
The painter was heartbroken. He burned the confusing painting and wrote a little poem to remind everyone:
“Horse‑tiger, horse‑tiger,
A tiger mistaken for a horse.
A horse mistaken as a tiger,
Let this spare you of any remorse.”
Moral of the story
This story tells us that when we’re not careful and clear, people can be confused, and confusion can lead to big problems. That’s why “马虎” came to mean being careless or not paying proper attention.
