成语故事 | Eating Dates

Long ago, there was a young man who bought many fruits, like pears and dates. He sat at the roadside to eat them. An old man saw him and said: “ Eating too many pears is good for teeth, but bad for your body.” The young man asked: “ How about dates?” The old man answered: “ The dates are good for body but bad for teeth.” The young man thought for a while and said: “ I’ve got a good idea! I can eat pears with teeth and don’t swallow them. And I can swallow dates without chewing.” 

Then he put a date into his mouth and swallowed it immediately. Unluckily, he was choked by the date.

从前，有个人买了一堆水果，有梨儿，也有枣儿，坐在路边上吃。有个老头儿看见了，对他说：“小伙子，梨儿可不能多吃呀。它虽然对牙齿有好处，可是吃多了对身体不好。”青年人就问：“枣儿吃多了呢？”老头儿说：“枣儿对身体是好的，可吃多了对牙齿不好，也不能多吃。”青年人看了看梨儿，又看了看枣儿，想了一会儿，说：“哈哈，我想出了个好办法！我吃梨儿就只用牙齿嚼，不吞到肚子里去。吃枣儿，我就把它整个儿吞下去，不用牙齿嚼。”说完话，他就拿起一个枣儿放在嘴里，直接吞了下去。没想到，他一下子就被枣儿噎住了。

date：枣

swallow：吞，咽

chew：咀嚼，嚼

immediately：直接地

choke on sth.：被……噎住