my ability is unequal to the given task , for you cannot use a short rope to draw water from a deep weel(gěng duǎn jí shēn)

my ability is unequal to the given task , for you cannot use a short rope to draw water from a deep weel

As a Chinese idiom, the Pinyin is g ě ngdu ǎ NJ í sh ē n, which means that the rope of the bucket is short, so it can't hit the water in the deep well; the metaphor ability is weak, so it is difficult to undertake the arduous task. From Zhuangzi Zhile.

Notes on Idioms

Pipe: a rope used to draw water; swab: draw water from a well.

The origin of Idioms

Zhuangzi Zhile: "in the past, Guanzi had words Chu small can not be pregnant with big, short can not be deep Later, he took "learning from the past" as his humble words.

Idiom usage

It's a combination; it's an object and an attribute. Examples: sincerity, wisdom, and depth. (Tang xiaoyingshi's gift to Weisi Ye Shu) a short pipe can't draw deep well's spring, and those who know little can't talk with sages. ——In Xunzi's honor and disgrace and Yan Zhenqing's preface to Gan Lu's calligraphy in Tang Dynasty, it is said that "if you are short and deep, you can't reach the end of your career; if you have many wrong paths, you should follow them properly." In his book with the Korean won, Nalanxingde of the Qing Dynasty said, "the talent is weak, but the strength is deep." Also save for "pipe short". Liang Liu Xie's "literary mind and Carving Dragons: Tongbian" in the Southern Dynasty: "those who are short in the pipe are thirsty, and those who are tired stop painting. It is not the end of the number of Arts and Sciences, but the talent of Tongbian."

Chinese PinYin : gěng duǎn jí shēn