18．日【曰】部 sun
夸父(Kuafu, name of a giant)逐chase日sun
In remote antiquity, a group of giants lived deep in the mountains of northern China. The Head of the group was named 夸父. He had a pair of gold snakes hanging from his ears and had another two wrapped around his wrists. One year, the weather was extremely hot and dry. Every day the sun shone hotter than before. The trees all died and the rivers all dried out.
夸父decided that to save themselves mankind needed control of the sunshine, so he set out to capture the sun. After many days of chasing, he saw the sun was just in front of him. So he opened his arms to grab it, but the hot, bright sun slowly roasted him. He dehydrated and died. While dying, he lamented his failure and threw away his walking stick in grief. Suddenly, the ground where the walking stick fell erupted into a vast forest of peach trees. The peaches from these trees quenched the thirst of weary travelers throughout history.
【拼音】kuā fù zhú rì
【含义】形容指征服自然的坚强决心。也比喻不自量力。
【出处】《山海经·海外北经》：夸父与日逐走，入日；渴，欲得饮，饮于河、渭；河、渭不足，北饮大泽。未至，道渴而死。弃其杖，化为邓林。
