35．车【車】部 cart, vehicle
杯cup水water车cartload薪faggots
杯水车薪means to extinguish a burning carload of faggots with a cup of water. Here it is the story:
One day, a woodman cut and gathered several faggots in the mountain. Before dark, he loaded all the faggots onto his horse-drawn cart, then climbed up on the horse’s back and drove the cart home. On the way, he lit his tobacco pipe. It was a windy night, and a few sparks were blown back. They ignited the bundled sticks behind him. But the woodman did not notice it until a child shouted: “Your faggots are burning!” The woodman stopped the cart and grabbed a cup he found on the ground. He rushed to a nearby pond, filled the cup with water, and poured it onto the faggots. The fire, however, got stronger and stronger. Eventually, all the sticks were reduced to ashes.
This idiom describes situations in which people try to solve serious problems with utterly inadequate measures.
【拼音】bēi shuǐ chē xīn
【解释】用一杯水去救一车着了火的柴草，比喻力量太小，解决不了问题。
【出处】《孟子·告子上》：孟子曰：“仁之胜不仁也．犹水胜火。今之为仁者，犹以一杯械一车薪之火也；不熄，则谓之水不胜火。此又与于不仁之甚者也，亦终必亡而已矣。”
