秋天时，黄河的河水涨得很高。
很多小河带着大量的水，都流进了黄河。
黄河变得非常宽，宽到连两岸的牛马和水中的沙洲都看不清楚了。
黄河的水神河伯看到自己的河水这么多，心里特别高兴。
他觉得自己拥有了世界上最好的东西。
于是，他就顺着水流向东走，一直走到了北海。
在北海边，河伯朝东边望去，可是他看不到水的尽头。
这时，他才明白自己之前的想法是错的。
他抬起头，对海神若说：“我以前听别人说，听过很多道理的人会觉得自己是最聪明的。我想我就是这样的人。我曾经听说孔丘知道的东西很少，而伯夷的义行被人们轻视。开始我不相信，但现在我看到了你的大海，才知道我是多么渺小。如果不是我来到你的门前，我可能会永远被人笑话。”
这个故事告诉我们一个成语“望洋兴叹”。
这个成语的意思是看到大海那么大，就会因为惊奇而仰头发出感叹。
后来，人们就把“望洋向若而叹”简化成了“望洋兴叹”，用来比喻人自叹能力不足或慨叹自己太渺小而无可奈何。
In autumn, the Yellow River's water level rose very high.
Many small rivers carried large amounts of water into the Yellow River.
The Yellow River became so wide that it was impossible to see the cattle and horses on both banks or the sandbars in the water.
Hepo, the god of the Yellow River, was delighted to see so much water in his river.
He felt that he possessed the best thing in the world.
So, he followed the flow of the water eastward until he reached the Bohai Sea.
At the Bohai Sea, Hepo looked eastward but could not see the end of the water.
It was then that he realized his previous thoughts were wrong.
He lifted his head and said to the god of the sea, 'I used to hear people say that those who have heard many truths would think they are the smartest. I thought I was such a person. I once heard that Confucius knew very little, and Bi Ye's righteousness was underestimated by people. I didn't believe it at first, but now that I see your vast sea, I realize how small I am. If I had not come to your doorstep, I might have been laughed at forever.'
This story tells us the idiom 'looking at the vast ocean and sighing'.
The idiom means looking at the vastness of the sea and raising one's head in awe and amazement.
Later, people simplified 'looking at the vast ocean and sighing' to 'looking at the vast ocean and sighing', which is used to比喻 someone feeling powerless or helpless due to their own inadequacy or smallness.
