This is the opening line of the Chinese television series “Bedtime Horror Stories.”
积劳成疾 惨死荒野
Key Characters
积 (to accumulate)
禾 (rice / grain)
只 (sound of the word)
It seems like the concept of storing up grain little by little, continuously
劳 (physical labor)
力 (a man lifting up)
冖 (a load)
艹 (of grass)
成 (to cause)
戊 (battle axe used to defend a city)
丁 (sound of the word)
成 seems more in line with the concept of completing or accomplishing something. You were the driving force behind something happening? The pictograph for 戊 is difficult, but I imagine it as a guy holding a battle axe. I’m guessing the connection is that the axe is the means by which you successfully cause the city to be protected (?)
疾 (illness or disease)
疒 (Sickness)
矢 (sound of the word)
The Character 疒 looks like a stretcher on its side
惨 (tragically, miserably)
忄 (heart, mind, soul)
参 (the sound of the word)
死 (to die)
歹 (carcass)
人 (a person)
荒 (wasteland)
芒 (grasses 艹 + to be gone 亡)
川 ( sound of the word)
野 (open space)
田 (field or farm)
土 (earth)
予 (sound of the word)
Key Words
积劳 (to overwork)
积 (to accumulate)
劳 (physical labor)
成疾 (to cause illness or disease)
成 (to cause)
疾 (illness or disease)
惨死 (miserable or tragic death)
惨 (tragically, miserably)
死 (to die)
荒野 (wilderness, wild)
荒 (wasteland)
野 (open space)
Translation
- Exhausted to the point of illness due to hard work ↩︎
- A miserable and unfortunate death in the wild ↩︎
- The original translation said “overworked” instead of exhausted, but I don’t think that was necessarily the best term. I think they just walked and are exhausted, not necessarily from a job ↩︎
Disclaimer
This website is absolutely not a professional resource and is purely my own personal way of trying to learn various languages. If you see a mistake, by all means please let me know in the comments as long as you do so in a friendly way. ❤️
Where Dragons Roam 
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