In the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770-476 BC), a farmer in the State of Song (sòng guó 宋国) was one day working in the fields when he saw a rabbit bump into a tree stump accidentally and break its neck. The farmer took the rabbit home, and cooked himself a delicious meal. That night he thought, 'I needn't work so hard. All I have to do is wait for a rabbit each day by the stump.' So from then on he gave up farming, and simply sat by the stump waiting for rabbits to come and run into it.

This idiom satirizes those who just wait for a stroke of luck, rather than making efforts to obtain what they need.

春秋时代，宋国有个农夫，一天在耕田的时候，忽然跑来一只兔子，恰巧碰在树桩上，脖子折断死了。农夫把兔子拾回家去，美美地吃了一顿兔肉。晚上他想：“我何必辛辛苦苦地种地呢？每天在树下能捡到一只兔子就够我吃的了。”于是，他从此不再耕作，每天坐在树下等待兔子的到来。

“守株待兔”这个成语，讥笑那些不想经过努力，存在侥幸心理，希望得到意外收获的人。

守株待兔(shǒu zhū dài tù)
【翻译】Sitting by a Stump, Waiting for a Careless Hare.
【释义】株：露出地面的树根。原比喻希图不经过努力而得到成功的侥幸心理。现也比喻死守狭隘
经验，不知变通。
【例句】一个人如果想要做成大事，就千万不能守株待兔，而要自己努力去争取！
【近义词】刻舟求剑、墨守成规
【反义词】通达权变