Need help understanding grammar in short text I was reading the story behind the idiom &quot;愚公移山&quot; and I came across these 2 lines specifically which sort of confused me with their grammar. They are:
1.&quot;看到愚公一家人正在挖土，云石，就嘲笑愚公说&quot;
and

&quot;智叟听后，惭愧不已&quot;

In sentence one shouldn't the bolded 嘲笑 have a 着 following it as he is going to say something after it?
My final question is in the second sentence, because I'm not really sure of the bolded 4 characters and why it doesn't say maybe &quot;智叟听到后，感觉很惭愧&quot; or something like that.
I appreciate any help.
in sentence one shouldn't the bolded 嘲笑 have a 着 following it as he is going to say something after it?

[verb 1] + 着 + [verb 2] means [verb 1] and [verb 2] happen at the same time continuously (verb 2 while verb 1).
[verb 1] + [verb 2] means both actions happen one immediately after the other or simultaneously, but not in a continuous state
Examples:
跳着大喊 (yell while jumping)
跳起来大喊 (jump up and yell)

why it doesn't say maybe &quot;智叟听到后，感觉很惭愧&quot; or something like that.


感觉很惭愧 = feel very ashamed (惭愧 here is an adjective for 'ashamed')

惭愧不已 = be ashamed greatly (惭愧 here is a verb for 'be ashamed')

不已 (can't stop) is an adverb function the same as 'very' or 'greatly'.


You can use 十分 or  不已 as the adverb for a verb, but not at the same time, saying 十分惭愧不已  is like saying &quot;be very ashamed greatly&quot; in English