他一直也没有等到这只兔子。

[kavanin]

The red-colored sentence in the following story doesn't make sense to me, ie, what I understand isn't in accord with the context:

“守株待兔”的来历

从前有一个农夫。他经常出去上工。有一天, 他正在去上工的路上。走着的时候, 看见一只慌张的兔子飞快地跑来。但是好象有什么东西在兔子的后面。所以这只兔子转过他的头, 想看看究竟是什么事情。但是这只兔子由于跑得太快, 突然撞到了前面不远的一棵树上。并且, 立刻就死掉了。

这个农夫捡起来, 并且笑着说道: “啊, 事情原来有这么容易, 这么简单。我何必到田里去干那么重的活儿呢?”

自从这一天以后, 这个农夫天天就守在这棵树旁, 想等到第二只撞死的兔子。但是, 一天一天, 一月一月, 一年又一年过去了。他一直也没有等到这只兔子。并且他也饿得一天比一天消瘦。

最后, 人们也同样可以想象, 他将绝对不会等到这只兔子。这就是 “守株待兔” 的来历。

This is what I understand: He's NOT always waited for the rabbit.

This is what I expect it to be: He's always waited for the rabbit.

Where did I lose the thread?

[大肚男]

It means that he waited, but the rabbit never showed up.

[Michaelyus]

等到 is the key verb. Replacing it with 等得到 might be easier to see the pattern when negated.

[skylee]

Who wrote that story in #1? It was quite poorly written IMO. Many sentences do not sound right, e.g. 他经常出去上工 and 这个农夫捡起来.

I sincerely hope that it is not some kind of teaching/learning material.

[陳德聰]

等到X doesn't just mean to wait for X, it means to wait for X to eventually happen/show up. If X never happens/shows up, then the action doesn't 到 (reach its goal/aim/end point).

[kavanin]

Thank you all.

@skylee: It's the file DAITU.HAN from the TEXT folder of Wenlin 3.0. I felt the same throughout, but, you know, since I'm somewhere between a beginner and intermediate, I didn't have the courage to say it.

[Manuel]

Somehow that excerpt doesn't sound right.