畫蛇添足 An official of the ancient State of Chu awarded a pot of wine to his men after the ceremony of Spring Sacrifice. One man said, “We have only one pot of wine. It's not enough for all of us but sufficient for one. Let's determine who'll have the wine by drawing a snake on the ground. He who finishes first will have the wine.” The others agreed. Very soon, one man finished his snake. He was about to drink the wine when he saw the others were still busy drawing. He said complacently,“How slowly you are! I still have enough time to add feet to my snke.” But before he finished the feet, another man finished his snke and grabbed the pot from him, saying,“Whoever has seen a snake with feet? Yours is not a snke. So the wine should be mine!” He drank the wine. The man adding the feet to the snake had to give in and could only regret his foolishness. 楚國有一個官員,在春天祭過了祖宗之后,便將一壺酒賞給他的辦事人員喝。
那個給蛇畫腳的人沒辦法,只能懊悔自己的愚蠢。一鳴驚人 In the Warring States Period, Duke Wei of Qi neglected state affairs, for the first three years of his reign, giving himself over to dissipation. One of his ministers, Chun Yukun who had a good sense of humour, said to him: 'There is a big bird which has neither taken wing nor sung for three years.' The duke answered, 'Once that bird starts to fly and sing, it will astonish the world.' The duke thereupon devoted himself to his duties and built his state up into a powerful one. 戰(zhàn)國時代,齊威王即位后做了三年國君,只顧享樂,不理政事。
杞人憂天 In the Spring and Autumn Period, in the State of Qi there was a man who always let his imagination run away with him. One day he even worried that the sky would fall on his head. He was so worried that he could neither eat nor sleep. Later, someone persuaded him that his fears were Ground-less. 春秋時代,杞國有一個喜歡胡思亂想的人。一天,他竟然想到,天會塌下來,地會陷下去,自己到哪里去安身?這個人越想越害怕,整天愁眉苦臉,坐立不安,白天吃不下飯,晚上睡不著覺。
后來有人耐心地開到他,他才放下了心。精衛(wèi)填海 Once upon a time, the youngest daughter of Emperor Yan, legendary ruler of primitive China, went boating on the Eastern Sea. While she was enjoying herself, a strong wind rose on the sea and her boat capsized. Just before she was buried by the surging waves, her spirit turned into a beautiful bird. As it flew over the roaring sea, it cried sadly in the sound "jinwei, jingwei". That was why people called it "Jingwei". The bird lived on a mountain near the sea. It hated the sea so much that it decided to fill it up. Every day, it flew to and fro between the mountain and the sea, carrying in a twig or a pebble from the mountain and dropping it into the sea. One day, the roaring sea said to Jingwei, "Poor little bird, stop doing that meaningless thing! You'll never fill me up." Jingwei replied, "I'll fill you up no doubt! I will, even if it'll take me thousands of years! I'll fight on until doomsday!" The brave little bird kept carrying twigs and pebbles from the mountain to the Eastern Sea without taking a rest. From this fable comes the idiom "The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea". We use it to describe people who are firm and indomitable and will not stop until they reach their goal. 從前,炎帝(傳說中中國原始社會的統(tǒng)治者)的小女兒在東海上劃船。
Sweat is HuoGuang, emperor han commander-in-chief of TuoGu ministers, drinking eight years of emperor han style-came kisen, ruling pomp very heavy. HuoGuang nearby have a call YangChang people, act is timid, popular with HuoGuang recognition, rose to prime minister position, seal for anping syndrome. Actually, YangChang humanness cowardly incompetence, timid, not when the prime minister of the material. 74 B.C., was only twenty one-year-old han emperor died.both in WeiYangGong kisen, with all the princes HuoGuang counsel, chose the emperor's grandson made WangLiuHe nearbu heir. Behold LiuHe ascended the mid-north song and dance, often pleasure-resorts. HuoGuang heard later, anxieties, and bike ride general ZhangAn births, TianYanNian secret counsel, on to nullify LiuHe, set up other Yin jun. After TianYanNian HuoGuangPa goading agreed to jointly YangChang, tell gun. YangChang all of a sudden, she was scared to sweat, panic, just something indistinctly fence. YangChang wife, is TaiShiGong sima qian's daughter, quite have the guts. She saw her husband shilly-shally appearance, secretly worried, while TianYanNian change clothes walk away, infero-anterior advised her husband and said, "National affairs, will shilly-shally. General has ChengYi, you should also chosin reservoir, otherwise inevitable difficult ahead." YangChang step back and forth in the house, but had no acid attention. Just at this time TianYanNian back, SiMaFu people avoid inferior, straight-tempered without embarrassment and TianYanNian meet, told TianYanNian, her husband willing to listen to the general's command. TianYanNian after listening pleased to take leave walk. TianYanNian returns HuoGuang, HuoGuang very satisfied. YangChang brought all the princes immediately arrange table, playing please dowager. The next day, YangChang advice, ernie see luang nearbu king unbearable successin statement of reason. Queen letter removed immediately LiuHe, another sign of emperor of the once SunLiu enquiry for jun, was said han XuanDi.Idioms citations, han shu YangChang biography of our afraid, not words. Jia sweated back ACTS yes just.Idioms interpretations ", "Jia drenched, sweating much soaked backbone. Describe sweat. Also describe extreme fear or ashamed excessive.汗流浹背 漢大將軍霍光,是漢武帝的托孤重臣,輔佐八歲即位的漢昭帝執(zhí)政,威勢很重。
Plugging One's Ears While Stealing a Bell During the Spring and Autumn period,Zhi Bo of the State of Jin destroyed Fan's family.Taking advantage of this occasion,a man went to Fan's house and tried to steal something.As soon as the man entered the gate,he saw that there hung a big bell in the courtyard.The bell was cast in high-quality bronza,and was beautiful in design and shape.The theif was very glad,and decided to carry this beautiful bell back home.But no matter how hard he tried,he could not move the bell,because the bell was both big and heavy.He thought and thought again,and believed there was only one way to solve the problem.He had to break the bell to pieces before he was able to carry them back to his home separately. The thief found a big iron hammer,with which he struck the bell with all his might.The striking produced an enormous crashing sound,which might.The striking produced an enormous crashing sound,which made the thief terribly frightened.The thief got flurried,thinking that it was too bad to have produced the crashiing sound which would himself on the bell,trying to muffle the crashing sound with his arms.But how could the crashing sound of the bell be muffled?The crashing sound still kept drifting melodiously to distant places.The more he listened to the sound,the more frightened hw became.He xubconsciously shrank back,and covered his ears hard with his hands."Hey,the sound becomes fainter,inaudible,"the thief became cheerful at once," wonderful!The sound of the bell can not be heard when the ears are covered."He immediately got some odd bits of cloth,made two rolls with them,and had his ears plugged with the two cloth rolls.He thought that in this way nobody could hear the sound of the bell.Feeling relieved,he began striking the bell,one blow after another.The resounding sound of the bell was heard at distant places,and finally people caught the thief by gracing the sound. This story comes from"Knowing Yourself" in The Annals by Buwei,written just before the Qin Dynasty(221-207 B.C.)was founded.Allegedly,when Li Yuan,Emperor Gao Zu of the Tang Dynasty(618-907),read this story,he felt it simply ridiculous and said,"This is what is called plugging one's ears while stealing a bell." Later,people have used the set phrase "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell" to refer to the ignorance and foolishness of the person who deceives himself as well as others.。
成語“邯鄲學步”,比喻生搬硬套,機械地模仿別人,不但學不到別人的長處,反而會把自己的優(yōu)點和本領(lǐng)也丟掉。Imitating Another without Success and Losing What Used to Be One'sOwn Ability Tradition has it that more than 2,oooyears ago,there lived a young man in the Shouling area of the State of Yan.As his name is not known ,we just call him Shouling young man for convenience's sake. self confident He was at a loss as to how to behave all the time. His family members advised him to overcome this shortcoming,but he thought they were fond of poking their noses into his business and were unwilling to provide him with tuition fee.His relatives and neighbours sneered at him,saying that he would never be able to learn anything.Asthe days went by,he even began to doubt whether he should walk the way he did,for he felt more and more that his walking gestures were too clumsy and awkward. One day,he met some people on the road who werechattingand laughing.One of themsaid that people in Handan walked most gracefully.And thatwas just what he was most concerned about,so he hurreed towards themand wanted to make further inquiries.To his surprise,when these people saw him,they stalked off laughing. He could not picture to himself in what way their walking gestures were graceful,no matter how hard he racked his parents one day.He went to Handanwhich was far away to learn how to walk. As soon as he arrived in Handan,he was dazzled to find that everything was novel.He learned from the children there how to walk,because he thought that the children's walking gestures were lively and pleasing to the eye.He learnd from the old people there how to walk,because he thought the old people's walking gestures were steady .He learnd from the women there how to walk,because he thought the women' swaying walking gestures were beautiful.That being the case with him ,in less than half a month he even forgot how to walk.As he had already used up his traveling expenses,he had to crawl back home. Thisstory come from the article"Autumn Water"in The Works of Xhuang Zi(Zhuang Zi was a famous ancient Chinese philosopher of about 300B.c.).Later the set phrase"initating another without success and losing what used to be one's own ability"is used to refer to acts of copying others mechanisally in disregard of specififc conditions. 汲黯是西漢武帝時代人,以剛直正義、敢講真話而受人尊重。
A man from the State of Zheng bought shoes)Once upon a time , a man in the State of Zheng went to the market to buy a pair of shoes. Before he left for the market, he had measured his feet with a piece me straw. However , he couldn't find the measurement because he had left it at home . So he had to say sorry to the owner that he had to go home for it, which confused the owner why he didn't try the shoes on with his own feet . The man smiled to the owner , " I would rather believe in the measuremens than my own feet."。
Once upon a time, an old farmer planted a plot of rice. Everyday he went to the field to watch the seedlings grow. He saw the young shoots break through the soil and grow taller each day. But still, he thought they were growing too slowly. He got impatient with the young plants. "How could the plants grow faster?" He tossed in bed during the night and could not sleep. Suddenly he hit upon an idea. He had an idea not wait for daybreak. He jumped out of the bed and dashed to the field. By the moonlight, he began working on the rice seedlings. One by one, he pulled up the young plants by half an inch. When he finished pulling, it was already morning. Straightening his back, he said to himself, "What a wonderful idea! Look, how much taller the plants have grown one night!" With great satisfaction, he went back home. He told his son what he had done in a triumphant tone. His son was shocked. Now the sun had risen. The young man was heart-broken to see all the pulled-up young plants dying.
8.英語版中國成語故事
江郎才盡 Southern Dynasties of Jiang Yan, word Wen-tung, when he was young, became a Dingdingyouming writer, his poems and articles at the time received high acclaims. However, when he is getting older, he has not previously written an article good, but a lot of setbacks. His poems written in prosaic; and pick up a pen-yin grip for a long time, still can not write a word, the occasional inspiration came; poem written, but the textual Kuse, content, plain were completely useless. So some people to legend, once a boat parked in Chan Jiang Yan-Ling Monastery river and dream of a self-named Zhang Jingyang person; to his followers repay a silk, he would arrest a few feet from her, he is also silk. Thus, his article there will be no wonderful. It was also legend; once the rule of Jiang Yan in the booth sleeping too; dreamed that a person claiming to Guo Pu, walked over to his side, his claim to the pen, said to him: "Man Michie, I have a pen in your place has been a long time, and now should be able to give it to me the bar! "Jiang Yan heard, they dig out from his arms, he is also a five-color pen. Reportedly Since then, Jiang Yan on Evans exhausted and could not write the article in any good. Jiang Yan's talent has not really run out, but he was an officer after the one hand, as the Chief busy, on the other hand also because of career proud of, without their own write, to sweat, they did not write the. Over time, the article will bring out less, lacking in talent. (Excerpt from "Practical Writing" 1995 No. 8 "I hope," Jiang "was not exactly") 南朝的江淹,字文通,他年輕的時候,就成為一個鼎鼎有名的文學家,他的詩和文章在當時獲得極高的評價。
英語故事:破鏡重圓 A Broken Mirror Joined Together This set phrase metaphorically means the reunion of husband and wife after an enforced separation or a rupture. At the end of Southern Dynasties,when the Chen Dynasty was about to be overthrown. Xú Déyán felt very worried.He foreknew that his wife Princess Lè Chāng was destined to separate from him. His wife is the last Emperor Chén Shūbǎo's younger sister. Hence he broke a round bronze mirror into halves. One half is given to the Princess,the other half left with himself. The couple agreed on it that the wife would pretend to sell the broked mirror in the street of Cháng'ān,the capital of the Suí Dynasty,on the Lantern Festival. After the fall of Chén Dynasty,Princess Lè Chāng was captured and sent to Chang'an and forced to be a concubine-servant in the mansion of Yáng Sù. Xú Déyán missed his wife very much and went to the captial to look for her. On the 15th day of the first lunar month,he found a man selling half the mirror. After asking the man,he knew that his wife had been a concubine-servant of Yáng Sù. Thinking that he could not see her again,he sighed a great sorrow. Having known the matter,Yáng Sù felt much sympathy for the couple.He sent for Xú Déyán and told him to take wife away.Thus the husband and the wife were reunited into a happy couple. 自相矛盾 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- His Spear Against His Shield (Zi Xiang Maodun) A man of the state of Chu had a spear and a shield for sale. He was loud in praises of his shield."My shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it through." He also sang praises of his spear."My spear is so strong that it can pierce through anything.""What would happen," he was asked, "if your spear is used to pierce your shield?" It is impossible for an impenetrable shield to coexist with a spear that finds nothing impenetrable. 刻舟求劍 Making His Mark (Ke Zhou Qiu Jian) A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat."This is where my sword fell off," he said.When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword? 井底之蛙 The Frog in the Shallow Well (Jing Di Zhi Wa) Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly worms, crabs and tadpoles, and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?" Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck. It hesitated and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea."Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea." After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease.。
10.誰有簡單的英文成語故事
成語故事,中英文對照 驚弓之鳥 birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring 戰(zhàn)國時期(公元前403―221年中國中原地區(qū)各諸侯國連年爭戰(zhàn)的時代)魏國有個名叫更羸的人。
in the warring states period, there was a man in the state of wei called geng lei. one day he said to the king: 'i can shoot down birds by simply plucking my bowstring.' when the king expressed doubt, geng lei pointed his bow at a wild goose flying in the sky, twanged the bowstring, and the goose fell to the ground. geng lei said, 'this goose has been hurt in the past. hearing the twang of the bowstring, it assumed that it was doomed. so it simply gave up trying to live.' “驚弓之鳥”這個成語比喻受過驚恐之后,有一點動靜就特別害怕。 this idiom means that if one has been frightened in the past one's will may become paralysed in a similar situation.。