一．刻舟求剑Making His Mark 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? 战国时，楚国有个人坐船渡江。船到江心，他一不小心。把随身携带的一把宝剑掉落江中。他马上掏出一把小刀，在船舷上刻上一个记号，说：“这是我宝剑落水的地方，所以我要刻上一个记号。” 船靠岸后，那楚人立即从船上刻记号的地方跳下水去捞取掉落的宝剑。捞了半天，仍不见宝剑的影子。其实他又怎么找得到宝剑呢？船继续行驶，而宝剑却不会再移动。像他这样去找剑，真是太愚蠢可笑了。 二 守株待兔Staying by a Stump Waiting for More Hares To Come and Dash Themselves Against It Staying by a Stump Waiting for More Hares To Come and Dash Themselves Against It This story took place more than 2,000 years ago,in the Warring States period（475-221 B.C.）.Tradition has it that in the State of Song at that time there was a man who was famous for staying by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it. He was a yong farmer,and his family had been farmers for generations.Year after year and generation after generation, farmers used to sow in spring and harvest in autumn,beginning to work at sunrise and retiring at sunset.In good harvest years,they could only have enough food to eat and enough clothing to wear.If there was a famine due to crop failure,they had to go hungry. This young farmer wanted to improve his life.But he was too lazy and too cowardly.Being lazy and cowardly over everything,he often dreamed of having unexpected blessings. A miracle took place at last. One day in late autumn,when he was ploughing in the field,two groups of people were hunting nearby.As shoutings were rising one after another,scared hares were running desperately.Suddenly,a blind hare dashed itself headlong against the stump of a dead tree in his field and died. That day,he ate his fill. From that day on,he no longer went in for farming again.From morning till night,he stayed by that miraculous stump,waiting for miracles to take place again. This story comes fromThe Five Verminin The Works of Han Feizi.Later generations often use the set phrasestaying by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against itto show grusting to chance and windfalls or dreaming to reap without sowing.It is also used to show adhering to narrow experiences and not being able to be flexible. 相传在战国时代宋国，有一个农民，日出而作，日入而息．遇到好年景，也不过刚刚吃饱穿暖；一遇灾荒，可就要忍饥挨饿了．他想改善生活，但他太懒，胆子又特小，干什么都是又懒又怕，总想碰到送上门来的意外之财。 奇迹终于发生了。深秋的一天，他正在田里耕地，周围有人在打猎。吆喝之声四处起伏，受惊的小野兽没命的奔跑。突然， 有一只兔子，不偏不倚，一头撞死在他田边的树根上。 当天，他美美地饱餐了一顿。 从此，他便不再种地。一天到晚，守着那神奇的树根，等着奇迹的出现。 成语“守株待兔”，比喻亡想不劳而得，或死守狭隘的经验，不知变通。 An illusory snake in a goblet is used to describe the psychological state of being frightened caused by taking illusions as reality. “杯弓蛇影”比喻把虚幻当作真实的恐惧心理。 ------------------------------------------------------- In Jin Dynasty there was a man named Yue Guang who was fond of drinking alcohol. 晋朝有个叫乐(yuè)广的人，爱喝酒。 One day, he invited a friend to his house to drink together. 一天，他邀请朋友到家里来对斟（zhēn)对饮。 Suddenly, his friend saw the reflection of a snack swimming in the goblet. 忽然，朋友看见酒杯里有条蛇影在游动。 He got so much frightened that he took ill on bed after getting home. 他受了惊吓，回去便一病不起。 And neither any doctor or any medicine could cure his illness. 请医服药，都无起色。 Yue Guang came to see him and asked about the cause of his disease. 乐广跑来看他，问明起病的缘由。 When he got to know the cause, he pulled his friend from the bed immdiately and took him to his house. 乐广听后一把拉起朋友往家走。 Yue Guang made his friend sit where he used to, pouring a goblet of alcohol for him, and asked him, Is there any snake reflection in the goblet? 他让朋友坐在原处，斟满酒问：“有蛇影吗？” There was still a snake reflection in the goblet! Yue casually took away the bow hanging on the wall. 杯子里还有“蛇影”！乐广随手取下墙上的弓。 This time, the snake reflection disappeared. 这次，“蛇影”不见了！ So it was the bow reflection that was in the goblet! His friend at once got well from his illness. “杯子里原来是弓影呀！”朋友的病情顿时好了！ 天衣无缝 There was a man called Guo Han in the Tang Dynasty(618-907).One summer night, when the moon was very bright he suddenly saw a girl descending slowly from the sky. He observed the girl closely, and found that the dress she was wearing was seamless. He was puzzled, and asked why. The girl answered,Heavenly clothes are not sewn with needle and thread. This idiom is used metaphorically to indicate the flawless handling of things. It can also be used to indicate a perfectly written poem or other literary article. 唐朝有个人教郭翰。一个夏天的晚上，月光非常明亮，他忽然看见天空中有个女子轻盈而缓慢地飘落下来。他仔细地观察那个女子，发现她身上穿的衣服连一条缝也没有，感到非常奇怪，便问那个女子。女子回答说：“天衣本来就用不着针线缝合的呀！” 这个成语用来比喻处理事情十分周密，不露一点痕迹。也比喻诗文写得很精辟，找不出一点毛病。 一丘之貉 In the Han Dynasty, there was an official called Yang Yun who was both capable and honest. Commenting on the assassination of a king of a small state, he said, “If a king refuses to follow the advice of a wise minister, he will suffer an unitimely death. The emperor of the Qin Dynasty trusted treacherous ministers, and therefore lost his state.” He compared kings and emperors to racoons living on the same mountain. This idiom refers derogatorily to people who are of the same kind. 汉朝时，有个叫杨恽的人，在朝廷做官，廉洁无私，有很有才能。有一次，他听说一个小国王被杀死，就发表议论说：“君王不采纳贤臣的计策，就会得到这种下场。秦朝皇帝宠信奸臣，所以亡国；如果重用贤臣，他的国家就不会灭亡了。”他最后总结说，古今的帝王都不过是一个山丘上的貉而已。 这个成语比喻某些人彼此相同，或者都是坏人。 黔驴技穷 从前，贵州没有驴子，有人从外地带回一头驴子，拴在山下，一只老虎看到了，以为是什么怪物，急忙躲到树林中去头头地瞧。驴子大叫一声，老虎吓了一跳，以为驴子要吃掉自己。时间一长，老虎觉得驴子没有什么恶意，逐渐走近去戏弄它，触犯它。驴子生气了，用蹄子踢老虎。老虎心里想：“你的本领不过就是如此啊！”于是立刻扑过去，一口把它咬死吃掉了。 这个成语比喻仅有的一点本事也用完了，在没有别的办法了。 The Guizhou Donkey Has Exhausted It's Tricks In ancient times there were no donkeys in Guizhou province. Somebody brought a donkey from somewhere and tied it to a tree at the foot of a mountain. A tiger saw the donkey, and thought that it must be a fearsome monster. It hide behind a tree and spied on the donkey. When the donkey brayed, the tiger was frightened, thinking that the donkey was about to devour it. After a while, seeing that the donkey had not moved, the tiger approached it and teased it. The donkey became angry, and kicked the tiger. The tiger thought to itself:It then all it is capable of? It then jumped on the donkey and ate it. This idiom is used to mean that one has exhauseted one's skills.
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