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 immediately 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!
东施效颦
In the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期,770-476 BC), there was a beauty in the State of Yue called Xishi (西施).
传说春秋时期,越国有一美女,名唤西施。
She often suffered from pains in her chest, and so she would often walk around doubled over and with her brows knitted.
但是西施有心口疼的毛病,所以她经常手捂胸口,皱着眉头走着。
There was an ugly girl in the village called Dongshi who envied Xishi.
村子里还住着一位丑姑娘,叫做东施,她十分嫉妒西施。
Striving to emulate Xishi, she imitated her stoop, knitting her brows at the same time.
于是东施时常效仿西施,手捂胸口,紧皱眉头。
She thought that this made her elegant, but in fact, it only made her more ugly.
东施觉得她效仿西施就会变得很美丽,但是实际上,只会使她变得更难看而已。
Later, this idiom came to be used to indicate improper imitation that produces the reverseeffect.
这个典故比喻不恰当的模仿,带来相反的效果。
破釜沉舟
In the late years of the Qin Dynasty (秦朝,221 - 206BC), Xiang Yu (项羽) launched a rebellion.
秦朝末年,项羽发动了叛乱。
After crossing the Zhang River (漳河), Xiang Yu ordered his soldiers to sink all the boats and break their cooking pots.
在部队渡过漳河之后,项羽命令士兵把所有的船只都凿破,沉到河底,再把煮饭锅完全打碎。
He distributed each soldier three days' rations and warned them that there was no way return; the only thing they could do to survive was to fight against the enemy.
项羽给每个人只发三天的粮食,然后再上战场,这样做,是为了向大家表示“宁死不退”的决心。
After nine furious war, the Qin army was finally defeated.
果然,经过九次的激烈奋战,项羽的军队终于打败了秦国的军队。
This idiom is used to reveal one's strong determination to achieve one's goal at any cost.
Mom said: "Because of this, it will thorn you. if the next time you met Ramie, to a courageous and seize it, it will be in your hands become soft as silk, you will no longer be stabbed. "
这个英语小故事告诉人们,许多人都是服硬不服软的。
It is said that many people are serving hard against soft.
There are a man of the State of Song who liked to curry favour with others.
One day, he got a piece of uncarved jade and went to present it to Zi Han, a minister of the State of Song, with the intention to ingratiate himself with the official.
Zi Han adamantly refused to accept it.
Thereupon, this man said in honeyed words: “This is a piece of rare jade. I regard it as a treasure suitable for a gentleman’s utensil. If it gets into the hands of an old gentleman like you, to be worn by you or put on your dining table, that would be most suitable and fitting. I am an unrefined man, not deserving such a valuable treasure.”
“You man regard this piece of jade as a treasure,” said Zi Han, “but I do not accept other’s fawning, nor do I regard this kind of conduct a treasure.”
The man of Song felt he had asked for a snub and sneaked away.
Once upon a time, a man saw a doorbell hanging from someone’s door and wanted to steal it.
But he knew if he were to steal, it would start ringing the moment his hand touched it, if he were discovered, not only he couldn’t get the bell, but he himself might also be caught.
He thought this over and said to himself:
“Why will there be trouble when a bell rings? This is because our ears can hear it. If I cover my ears, I won’t be able to hear it. This way I won’t be caught.”
Later, he eventually got an idea. He first covered his own ears, then went on to steal the bell,
However, in the end he was still discovered and caught red-handed.
A hippo lives in the zoo. I like him very much. I often go to see him. He often thinks of me, too. Today is Sunday. It is fine day. I go to see him again. After I leave the zoo, he follows me to my house. I give him lettuce, cabbages, bananas, apples and other food. He eats them up. When I sing songs, he stays in the pool. He is as quite as a rabbit.
In the evening, he jumps onto my bed with me. My mum tells him to go home. He has to pack his bag and go back to the zoo. My mum lets me see him every week.
It’s very hot.。 An old man is asleep on the chair. A fly comes and sits on the end of the man’s nose.
The old man has a naughty monkey. He chases the fly.
The fly comes back again and sits on the old man’s nose again. The monkey chases it away again and again.
This happens five or six times. The monkey is very angry. He jumps up, runs to the garden and picks up a large stone.
When the fly sits on the old man’s nose again, the monkey hits it hard with the stone.
He kills the fly and breaks the old man’s nose.
调皮的猴子
天气很热。一位老人在椅子上睡着了。
一只苍蝇飞来落在老人的鼻子上。
老人有一只顽皮的猴子。猴子在追打苍蝇。
苍蝇再次飞落在老人的鼻子上,猴子一再追打苍蝇。
这样往返了五六次,猴子很生气。
他跳着跑到花园,捡起一块大石头。
当苍蝇再次落在老人的鼻子上时,猴子用石头击中老人的鼻子上的`苍蝇。
他砸死了苍蝇也打破了老人的鼻子。
One day, a monkey rides his bike near the river. This time he sees a lion under a tree. The lion runs at him. He is afraid and falls into the river. He can’t swim. He shouts. The rabbit hears him. He jumps into the river. The rabbit swims to the monkey, but he can’t help him. Luckily, an elephant comes along. He is very strong. He helps the rabbit and monkey. Three friends are very happy. They go to the elephant’s home. Then, three of them become good friends.