yanrongsun
Carrying Faggots to Put Out a Fire In the last years of the Warring States period, the State of Qin attacked the State of Wei on a large scale repeatedly and occupied large areas of land, for the State of Wei was too weak to defend itself. In 273 B.B., the qin army launched another attack upon the State of Wei with a momentum more vigorous than ever. The king of the State of Wei summoned his officials,and asked with a worried look if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army. After years of chaos caused by the wars,the officials trembled when fighting was mentioned, and no one dared to speak ofresistance. At the critical moment when a large enemy force was bearing down upon the border, most of the offinials persuaded the king to sue for peace, at the cost of giving away to the State of Qin the large area of land north of the Huanghe River and south of the Taihang Mountain. However Su Dai, a counsellor, did not agree. He hurried up to the king and said:"Your Majesty, they don't think about the interests of the country at all.It is just because they are cowardly and afraid of death that they ask you to sue for peace by betraying the country. Of course you can temperarily satisfy the ambition of the king of the State of Qin is insatiably greedy. It will never stop assaulting us until our land is totally given away."Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water, but he would not listen. Instead, he carried a faggot to put out the fire, only to make the fire fiercer. That was because he didn't know that,instead of putting out the fire, faggots could only make it burning more vigorously. Isn't it equivalent to carrying faggots to put out a fire if you agree to sue for peace at the cost of the land of the State of Wei?"Though Su Dai's argument was very convincing, the king accepted the suggestion of those officials and gave away to the State of Qin a large area of the land of the State of Wei. For the king of the State of Wei was cowardly and only cared for peace at the moment.As might be expected,the Qin army assaulted the State of Wei on a large scale in 225 B.C.,surrounding the capital city Daliang and flooding it by digging open the dykes of the Huanghe River.The State of Wei was finally destroyed by the State of Qin.This story appears in the Historical Records Written by Sima Qian.The set phrase"carrying faggots to put out a fire"is used to mean adopting a wrong method to save a situation and ending up by making it worse. 抱薪救火 战国末期,秦国向魏国接连发动大规模的进攻,魏国无力抵抗,大片土地都被秦军占领了。到公元前273年,秦国又一次向魏国出兵,势头空前猛烈。 魏王把大臣们召来,愁眉苦脸地问大家有没有使秦国退兵的办法。大臣们由于经过多年的战乱,提起打仗就吓得哆嗦,谁也不敢谈“抵抗”二字。在这大兵压境的危急时刻,多数大臣都劝魏王,用黄河以北和太行山以南的大片土地为代价,向秦王求和。 谋士苏代听了这些话,很不以为然,忙上前对魏王说:“大王,他们是因为自己胆小怕死,才让您去卖国求和,根本不为国家着想。您想,把大片土地割让给秦国虽然暂时满足了秦王的野心,但秦国的欲望是无止境的,只要魏国的土地没割完,秦军就不会停止进攻我们。”说到这里,苏代讲了一个故事:从前有一个人,他的房子起火了,别人劝他快用水去浇灭大火,但他不听,偏抱起一捆柴草去救火,是因为他不懂得柴草不但不能灭火反而能助长火势的道理。大王若同意拿着魏国土地去求和,不就等于抱着柴草救火吗?” 尽管苏代讲得头头是道,但是胆小的魏王只顾眼前的太平,还是依大臣们的意见把魏国大片土地割让给秦国。到公元225年,果然秦军又向魏国大举进攻,包围了国都大梁,掘开黄河大堤让洪水淹没了大梁城,魏国终于被秦国灭掉了。 故事出自《史记魏世家》。成语“抱薪救火”比喻用错误的方法去消灭祸害,结果反而使祸害扩
大馄饨小馄饨
The city mouse and the country mouseThere once was a mouse who lived in the country. His house was small, but neat and among many beautiful trees and flowers, He liked gardening and taking a walk in the woods. One day, his rich city cousin came for a visit .The country mouse gave his cousin a simple meal of bread and milk. The city mouse looked unhappy. "In the city where I live," his cousin bragged, "I eat large, fancy meals three times a day. I eat salmon, oysters, soup, salad, chicken and chocolate cake. Every night I have a huge meal! But cousin, all you have is bread and milk!"The country mouse looked at his wooden table with bread and milk. Suddenly, he wasn't happy anymore. "Why should I live so poorly?" he thought. "Cousin, I'm going to the city with you!" the country mouse said. They went to the city. The country mouse was amazed by the tall buildings and the noise of cars. Soon they arrived at the fine mansion where the city mouse lived. They city mouse took his cousin into the fancy dining room where dinner had been prepared. "XU! Make sure no one can hear us," the city mouse said.” Let’s go on top of the table." The city mouse gave his country cousin a tour of the leftover food on the table. There were fancy dishes of food everywhere. There were salmon, chicken, cheese, salad, chocolate cake and ice cream. "This is the good life," the city mouse said. He smiled as he bit into a piece of salmon. The country mouse started eating some chicken. Both of them ware enjoying themselves. Suddenly, a cat came in the kitchen. "Uh oh," said the city mouse, "we better hide before the cat sees us." However, it was too late. The cat had already seen the two mice. The cat jumped onto the table, and chased the two mice around .The city mouse hid in the corner while the country mouse ran for his life. Finally, the country mouse climbed to the window. He said,” Cousin, I'm going back to the country! You never told me there would be a cat in your fancy city house! I would rather eat my simple meal of bread and milk in comfort." The country mouse returned to his simple home. The city mouse never understood his cousin's choice .He continued to live his life of plenty, but in fear of the cat.
miumiu大酱
作文如下:
IT was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use.
旧年的最后一个晚上,天气非常寒冷,几乎漆黑一片,雪下得很快。在寒冷和黑暗中,一个可怜的小女孩,光着头,光着脚,在街上漫步。她离开家时确实穿了一双拖鞋,但没有多大用处。
They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own.
它们非常大,确实很大,是属于她母亲的,可怜的小东西跑过马路,避开了两辆以可怕速度滚动的马车,把它们弄丢了。她找不到一只拖鞋,一个男孩抓住另一只拖鞋跑掉了,说当他有了自己的孩子时,他可以把它当作摇篮。
So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold. In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had any one given here even a penny.
于是,小女孩继续用她的赤裸的小脚行走,因为寒冷,小脚变得又红又蓝。她穿着一条旧围裙,手里拿着几根火柴。一整天都没有人向她买任何东西,也没有人给过她一分钱。
Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.
她又冷又饿,浑身发抖,蹑手蹑脚地走着;可怜的孩子,她看上去很痛苦。雪花落在她金色的长发上,卷曲着披在肩上,但她并不在意。
中译英技巧:
指根据英汉两种语言不同的思维方式、语言习惯和表达方式,在翻译时增添一些词、短句或句子,以便更准确地表达出原文所包含的意义。
这种方式多半用在汉译英里。汉语无主句较多,而英语句子一般都要有主语,所以在翻译汉语无主句的时候,除了少数可用英语无主句、被动语态或“There be…”结构来翻译以外,一般都要根据语境补出主语,使句子完整。
天堂的阶梯
The Thirsty Pigeon口渴的鸽子 A PIGEON, oppressed by excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. Not supposing it to be only a picture, she flew towards it with a loud whir and unwittingly dashed against the signboard, jarring herself terribly. Having broken her wings by the blow, she fell to the ground, and was caught by one of the bystanders. Zeal should not outrun discretion. 有只鸽子口渴得很难受,看见画板上画着一个水瓶,以为是真的。他立刻呼呼地猛飞过 去,不料一头碰撞在画板上,折断了翅膀,摔在地上,被人轻易地捉住了。 这是说,有些人想急于得到所需的东西,一时冲动,草率从事,就会身遭不幸。 The Raven and the Swan乌鸦和天鹅 A RAVEN saw a Swan and desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swan's splendid white color arose from his washing in the water in which he swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living, and took up residence in the lakes and pools. But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food he perished. Change of habit cannot alter Nature. 乌鸦非常羡慕天鹅洁白的羽毛。他猜想天鹅一定是经常洗澡,羽毛才变得如此洁白无 瑕。于是,他毅然离开了他赖以生存的祭坛,来到江湖边。他天天洗刷自己的羽毛,不但一 点都没洗白,反而因缺少食物饥饿而死。 这故事是说,人的本性不会随着生活方式的改变而改变。
黄小琼琼
理想是海中的风向标,理想是高山上的雪莲,理想是风浪中的小船,载着我驶向胜利的彼岸。每个人都有美好的理想。有的想当白衣天使——医生,有的想当人类灵魂的工程师——老师,有的想当国家栋梁管理国家大事。而我的理想是当一名画家。我要华夏世界各地的风景名胜区当地的风俗、名胜古迹、悠久历史的建筑,画下那明亮的太阳,画下那柔软的风,画下世界上温柔的爱,画下最美的亲情……假如我的理想实现了,我便飞往孔雀之乡——西双版纳。细细描绘那“花谢花开无日了,春来春去不相关”的西双版纳。西双版纳是个美丽、神奇的地方。有茫茫无边的原始森林,奇花异草人眼花缭乱,千年古树比比皆是,有的甚至活了100万年。西双版纳是个天然的动物园。有陆地脊椎动物500多种,珍禽300种,有爬行动物60多种。像孟加拉虎、长臂猿等动物,在品种和数量上都居全国之最。为了实现我这个理想,我一定要努力学习,努力锻炼自己的绘画技巧,开拓知识面,学会多门语言,学会和陌生人打交道。
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