中国成语英语故事

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), prince Zhou Xu of the State of Wei killed his brother and became the new emperor. Zhou Xu was a tyrant. He oppressed his people and indulged in wars of agGREssion. By launching wars, he tried to divert the people's attention and reduce their discontent with him in order to consolidate his dictatorship.

The Duke of the State of Lu leant about Zhou Xu's usurpation of state power and his ambitious plan, he asked a senior official, "What do you think about Zhou Xu's move? "The official answered, "He indulges in wars , bringing his people much disaster. He won't get their support. And he's capricious, so few of his close friends follow him. He can never achieve his success. In addition, war is like fire. If one launches wars endlessly without restraint, he'll eventually burn himself. "

Sure enough, the people of Wei with the help of the State of Chen overthrew Zhou Xu and killed him in less than a year.

Later, people use it to mean that those who do evil will finally ruin themselves.

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.

Near China's northern borders lived a man well versed in the practices of Taoism. His horse, for no reason at all, got into the territory of the northern tribes. Everyone commiserated with him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said his father.

After a few months, his animal came back, leading a fine horse from the north. Everyone congratulated him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a cause of misfortune," said his father.

Since he was well-off and kept good horses his son became fond of riding and eventually broke his thigh bone falling from a horse. Everyone commiserated with him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said his father.

One year later, the northern tribes started a big invasion of the border regions. All able-bodied young men took up arms and fought against the invaders, and as a result, around the border nine out of ten men died. This man's son did not join in the fighting because he was crippled and so both the boy and his father survived.

英语成语故事-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.＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝英语故事:惊弓之鸟A Bird Startled by the Mere Twang of a Bow-String This set phrase figuratively denotes those who have suffered disasters and so have a lingering fear when anything happen. During the War Period ,in the Wèi State there lived a famous archer named Gēng léi. One day,Gēng léi and the King of Wei standing on a high terrace saw some birds flying past. At this Gēng léi said to the King:"I'll shoot a flying bird down for YourMajesty by drawing a bow with no arrow." The King asked,"Is it possible that one's archery can attain such a level?" A little later,a wild goose was flying from the east. Gēng léi just drew his bow but didn't shoot an arrow. As expected,the wild goose fell to the ground with the twang. The King asked in surprise,"How can your archery reach such a high level?" Gēng léi replied ,"This wild goose has been wounded." The King got more surprised,asking,"How do you know it,sir?" Gēng léi esplained,"This wild goose flew slowly and cried sadly.Its flying slowly suggested that it was still aching with the old wound; its crying sadly suggested that it had strayed long from its flock.When it heard the twang the wild goose had to flutter hard to fly high for its life.So it is evitably fell down with its old wound burst." ＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝刻舟求剑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?

中文 抱薪救火English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。 英文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.哈哈

1.【“守株待兔”】In the Spring and Autumn Period, a farmer in the State of Song was one day working in the fields, when he saw a rabbit bump into a tree stump accidentally and break its neck. The farmer took the rabbit home, and cooked himself a delicious meal. That night he thought, "I needn't work so hard. All I have to do is wait for a rabbit each day by the stump." So from then on he gave up farming, and simply sat by the stump waiting for rabbits to come and run into it.This idiom satirizes those who just wait for a stroke of luck, rather than making efforts to obtain what they need.【“守株待兔”这个成语，讥笑那些不想经过努力，存在侥幸心理，希望得到意外收获的人。】 2.【“南辕北辙”】Once a man wanted to go to the south, but his carriage was heading north. A passer-by asked him: "If you are going to the south, why is your chariot heading north? " The man answered, "My horse is good at running, my driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage, and I have enough money. " The man didn't consider that the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were, the further he was away from his destination.The idiom derived from this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention.【后来人们就把这个故事概括为“南辕北辙”，比喻一个人的行为和他的目的正好相反。】