英语成语故事

英语成语故事

01

　　英语成语故事《画饼充饥》

　　This idiom comes from Records of Three Kingdoms? Kingdom of Wei ? Biography of Lu Yu. When Lu Yu, the minister of the State of Wei was young, his parents and brothers all died one after another, and he became an orphan. In such a difficult situation, he still studied very hard. Finally he became a talented person and served as a high officialof hisstate.Hewassouprightin performing his official duties that he was promoted to the minister of the Board of Civil Office, in charge of the officials' appointments and removals.

　　Owing to the vacancy of Lu Yu's original post, it had to fill up a new official for it. Although there were many officials to recommend some well-known people for the post, all were refused by Emperor Wen. He only let Lu Yu do it and also pointed out:"It depends on you whether we can find the right person for the important post. But we can't choose someone only with fame in stead of his real ability. You see, the fame is just like drawing cakes on the ground to allay hungry."

　　Then Lu expressed his idea:" You are right, YourMajesty, selections should depend on their real learning and abilities. But the real fame is still very important, such as self-possession and high moral character. So we should select people with both of them."

　　Now we use it to describe comforting oneself with unrealistic thoughts, without solving practical problemsand feeding on illusions.

　　此语出自《三国志?魏志?卢毓传》。三国时代,魏国的大臣卢毓,自幼父母双亡,两位兄长又先后去世,他成了孤儿。但他刻苦学习,终于成了很有才学的人,而且做了朝廷大臣。他为官清正、廉洁,因而连连提升,后被任命为吏部尚书,负责官吏的任免。

　　卢毓升任吏部尚书后,他原担任的中书郎职务空缺,需要选拔人补上,当时有很多大臣都推荐一些有名气的人来担任,但都被魏文帝拒绝了。魏文帝曹睿要卢毓选好这个官,并对他说:“这次选拔中书郎,能否选到合适的人,就看你了。千万不要选那些只有虚名而没有真才实学的人,虚名就像在地上画的饼,是不能充饥的。”

　　卢毓对此说出了他的意见:“陛下说得很对,选拔不能只看名气,但名气也能反映一定的实际情况,如果是修养、才学都好而有名气就不应该嫌弃,主要看他们是否有真才实学。”

整理：wjl201603

成语故事英文版

02

　　英语成语故事《后来居上》

　　the latecomers surpass the old-timers

　　this set phrase is derived from the complaints ji an made to the emperor.

　　ji anlived at the time of emperor wudi of the western han dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d.24). he was respected for being upright and just and for daring to speak the truth. he did not bother about amall matters in personal behaviour and in being an official. he was particular about actual effects and ,although he did not cause a stir ,he could keep the prefecture he governed in perfect order. because of this. the imperial court transferred him to the central government from being the perfect of the donghai prefecture to being a commander in charge of the appointment and dismissal of the local officals.

　　once,emperor wudi said that he would implement the policy of benevolence and justice of confucianism and would do good turns to the people.emperor wudi had hardly finished his remards when ji an said that there was no need for the emperor to say so.why should the emperor bother,ji an said, about pretending to implement the policy of benevolence and justice since he was so greedy and avaricious within himself? this choked the emperor off. the emperor suddenly changed his countenance and declared the meeting over. all the civilian and military officers at court were breathless with anxiety for fear that ji an might bring disaster upon himself because of this. after returning, emperor wudi said to the people around him that ji an was a little too rude and too straightforward.

　　for this reason ,ji an was never promoted again. when he was the commander in charge of the appointment and dismissal of the local officials, both gongsun hong and zhang tang were low -ranking lfficials of little importance. later ,they were promoted continuously. gongsun hong became the prime minister and zhang tang became the imperial censor. however, jian's post remained thesame. one day, ji an said to emperor wudi that the way the emperor used his ministers was just like piling up firewood, which meant that the latecomers surpassed the old-timers. of course, emperor wudi could see that ji an was complaining. so,turning to his ministers, emperor wudi said, "it is true that no one can stop learning.you see, ji an is making more and more indiscreet remarks."

　　this story comes from the historical records. later generations use the set phrase "the latecomers surpass the old-timers " to indicate that successors can cxcel the predecessors, which is quite different from the original idea when ji an said that the latecomers surpassed the old-timers.

　　后来居上

　　汲黯是西汉武帝时代人，以刚直正义、敢讲真话而受人尊重。他为人和做官都不拘小节，讲求实效。虽然表面上不那么轰轰烈烈，却能把一个郡治理得井井有条，因此，朝廷把他从东海太守调到朝廷当主爵都尉——一种主管地方吏任免的官职。

　　有一次，汉武帝说要实行儒家的仁义之政，为老百姓办好事了。没等皇帝把话说完，汲黯就说：“陛下内心里那么贪婪多欲，表面上却要装得实行仁政，这是何苦呢？”一句话把皇帝噎了回去。汉武帝登时脸色大变，宣布罢朝，满朝文武都为汲黯捏着一把汗，担心他会因此招来大祸。武帝回到宫里以后，对身边的人说，汲黯这个人也未免太粗太直了。

　　从此以后，汲黯的官职再也没有提升。他当主爵都尉的时候，公孙弘、张汤都还是不起眼的小官，后来，他们一个劲儿住上升，公孙弘当上了丞相，张汤做上了御史大夫，可他汲黯还蹲在原地没动窝。有一天，汲黯对武帝说，陛下使用群臣，跟码劈柴一样，是“后来者居上”啊！汉武帝当然听得出这是发牢骚。于是，转脸对臣下们说：“人真是不能不学习啊！你们听汲黯说话，越来越离谱了！”

　　故事出自《史记·汲郑列传》。成语“后来居上”，往往指后起的可以胜过先前的。和汲黯说这话的原意，大不相同。

整理：wjl201603

英语成语故事带翻译

03

　　英语成语故事《如火如荼》

　　like fire and flowering rush

　　in the years around 480 b.c.,china was in the last phase of the spring and autumn period.fu chai,king of the state of wu,conquered the states of yue,lu and chi one after another.then fu chai,overweeningly ambitious,led his army marching into the northwest in an attempt to conquer the state of jin in one vigorous effort.

　　but just at that time,gou jian,king of the state of yue,outflanked fu chai and attacked him in the rear.gou jian's army fought one battle after another and arrived in gu su,capital of the state of wu,at last,and took away the big boats of the state of wu.gou jin also sent his troops to occupy the huai river immediately,thus cutting off fu chai's retreat

　　the shocking news reached fu chai,king of the state of wu,like a head-on blow to him.so he called his civilian officials and military generals at once to find a way to deal with this serious situation.his civilian officials and military their troops now would mean defeat,and that they would be attacked by both the troops of the jin army and the troops of the yue army.but ,if they could defeat the state of jin,fu chai would become a powerful chief of the princes at that time,and it would not be too late for fu chai to settle with gou jian after that

　　having made this decision,they knew that a pressing matter of the moment was to conquer th state of jin as quickly as possible.after considering over and over again,they decided to try to defeat the jin army by a surprise move.

　　one day towards evening,the king of the state of wu gave his orders.the officers and men of the whole army ate their fill,and the steeds were well fed with fodder.30,000 officers and men were chosen from the whole army to from three phalanxes,with 10,000officers and men each.the solders in the middle phalanx wore white suits of armour,and carried white flags and white bows and arrows,and they were led by king of the state of wu fu chai himself.the other two phalanxes were led by senior generals.the soldiers in the left phalanx wore red suits of armour,and carried red flags and red bows and arrows.the in dealing with the case,because the empress would certainly blame him and punish him.how could he solve the problem then? he turned the problem over and over in his mind, and finally thought out a "brilliant scheme".

　　lai junchen had a sumptuous feast prepared,and invited zhou xing to his home. the two of them urged each other to drink,and they talked while drinking.after the wine had gone round three times,i often come across prisoners who stubbournly refuse to admit they are guilty.i wonder if you have any effective measures." hearing this,zhou xing said,"get a big vat,scorch it hot with charcoal fire all around,and then let the prisoner come into the vat.will the prisoner fail to make a comfession of his crime?"hearing this,laijunchen nodded his head in approval repeatedly.he then ordered his subordinates to bring a big vat ,and had a charcoal fire lit all around it as zhou xing had said.he then turned to zhou xing and said,"someone in the rebellion.the empress has ordered me to deal with the case severely.so i beg your pardon,but would you kindly step into the soldiers in the right phalanx wore black suits of armour,and carried black flags and black bows and arrows.the whole army set out at midnight,and arrived at dawn at a place within a li's distance of the jin army.when the day was beginning to break,the soldiers of the wu army began to berat the drums heavily and their shoutings resounded like rolls of thunder.

　　awakening from their dreams,the solders of the jin army were almost stupefied by the imposing manner of the three phalanxes of the wu army.the white phalanx was like a field covered with flowering rush,the red phalanx was like a burning fire,and the black phalanx was simply like a sea too deep to fathom.

　　this story comes from comversations from the states.later generations often use the set phrase "like fire and flowering rush"to refer to tremendous momentum.

　　如火如荼

　　春秋时代末期，吴国国王夫差连续征服了越国、鲁国和齐国，雄心勃勃，又继续向西北进军，打算一鼓作气征服晋国。

　　可正在这个时候，越王勾践抄了吴王的后路。他带领军队一直打到吴国的国都姑苏（苏州），又派人马占据淮河，把吴王的退路切断了。

　　这消息给吴王夫差当头泼了一盆冷水，他非常震惊，立即召集文臣武将商量对策。大家说，现在退回去等于两关打了败仗，还会两头挨打；如果能打败晋国，就等于在诸候国中当定了霸主，再回去收拾越王勾践也不算晚。

　　大主意已经拿定，当务之急是尽快征服晋国。考虑再三，决定出奇制胜。

　　一天傍晚，吴王下达了命令。全军将士吃得饱饱的，马也喂足了草料。从全军中挑出三万精兵强将。每一万人摆成一个方阵，共摆三个方阵。每个方阵横竖都是一百人。每一行排头的都是军官司。每十行，也就是一千人，由一个大夫负责。每项一个方阵由一名将军率领。中间的方阵白盔白甲，白衣服，白旗帜，白弓箭，由吴王自己掌握，称为中军；左边的方阵，红盔红甲、红衣服、红简直就像深不可测；右边的方阵则一水儿黑色。半夜出发，黎明时分到达离晋军仅有一里路的地方。天色刚刚显出亮色，吴军鼓声大作，欢呼之声震天动工地。

　　晋军从梦中醒来，一看吴军那三个方阵和声威气势，简直都惊呆了：那白色方阵，“望之如荼”——像开满白花的茅草地；那红色方阵，“望之如火”——如像熊熊燃烧的火焰；而那黑色的方阵，简直就象深不可测的大海。

　　故事出自《国语·吴语》。成语“如火如荼”，形容某种人群或事物阵容之大，气势之盛。

整理：wjl201603

英语成语小故事

04

　　英语成语小故事一：

　　Adding Eyes to a Dragon

　　画龙点睛

　　Mr. Li is a good painter. One day he draws a beautiful dragon without eyes.

　　李先生是位很好的画家。一天画了一条栩栩如生的龙，但是这只龙没有眼睛。

　　Mr. Zhou looks at the picture and says, “The dragon has no eyes. It isn’t a good picture.”

　　周先生见了说：“这条龙没有眼睛。这不算一张好画。”

　　But Mr. Li smiles and says, “If I add eyes to the dragon, it will fly away.”

　　可是李先生笑着说：“如果我给它加上眼睛，它就会飞走了。”

　　Mr. Zhou shakes head and says, “You are boasting. I don’t believe you.”

　　周先生摇头说：“你吹牛。我不相信。”

　　Mr. Li isn’t angry. He holds the paintbrush and adds eyes to the dragon. Wow! The dragon really flies.

　　李先生也不生气，只是拿起笔给龙点上眼睛。哇！龙真的飞走了。

　　英语成语小故事二：

　　Lord Ye’s Love of the Dragon

　　叶公好龙

　　There is a young man, Lord Ye. He likes dragons vey much. He draws many dragons in his house. The house becomes a world of dragon.

　　有个年轻人，姓叶，非常喜欢龙。他在屋里面画了许多许多龙。这屋子都快成了龙的世界。

　　A red dragon hears of Lord Ye, and is deeply moved. He wants to visit Lord Ye and makes a friend with him.

　　一龙真龙听说了叶公的事，很受感动，就想去拜访叶公，和他交个朋友。

　　“Hi, Mr. Ye! Nice to meet you,” the real dragon comes to visit Mr. Ye.

　　“嘿。叶先生！很高兴见到你。”这条真龙拜访叶先生了。

　　Ye runs away as fast as he can. “Oh, my God! Help! Help!” He runs and shouts.

　　可是叶先生飞快地逃了。还边跑边喊：“啊，我的天啊！救命！救命！”

整理：wjl201603