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30、Idiom-Quick Success 马到成功 秦始皇听闻花彩斑石是女娲补天时遗落的神石，能保佑江山稳固，所以修好驰道，率领万千军马恭敬祭拜。事后果真天下太平，百官作诗庆贺。成语“马到成功“便出自此处，但这个故事和马到成功又有什么关系呢？让我们看看接下来的故事吧！In 221 BCE, Qin Shi Huang created the first Chinese Empire. He became the First Emperor of China.A storyteller told Qin Shi Huang an interesting tale about Nuwa, the Great Mother Goddess. This is what the storyteller said:In the beginning of the world, Earth and Heaven were connected. Heaven was held up by four pillars. Mount Buzhou was one of these posts.Gong Gong was the Chinese water god. He got into a battle with Zhu Rong, the god of fire.“I am the most important god!” Gong Gong roared.“Silly fool, I am much more important than you!” Zhu Rong raged.“I will burn you to a mist!”“I will drown you and put you out forever!”The two gods yelled louder and louder. Their angry words turned into a real fight. Both gods were strong and powerful. The Earth felt every punch and every kick. Earthquakes shook the ground. Tidal waves flooded the beaches. Lava burst from volcanoes.Zhu Rong proved to be the stronger god. Gong Gong was crushed when he lost the battle. He smashed his head against Mount Buzhou in anger. He hit the mountain over and over again. The Heavens began to fall to the Earth. The land was flooded. People everywhere were suffering because of Gong Gong and Zhu Rong’s fight.Nuwa felt sorry for the people of Earth. She had created all of them!“How can this happen to my people? They did nothing wrong!” Nuwa cried. “I must find a way to fix this mess.” Nuwa had an idea. She searched the Earth for five colored stones. The stones had special powers.“Blue for water.” Nuwa grabbed the blue stone.“White for metal. Red for fire.” Nuwa picked up two more stones.“Black for wood,” Nuwa continued. “And finally, yellow for the earth.”She melted the stones together to form a paste. Then she spent nine days patching up the skies. And that is why the sky has always been full of color.Qin Shi Huang listened closely to the story of Nuwa’s stones.“It is believed one of those stones fell down to Earth,” the storyteller said. “Some say it is on Rong Cheng Mountain.”“If that is true, then I will be the one to find it!” Qin Shi Huang promised.Qin Shi Huang was determined to find the stone. He believed it would help him build a strong empire. And so, his search began.Qin Shi Huang demanded that a road to the mountain be built. (The emperor was famous for his building projects. One of them was the Great Wall of China.)Qin Shi Huang took an army of thousands to Rong Cheng Mountain.After a long search, Qin Shi Huang found the stone on the mountain! He held a sacred ceremony to worship it.Soon after, the empire did become stronger and more peaceful! Qin Shi Huang believed that the sacred stone had worked!He ordered poems and songs to be written about his journey. One poet wrote, “Thousands of horses on the royal road; victory was attained when Shi Huang worshipped the stone.”Everyone wanted the poem to be remembered. It was passed down from parents to children. Everyone liked it very much.Over a thousand years later, a writer of popular Chinese operas heard the poem. He loved the story about the emperor’s trip to find the sacred stone. It inspired him. He wrote the phrase “instant victory upon arrival on a horse.” He used it in one of his earliest operas.Later, people continued to use the phrase to refer to an instant victory or quick success.Question: Why do you think Qin Shi Huang built new roads during his time as leader of China? 核心词汇 empire n. 帝国 goddess n. 女神 pillar n. 柱子 post n. 桩，柱 battle n. 战役，战斗 mist n. 薄雾，雾状物 drown v. 淹死，溺死 put out v. 把（火）扑灭 yell v. 叫嚷，号叫 punch n. 猛击，攻击 tidal adj. 潮的 lava n. 岩浆 volcano n. 火山 smash v. 打碎，摧毁，打破 melt v. （使）融化 paste n. 糊状物 patch up 修补，草草修理 determined adj. 已下决心的，决意的 demand v. 要求 sacred adj. 神圣的 ceremony n. 典礼 royal adj. 皇室的 attain v. 达到，获得 worship v. 崇拜，祭拜 inspire v. 鼓舞，激励 refer to 提到，指称 以下翻译来自百度翻译： 公元前221年，秦始皇建立了第一个中华帝国。他成为中国的第一位皇帝。一位讲故事的人给秦始皇讲了一个关于伟大的母亲女神女娲的有趣故事。讲故事的人是这么说的：在世界之初，天地是相连的。天堂由四根柱子支撑着。布州山就是其中之一。两位神的叫喊声越来越大。他们愤怒的话变成了一场真正的战斗。两位神都很强大。地球感受到了每一次撞击和每一次踢踏。地震震动了地面。潮汐淹没了海滩。火山爆发了熔岩。朱荣被证明是更强大的上帝。龚在战斗中失败了。他愤怒地把头撞在布州山上。他一次又一次地撞到山上。天开始落到地上。土地被洪水淹没了。由于龚公和朱荣的斗争，各地的人们都在受苦。女娲为地球上的人民感到难过。所有这些都是她创造的！女娲哭道：“这怎么会发生在我的人民身上？他们没有做错什么！”。“我必须想办法解决这个烂摊子。”女娲有个主意。她在地上搜寻五块彩石。石头有特殊的力量。“白色代表金属，红色代表火。”女娲又捡起两块石头。女娲继续说：“黑色代表木头。”。“最后，黄色代表地球。”她把石头融化成糊状。然后她花了九天时间修补天空。这就是为什么天空总是五彩缤纷。“据信其中一块石头掉到了地上，”讲故事的人说。“有人说它在荣成山上。”“如果这是真的，那么我将是找到它的人！”秦始皇承诺道。秦始皇决心找到这块石头。他相信这会帮助他建立一个强大的帝国。于是，他的搜寻开始了。秦始皇要求修建一条通往这座山的道路。（皇帝以他的建筑工程而闻名，其中之一就是中国的长城。）经过长时间的搜寻，秦始皇在山上找到了这块石头！他举行了一个神圣的仪式来崇拜它。不久之后，帝国变得更加强大和和平！秦始皇相信神石起作用了！他下令写一些关于他的旅行的诗和歌。一位诗人写道：“皇家大道上有成千上万的马；当石黄崇拜这块石头时，胜利就实现了。”每个人都想记住这首诗。它是由父母传给孩子的。大家都很喜欢。一千多年后，一位中国著名戏曲作家听到了这首诗。他喜欢关于皇帝寻找圣石之旅的故事。这激励了他。他写了一句话“骑马即胜利”。他在最早的一部歌剧中使用了这句话。后来，人们继续使用这个短语来指瞬间的胜利或快速的成功。
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