胸有成竹成语故事中英对照

　　In the song Dynasty (960-1279),there was a scholar whose name was Wen Tong and who styled himself Yuke. He was not only admired by others for his great learning, but also enjoyed widespread renown for his bamboo drawing. Every day there were always quite a few peoply who called at his house to ask for one of his bamboo drawings.

　　北宋画家文同，字与可。他画的竹子远近闻名，每天总有不少人登门求画。文同画竹的妙诀在哪里呢？

　　Actually, Wen Tong loved bamboos so much that he had grown various bamboos everywhere around his house. No matter what season it was and no matter whether it was sunny or rainy, he used to go to the bamboo forest to observe how they were growing. He pondered over the lenght and breadth of the bamboo poles as well as the shapes and colours of the leaves. Whenever he had gained a new understanding, he went back to his study, spread a piece of paper and prepareed some ink by rubbing an ink stick on an ink slab, and drew what was in his mind on the paper. Through accumulation over a long period of time, the images of the bamboo in different seasons, under different weather conditions and at different moments were deeply imprinted in his mind.So whenever he stood before the paper and picked up a painting brush with concentrated attention, the various forms of the bamboo which he had observed at ordinary times at once rose before his eyes. And so every time he was drawing bamboos he appeared confident and at ease, and all the bamboos he had painted were very vivid and true to lift.

　　原来，文同在自己家的房前屋后种上各种样的竹子，无论春夏秋冬，阴睛风雨，他经常去竹林观察竹子的生长变化情况，琢磨竹枝的长短粗细，叶子的形态、颜色，每当有新的感受就回到书房，铺纸研墨，把心中的印象画在纸上。目积月累，竹子在不同季节、不同天气、不同时辰的形象都深深地印在他的心中，只要凝神提笔，在画纸前一站，平日观察到的各种形态的竹子立刻浮现在眼前。所以每次画竹，他都显得非常从容自信，画出的竹子，无不逼真传神。

　　When people spoke highly of his paintings, he always said modestly that he had just put the images of the bamboo imprinted in his mind on the paper.

　　当人们夸奖他的画时，他总是谦虚地说：“我只是把心中琢磨成熟的竹子画下来罢了。”

　　A young man wanted to learn bamboo drawing; when he knew that Chao Buzhi had made a profound study of Wen Tong's art of drawing, he went to Chao Buzhi for instruction. Chao Buzhi wrote a poem to him. In the poem, there are the following two lines:

　　When Yuke was painting the bamboos,

　　He bad their images ready in his bosom.

　　有位青年想学画竹，得知诗人晁补之对文同的画很有研究，前往求教。晃补之写了一首诗送给他，其中有两句：“与可画竹，胸中有成竹。”

　　Later people have summarized the lines as " having had the images of the bamboo ready in one's bosom," which means having had ready plans or designs in one's mind before doing a certain job so that its success is guaranteed. It is also used go mean being calm and cool - headed in dealing with things.

　　“胸有成竹”，比喻做事之前已作好充分准备，对事情的成功已有了十分的把握；又比喻遇事不慌，十分沉着。

　　This story comes from an article writted by Su Shi concerning Wen Yuke's art of bamboo drawing.

　　延伸阅读：

　　指鹿为马－中国成语故事中英对照

　　Calling a Stag a Horse 指鹿为马

　　In the reign of Emperor the Second of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), the prime minister Zhao Gao, obsessed with ambitions, was planning to usurp the throne day and night. But he did not know how many of the ministers in the court were allowed to be ordered about by him and how many of them were his opponents. So he thought out a way to test how high his prestige among the ministers was and also to find out who dared to oppose him.

　　秦二世时，丞相赵高野心勃勃，日夜盘算着要篡夺皇位。可朝中大臣有多少人能听他摆布，有多少人反对他，他心中没底。于是，他想了一个办法，准备试一试自己的威信，同时也可以摸清敢于反对他的人。

　　One day when court was held, Zhao Gao let someone bring a stag to the court and, with a broad smile on his face, he said to Emperor the Second of the Qin Dynasty:"Your Majesty, here is a fine horse I'm presenting to you." Looking at the animal, Emperor the Second thought that it was obviously a stag and that it couldn't be a horse. So he said smilingly to Zhao Gao:"Mister Prime Minister, you are wrong. This is a stay. Why do you say it is a horse?" Remaining calm, Zhao Gao said:"Will your Majesty please see more clearly? This really is a horse that covers a thousand li a day." Filled with suspicion, Emperor the Second looked at the stag again and said:"How can the antlers be grown on the head of a horse?" Turning around and pointing his finger at the ministers, Zhao Gao said in a loud voice:"if our Majesty do not believe me, you can ask the ministers."

　　一天上朝时，赵高让人牵来一只鹿，满脸堆笑地对秦二世说：“陛下，我献给您一匹好马。”秦二世一看，心想：这哪里是马，这分明是一只鹿嘛！便笑着对赵高说：“丞相搞错了，这里一只鹿，你怎么说是马呢？”赵高面不改色心不跳地说：“请陛下看清楚，这的确是一匹千里马。”秦二世又看了看那只鹿，将信将疑地说：“马的头上怎么会长角呢？”赵高一转身，用手指着众大臣，大声说：“陛下如果不信我的话，可以问问众位大臣。”

　　The nonsense of Zhao Gao made the ministers totally at a lose, and they whispered to themselves: What tricks was Zhao Gao playing? Was it not obvious whether it was a stag or a horse? But when they saw the sinister smile on Zhao Gao's face and his two rolling eyes which were gazing at each of them, they suddenly understood his evil intentions.

　　大臣们都被赵高的一派胡言搞得不知所措，私下里嘀咕：这个赵高搞什么名堂？是鹿是马这不是明摆着吗！当看到赵高脸上露出阴险的笑容，两只眼睛骨碌碌轮流地盯着赵高脸上露出阴险的笑容，两只眼睛骨碌碌轮流地盯着每个人的时候，大臣们忽然明白了他的用意。

　　Some of the ministers who were timid and yet had a sense of right eousness did not dare to say anything, because to tell lies would make their conscience uneasy and to tell the truth would mean that they would be persecuted by Zhao Gao later. Some ministers with a sense of justice persisted that it was a stag and not a horse. There were still some crafty and fawning ministers who followed Zhao Gao closely in ordinary times. They immediately voiced their support to Zhao Gao, saying to the emperor:"This really in a horse that covers a thousand li a day."

　　一些胆小又有正义感的人都低下头，不敢说话，因为说假话，对不起自己的良心，说真话又怕日后被赵高所害。有些正直的人，坚持认为是说明书而不是马。还有一些平时就紧跟赵高的奸佞之人立刻表示拥护赵高的说法，对皇上说，“这确是一匹千里马！”

　　After the event, Zhao Gao punished by various means those ministers with a sense of justice who were not obedient to him, even with whole families of some of those ministers executed.

　　事后，赵高通过各种手段把那些不顺从自己的正直大臣纷纷治罪，甚至满门抄斩。

　　This story appears in "The Life of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty" in The Historical Records written by Sima Qian. From this story people have derived the set phrase "calling a stag a horse" to mean deliberately misrepresenting some thing and misleading the public.

　　故事出自《史记·秦始皇本纪》。成语“指鹿为马”比喻故意颠倒是非，混淆黑白。

　　枕戈待旦－中国成语故事中英对照

　　In the Western Jin Dynasty there were two young men.One of them was Zu Ti and the other was Liu Kun.Both of them were men of ideals and integrity who were chivalrous and of a sanguine disposition.They not only wrote excellent articles but also were fond of practising martial arts to keep fit, in order to render meritorious service to the country.Both of them were chief clerks responsible for document administration in Luoyang.Although in appearance the Jin Dynasty had jurisdiction of the Central Plains comprising the middle and lower reaches of the Haunch and threatened by foreign invasion.Zu Ti and Liu Kun often talked about the country's situation till late into the night,and each time they talking very excitedly again.

　　西晋人祖逖和刘琨，都是性格开朗、仗义好侠的志士。年轻时不但文章写得好，而且都喜欢练武健身，决心报效祖国。当时，晋朝表面上还管辖着中原大地，但实际上已是内忧外患，风雨飘摇了。祖逖和刘琨一谈起国家局势，总是慷慨万分，常常聊到深夜。

　　Liu Kun fell asleep without knowing it,but Zu Ti was too excited to fall asleep." Cock-a-doodle-doo,"came the crow of rooster in the wasteland.Zu Ti jumped up and kicked Liu Kun awake:"Listen.How inspiring the rooster's crow is.Let's get up and practised on a slope.From then on,they kept practising sword playing vigorously and energetically in the wasteland every day when they heard the first crow in the morning.

　　一天，祖逖又和刘琨谈得十分兴奋，刘琨不知什么时候睡着了，祖逖却久久沉浸在谈话的兴奋之中，不能入睡。“喔，喔，喔－－”荒原上的雄鸡叫了起来，祖逖一跃而起，踢醒了刘琨：“听，这雄鸡啼鸣多么振奋人心呀，快起来练剑吧！”于是，两人操起剑来，在高坡上对舞。从此，他俩每天清早听到头一声鸣叫，一定来到荒原上抖擞神练起剑来。

　　Deeply moved by Zu Ti's patriotic passion,Liu Kun was determined to devote himself to his homeland.Once he wrote to his family:"At the time when the country is in dire peril,I am resolved to dedicate myselt to the service of my country.I often fear that I might lag behind Zu Ti in rendering service to the country,and,in fact,I am behind him..."

　　刘琨被祖逖的爱国热情深深感动，决心献身于祖。一次他给家人的信中写道：“在国家危难时刻，我经常‘枕戈待旦’（枕着兵器睡觉一直到天明），立志报国，常担心落在祖逖后边，不想他到底走到我的前头了！……”

　　The words" sleep with my head pillowed on a spear,waiting for the day to break"vividly described Liu Kun's determination to dedicate himself to the service of the country and to fight the enemy at any time.Later,this set phrase is used to mean maintaining sharp vigilance and being ready to fight at any time."

　　故事出自《晋书·祖逖传》。“枕戈待旦”出自刘琨《与亲故书》，形象地写出了刘琨随时准备杀敌报国的决心。后来用作成语，形容时刻警惕敌人，准备作战。

　　后来居上－中国成语故事中英对照

　　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.

　　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。

　　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.

　　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。

　　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."

　　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！”

　　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.

　　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。

　　洛阳纸贵－中国成语故事中英对照

　　In the Jin Dynasty (265-420) there was a famous writer whose name was Zuo Si who, however, was very naughty and did not like to study when he was a small kid.His father often got angry, and yet young Zuo Si was as naughty as ever and would not study hard.

　　晋代文学家左思，小时候是个非常顽皮、不爱读书的孩子。父亲经常为这事发脾气，可是小左思仍然淘气得很，不肯好好学习。

　　One day, Zuo Si's father was chatting with his friends. his friends envied him his clever and loverly son. Hearing this, Zuo si's father sighed, "Please do not mention him. My son Zuo si does not study as well as I did when I was young, although I did not study well enough myself. It appears that he is actually a good-for-nothing."So saying, he looked disappointed. All this was witnessed by young Zuo Si. He felt very sad, feeling intensely that he would not be able to have a bright future if he did not study hard. So he was determined to study assiduously from then on.

　　有一天，左思的父亲与朋友们聊天，朋友们羡慕他有个聪明可爱的儿子。左思的父亲叹口气说：“快别提他了，小儿左思的学习，还不如我小时候，看来没有多大的出息了。”说着，脸上流露出失望的神色。这一切都被小左思看到听到了，他非常难过，觉得自己不好好念书确实很没出息。于是，暗暗下定决心，一定要刻苦学习。

　　Day after day and year after year, Zuo Si gradually grew up. Because of his unremitting afforts in hard study, he became an erudite scholar and wrote very excellent essays. The "Ode to the Capital of the State of Qi", which took him one year to write, showed his brilliant literary talent and laid the foundation for his becoming an outstanding writer. then he planned to write an "Ode to the Capitals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han and Wu"with the local conditions and customs as well as the produce of the three capitals as its content. In order to achieve the desired effect in content, structure and language, he applied himself to research work with great concentration, and was so absorbed in creative writing as to forget food and sleep. It took him ten whole years to finish the writing of "Ode to the Capitals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han and Wu", a literary masterpiece.

　　日复一日，年复一年，左思渐渐长大了，由于他坚持不懈地发奋读书，终于成为一位学识渊博的人，文章也写得非常好。他用一年的时间写成了《齐都赋》，显示出他在文学方面的才华，为他成为杰出的文学家奠定了基础。这以后他又计划以三国时魏、蜀、吴首都的风土、人情、物产为内容，撰写《三都赋》。为了在内容、结构、语言诸方面都达到一定水平，他潜心研究，精心撰写，废寝忘食，用了整整十年，文学巨著《三都赋》终于写成了。

　　The "Ode to the Capitals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han and Wu"was well received by the broad masses of readers after it made its appearance to the public, and people considered it as superbly written as the "Ode to the Western Capital (Changan) and to the Eastern Capital (Luoyang)"written by Ban Gu (32-92) and the "Ode to the Western Capital and to the Eastern Capital"written by Zhang Heng of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D.220). As the art of printing had not been invented at that time, people who were fond of this "Ode"had to make handwritten copies of it themselves. As there were so many people who vied with each other in making handwritten copies, the supply of writing paper fell short of the demand in Luoyang went up greatly.

　　《三都赋》受到谅也评，人们把它和汉代文学杰作《两都赋》相比。由于当时还没有发明印刷术，喜爱《三都赋》的人只能争相抄阅，因为抄写的人太多，京城洛阳的纸张供不应求，一时间全城纸价大幅度上升。

　　This story comes from "The life of Zuo Si"in the book "Literary Field"of The History of the Jin Dynasty. Based on this story, people have coined the set phrase "the price of writing paper went up greatly", meaning the overwhelming popularity of a new work causes shortage of printing paper, to show how popular an outstanding piece of literary work is.

　　故事出自《晋书·文苑·左思传》。成语“洛阳纸贵”，称颂杰出的作品风行一进。

　　嗟来之食 中国成语故事中英对照

　　food handed out in contempt嗟来之食

　　【成语来源】

　　One year during the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期,770-476 BC), there was a the Qi State (齐国) was severely strickend by a famine.

　　春秋时代，有一年齐国发生大饥荒。

　　Qian Ao (qián ào 黔敖), a very rich but arrogant man took the occasion to showcase his generosity through preparing food by the roadside and giving it to the passing refugees in charity.

　　有一位叫做黔敖有钱贵族，在街边准备食物分发给来往的难民，以显示自己的慷慨。

　　A man with shabby clothes happened to walk by with his shoes trailing along, he was so hungry as not to open his eyes.

　　有一个饥民，用衣袖蒙着脸，拖着鞋，饿得眼睛都睁不开的样子，慢慢地走过来。

　　Seeing the poor man, Qian Ao held the food by left hand and the drink by right hand, and shouted at him,"Hi, come to eat !”

　　黔敖见了，就左手拿着吃的，右手捧着喝的，向他喊道：“喂，来吃吧！”

　　Hearing the word, the man glared his eyes and said, “It is because I am not willing to eat the food handed out in contempt that I have been famished to such a degree. "

　　那人一听这话，立即瞪着眼睛，说道：“我就是因为不吃‘嗟来之食，才饿到这般地步的。"

　　Though Qian Ao made an apology to him for that, the man still resolutely refused to eat the food and thus he died of hunger in the end.

　　尽管黔敖向他道歉，那人仍然坚决不吃，终于饿死了。

　　This set phrase now extensively denotes the disrespectful aims. This story means that a person who has a strong sense of self-respect would rather die of hunger than be despised.

　　此故事讲的是一个怀有强烈自尊心的人，宁可饿死也不肯接受人轻视。现在这个成语泛指带有侮辱性的施舍。

　　【文化链接】

　　中文中“嗟来之食”的意思就是“带有侮辱性的施舍”，英语直译就是“something handed out in contempt”，那如果是“主动去乞求帮助或是施舍”的话，英语该如何表达呢？

　　英文中常用惯语有“come hat in hand”，也就是是乞求或请求别人“施舍”，求人给一些原本不属于你的东西，源自英国民俗，根据当时英国的民间习俗，当一个人穷困潦倒、无以为生时，就可以手持帽子，低声下气地向别人乞讨，以获取他人的同情，这是一种非常丢脸的行为，所以一般人除非迫不得已，否则是不会这样做的。

　　所以，come hat in hand 常用来比喻“走投无路”、“穷困潦倒”、“有求于人”。

　　例如： Retired workers need not come hat in hand to ask for supplementary allowance. （退休工人就不必卑躬屈膝地请求追加补助费了。）

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