胸有成竹成語故事中英對照
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.
北宋畫家文同，字與可。他畫的竹子遠近聞名，每天總有不少人登門求畫。文同畫竹的妙訣在哪里呢？
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.
原來，文同在自己家的房前屋后種上各種樣的竹子，無論春夏秋冬，陰睛風(fēng)雨，他經(jīng)常去竹林觀察竹子的生長變化情況，琢磨竹枝的長短粗細，葉子的形態(tài)、顏色，每當(dāng)有新的感受就回到書房，鋪紙研墨，把心中的印象畫在紙上。目積月累，竹子在不同季節(jié)、不同天氣、不同時辰的形象都深深地印在他的心中，只要凝神提筆，在畫紙前一站，平日觀察到的各種形態(tài)的竹子立刻浮現(xiàn)在眼前。所以每次畫竹，他都顯得非常從容自信，畫出的竹子，無不逼真?zhèn)魃瘛?/p>
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.
當(dāng)人們夸獎他的畫時，他總是謙虛地說：“我只是把心中琢磨成熟的竹子畫下來罷了。”
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.
有位青年想學(xué)畫竹，得知詩人晁補之對文同的畫很有研究，前往求教。晃補之寫了一首詩送給他，其中有兩句：“與可畫竹，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準備，對事情的成功已有了十分的把握；又比喻遇事不慌，十分沉著。
This story comes from an article writted by Su Shi concerning Wen Yuke's art of bamboo drawing.
延伸閱讀：
指鹿為馬－中國成語故事中英對照
Calling a Stag a Horse 指鹿為馬
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.
秦二世時，丞相趙高野心勃勃，日夜盤算著要篡奪皇位�？沙写蟪加卸嗌偃四苈犓麛[布，有多少人反對他，他心中沒底。于是，他想了一個辦法，準備試一試自己的威信，同時也可以摸清敢于反對他的人。
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."
一天上朝時，趙高讓人牽來一只鹿，滿臉堆笑地對秦二世說：“陛下，我獻給您一匹好馬�！鼻囟酪豢矗南耄哼@哪里是馬，這分明是一只鹿嘛！便笑著對趙高說：“丞相搞錯了，這里一只鹿，你怎么說是馬呢？”趙高面不改色心不跳地說：“請陛下看清楚，這的確是一匹千里馬�！鼻囟烙挚戳丝茨侵宦梗瑢⑿艑⒁傻卣f：“馬的頭上怎么會長角呢？”趙高一轉(zhuǎn)身，用手指著眾大臣，大聲說：“陛下如果不信我的話，可以問問眾位大臣�！�
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.
大臣們都被趙高的一派胡言搞得不知所措，私下里嘀咕：這個趙高搞什么名堂？是鹿是馬這不是明擺著嗎！當(dāng)看到趙高臉上露出陰險的笑容，兩只眼睛骨碌碌輪流地盯著趙高臉上露出陰險的笑容，兩只眼睛骨碌碌輪流地盯著每個人的時候，大臣們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."
一些膽小又有正義感的人都低下頭，不敢說話，因為說假話，對不起自己的良心，說真話又怕日后被趙高所害。有些正直的人，堅持認為是說明書而不是馬。還有一些平時就緊跟趙高的奸佞之人立刻表示擁護趙高的說法，對皇上說，“這確是一匹千里馬！”
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，趙高通過各種手段把那些不順從自己的正直大臣紛紛治罪，甚至滿門抄斬。
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《史記·秦始皇本紀》。成語“指鹿為馬”比喻故意顛倒是非，混淆黑白。
枕戈待旦－中國成語故事中英對照
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.
西晉人祖逖和劉琨，都是性格開朗、仗義好俠的志士。年輕時不但文章寫得好，而且都喜歡練武健身，決心報效祖國。當(dāng)時，晉朝表面上還管轄著中原大地，但實際上已是內(nèi)憂外患，風(fēng)雨飄搖了。祖逖和劉琨一談起國家局勢，總是慷慨萬分，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，祖逖又和劉琨談得十分興奮，劉琨不知什么時候睡著了，祖逖卻久久沉浸在談話的興奮之中，不能入睡�！班福�，喔－－”荒原上的雄雞叫了起來，祖逖一躍而起，踢醒了劉琨：“聽，這雄雞啼鳴多么振奮人心呀，快起來練劍吧！”于是，兩人操起劍來，在高坡上對舞。從此，他倆每天清早聽到頭一聲鳴叫，一定來到荒原上抖擻神練起劍來。
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..."
劉琨被祖逖的愛國熱情深深感動，決心獻身于祖。一次他給家人的信中寫道：“在國家危難時刻，我經(jīng)�！砀甏ㄕ碇魉X一直到天明），立志報國，常擔(dān)心落在祖逖后邊，不想他到底走到我的前頭了！……”
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《晉書·祖逖傳》�！罢砀甏背鲎詣㈢杜c親故書》，形象地寫出了劉琨隨時準備殺敵報國的決心。后來用作成語，形容時刻警惕敵人，準備作戰(zhàn)。
后來居上－中國成語故事中英對照
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.
汲黯是西漢武帝時代人，以剛直正義、敢講真話而受人尊重。他為人和做官都不拘小節(jié)，講求實效。雖然表面上不那么轟轟烈烈，卻能把一個郡治理得井井有條，因此，朝廷把他從東海太守調(diào)到朝廷當(dāng)主爵都尉——一種主管地方吏任免的官職。
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，漢武帝說要實行儒家的仁義之政，為老百姓辦好事了。沒等皇帝把話說完，汲黯就說：“陛下內(nèi)心里那么貪婪多欲，表面上卻要裝得實行仁政，這是何苦呢？”一句話把皇帝噎了回去。漢武帝登時臉色大變，宣布罷朝，滿朝文武都為汲黯捏著一把汗，擔(dān)心他會因此招來大禍。武帝回到宮里以后，對身邊的人說，汲黯這個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."
從此以后，汲黯的官職再也沒有提升。他當(dāng)主爵都尉的時候，公孫弘、張湯都還是不起眼的小官，后來，他們一個勁兒住上升，公孫弘當(dāng)上了丞相，張湯做上了御史大夫，可他汲黯還蹲在原地沒動窩。有一天，汲黯對武帝說，陛下使用群臣，跟碼劈柴一樣，是“后來者居上”��！漢武帝當(dāng)然聽得出這是發(fā)牢騷。于是，轉(zhuǎn)臉對臣下們說：“人真是不能不學(xué)習(xí)��！你們聽汲黯說話，越來越離譜了！”
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《史記·汲鄭列傳》。成語“后來居上”，往往指后起的可以勝過先前的。和汲黯說這話的原意，大不相同。
洛陽紙貴－中國成語故事中英對照
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.
晉代文學(xué)家左思，小時候是個非常頑皮、不愛讀書的孩子。父親經(jīng)常為這事發(fā)脾氣，可是小左思仍然淘氣得很，不肯好好學(xué)習(xí)。
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，左思的父親與朋友們聊天，朋友們羨慕他有個聰明可愛的兒子。左思的父親嘆口氣說：“快別提他了，小兒左思的學(xué)習(xí)，還不如我小時候，看來沒有多大的出息了�！闭f著，臉上流露出失望的神色。這一切都被小左思看到聽到了，他非常難過，覺得自己不好好念書確實很沒出息。于是，暗暗下定決心，一定要刻苦學(xué)習(xí)。
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.
日復(fù)一日，年復(fù)一年，左思漸漸長大了，由于他堅持不懈地發(fā)奮讀書，終于成為一位學(xué)識淵博的人，文章也寫得非常好。他用一年的時間寫成了《齊都賦》，顯示出他在文學(xué)方面的才華，為他成為杰出的文學(xué)家奠定了基礎(chǔ)。這以后他又計劃以三國時魏、蜀、吳首都的風(fēng)土、人情、物產(chǎn)為內(nèi)容，撰寫《三都賦》。為了在內(nèi)容、結(jié)構(gòu)、語言諸方面都達到一定水平，他潛心研究，精心撰寫，廢寢忘食，用了整整十年，文學(xué)巨著《三都賦》終于寫成了。
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.
《三都賦》受到諒也評，人們把它和漢代文學(xué)杰作《兩都賦》相比。由于當(dāng)時還沒有發(fā)明印刷術(shù)，喜愛《三都賦》的人只能爭相抄閱，因為抄寫的人太多，京城洛陽的紙張供不應(yīng)求，一時間全城紙價大幅度上升。
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《晉書·文苑·左思傳》。成語“洛陽紙貴”，稱頌杰出的作品風(fēng)行一進。
嗟來之食 中國成語故事中英對照
food handed out in contempt嗟來之食
【成語來源】
One year during the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時期,770-476 BC), there was a the Qi State (齊國) was severely strickend by a famine.
春秋時代，有一年齊國發(fā)生大饑荒。
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.
有一位叫做黔敖有錢貴族，在街邊準備食物分發(fā)給來往的難民，以顯示自己的慷慨。
A man with shabby clothes happened to walk by with his shoes trailing along, he was so hungry as not to open his eyes.
有一個饑民，用衣袖蒙著臉，拖著鞋，餓得眼睛都睜不開的樣子，慢慢地走過來。
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 !”
黔敖見了，就左手拿著吃的，右手捧著喝的，向他喊道：“喂，來吃吧！”
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. "
那人一聽這話，立即瞪著眼睛，說道：“我就是因為不吃‘嗟來之食，才餓到這般地步的。"
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.
盡管黔敖向他道歉，那人仍然堅決不吃，終于餓死了。
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.
此故事講的是一個懷有強烈自尊心的人，寧可餓死也不肯接受人輕視�，F(xiàn)在這個成語泛指帶有侮辱性的施舍。
【文化鏈接】
中文中“嗟來之食”的意思就是“帶有侮辱性的施舍”，英語直譯就是“something handed out in contempt”，那如果是“主動去乞求幫助或是施舍”的話，英語該如何表達呢？
英文中常用慣語有“come hat in hand”，也就是是乞求或請求別人“施舍”，求人給一些原本不屬于你的東西，源自英國民俗，根據(jù)當(dāng)時英國的民間習(xí)俗，當(dāng)一個人窮困潦倒、無以為生時，就可以手持帽子，低聲下氣地向別人乞討，以獲取他人的同情，這是一種非常丟臉的行為，所以一般人除非迫不得已，否則是不會這樣做的。
所以，come hat in hand 常用來比喻“走投無路”、“窮困潦倒”、“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請求追加補助費了。）