中國成語故事英語翻譯參考
中國成語故事《玩火自焚》中英文版
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.
春秋時期，衛(wèi)國的王子州吁殺死了他的哥哥衛(wèi)桓公，成為了衛(wèi)國的國君。州吁是個暴君，他壓迫百姓，到處侵略別的國家。他想利用戰(zhàn)爭來分散百姓的注意力，減少人們對他的不滿，鞏固他的專政。
魯國的君王知道州吁篡奪了王位，還想吞并其他國家，就問他手下的一名官員："你認(rèn)為州吁的目的能達到嗎？"那位官員說道："州吁到處打仗，給人民來了災(zāi)難。人民不會支持他。他這個人又反復(fù)無常，身邊沒有什么親信。他不可能實現(xiàn)自己的野心。而且，戰(zhàn)爭就象火。無休止地打仗，最后，火會燒到自己身上。 "
果然，不到一年，衛(wèi)國人民就在陳國的幫助下推翻了州吁的統(tǒng)治，并處死了他。
后來，人們用這個成語來比喻干害人的勾當(dāng)，最后受害的還是自己。
中國成語故事《四面楚歌》中英文版
At the end of the Qin Dynasty(221-206 B.C.) the State of Chu and the State of Han fought for control for the country. Xiang Yu, the king of Chu, was besieged（包圍） at a place called Gaixia by the Han army led by Liu Bang. Xiang Yu was in a desperate situation, with little food and only a few soliders. At night, the surrounding Han troops started to sing Chu folk songs. Xiang Yu was very surprised at this, and said:"Has Liu Bang occupied the whole of Chu? How can he have drafted so many Chu people into his army?" Then he fled together with the remainder of his forces.
This idiom is used metaphorically to mean to be in a helpless and critical situation, surrounded by the enemy on all sides.
項羽和劉邦原來約定以鴻溝（在今河南榮縣境賈魯河）東西邊作為界限，互不侵犯。后來劉邦聽從張良和陳平的規(guī)勸，覺得應(yīng)該趁項羽衰弱的時候消滅他，就又和韓信、彭越、劉賈會合兵力追擊正在向東開往彭城（即今江蘇徐州）的項羽部隊。終于布置了幾層兵力，把項羽緊緊圍在垓下（在今安徽靈璧縣東南）。這時，項羽手下的兵士已經(jīng)很少，糧食又沒有了。夜里聽見四面圍住他的軍隊都唱起楚地的民歌，不禁非常吃驚地說：“劉邦已經(jīng)得到了楚地了嗎？為什么他的部隊里面楚人這么多呢？”說看，心里已喪失了斗志，便從床上爬起來，在營帳里面喝酒，并和他最寵愛的妃子虞姬一同唱歌。唱完，直掉眼淚，在一旁的人也非常難過，都覺得抬不起頭來。虞姬自刎于項羽的馬前，項羽英雄末路，帶了僅剩兵卒至烏江，最終自刎于江邊。
以后人們就用“四面楚歌”這個詞，形容人們遭受各方面攻擊或逼迫，而陷于孤立窘迫的境地。凡是陷于此種境地者，其命運往往是很悲慘的。例如某人因經(jīng)常與壞人為伍，不事生產(chǎn)，游手好閑，但后來卻被那些壞人逼迫得無以為生，而求助于別人時，別人又因他平日行為太壞，絕不同情理睬，這人所處的境地便是“四面楚歌”。
中國成語故事《不合時宜》中英文版
In the State of Lu, there was a couple of husband and wife, the former being an expert shoemaker and the latter a skilled hand in wearing taffeta. One day after consultations they decided to go to the state of Yue to earn a livelihood. The neighbors advised them not to go when they learned about their plan. "Don't go there," said one neighbor, "If you go, you can never earn a livelihood."
"We cannot understand you," interrogated the couple, "We have a find command of our art, how could we not earn our living with our work? Don't make a fool of us, please."
"Indeed, you have your skill," explained the man, "But have you taken notice of the fact that shoes are made for people and the silk taffeta are for hat-making? The people of Yue don't wear shoes, for they are barefooted. Again, they like to have their hair spread out over their heads and they never use hats. To whom should you sell your shoes and hats then?" Experienced though you are in the arts, yet the arts you have mastered are useless there."
After this explanation, the husband and wife now understood that anything that was not adaptable to the objective world would be useless and unpractical.
魯國有對夫妻，男的是鞋匠，鞋子做的很好；女的是織絹能手。有一天，他們商量想到越國去謀生。消息傳到四鄰后，有人對他們說："不要到那兒去！否則你們一定無法生存的！"那對夫婦說："我們不明白你的意思， 我們都有一套手藝，怎么 會生活不了呢？別胡說了！" 那人說："對呀，你們雖然都有一套手藝，可是你們要知道，鞋子是給人穿的，但越國人都赤腳不穿鞋子，你們織的絲絹原是做帽子用的，但越國人喜歡披著頭發(fā)，不戴帽子，你們的本領(lǐng)雖大，手藝雖高，但你們做的鞋子、帽子去賣給誰呢？那對夫婦這才明白，凡事如果不合時宜，不適合客觀環(huán)境就不中用了。
中國成語故事《南轅北轍》中英文版
Going South by Driving the Chariot North
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 south, why is your chariot heading north?" The ma answered, "My horse is good at running, My driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage, ad I have enough money."The man didint consider that the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were, ther further he was away from his destination.
The idiom derived froim this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention.
南轅北轍
從前有個人要到南方去，他坐的車子卻向北方行駛。過路人說：“你去南方，車子怎么向北行駛呢?”他回答說：“我的馬很能跑路，我的車夫駕車的技術(shù)也很高明，加上我又帶了充足的路費�！边@個人沒有考慮到，方向弄反了，他的條件越好，離他要取得地方就越遠。
后來人們就把這個故事概括為“南轅北轍”。比喻一個人的行動和他的目的正好相反。
中國成語故事《邯鄲學(xué)步》中英文版
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.
相傳在兩千年前，燕國壽陵地方有一位少年，不知道姓啥叫啥，就叫他壽陵少年吧！
這位壽陵少年不愁吃不愁穿，論長相也算得上中等人材，可他就是缺乏自信心，經(jīng)常無緣無故地感到事事不如人，低人一等——衣服是人家的好，飯菜是人家的香，站相坐相也是人家高雅。他見什么學(xué)什么，學(xué)一樣丟一樣，雖然花樣翻新，卻始終不能做好一件事，不知道自己該是什么模樣。
家里的人勸他改一改這個毛病，他以為是家里人管得太多。親戚、鄰居們，說他是狗熊掰棒子，他也根本聽不進去。日久天長，他竟懷疑自己該不該這樣走路，越看越覺得自己走路的姿勢太笨，太丑了。
有一天，他在路上碰到幾個人說說笑笑，只聽得有人說邯鄲人走路姿勢那叫美。他一聽，對上了心病，急忙走上前去，想打聽個明白。不料想，那幾個人看見他，一陣大笑之后揚長而去。
邯鄲人走路的姿勢究竟怎樣美呢？他怎么也想象不出來。這成了他的心病。終于有一天，他瞞著家人，跑到遙遠的邯鄲學(xué)走路去了。
一到邯鄲，他感到處處新鮮，簡直令人眼花繚亂�？吹叫『⒆呗罚X得活潑、美，學(xué)；看見老人走路，他覺得穩(wěn)重，學(xué)；看到婦女走路，搖擺多姿，學(xué)。就這樣，不過半月光景，他連走路也不會了，路費也花光了，只好爬著回去了。
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(zhǔn)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�，將信將疑地說：“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(rèn)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(jì)》。成語“指鹿為馬”比喻故意顛倒是非，混淆黑白。