中国成语典故-- 对牛弹琴 (中英对照)

第一篇：中国成语典故-- 对牛弹琴 (中英对照)

Play the lute to a cow

In ancient time, there lived a musician named Gong Mingyi.He was very good at playing the Zheng, a plucked string instrument.But he also behaved foolishly sometimes.One day, he saw a cow eating grass in the field near his house.He was inspired by the scene and ran outside to play a tune for the cow.Gong Mingyi played beautifully and he himself was intoxicated by the music.But the cow paid no heed to the elegant sounds.It simply focused its attention on eating the grass.Gong Mingyi was surprised to see that.He couldn't understand why the cow was so indifferent to his performance.Obviously, it is not because his performance is poor.But the cow neither understood nor appreciated his elegant music!

From that story comes the idiom “Play the lute to a cow”, which implies that someone speaks or writes without considering his audience.In general speaking, the speaker or writer has over-estimated his listeners or readers.In these cases, the idiom mocks the audience rather than the speaker.对牛弹琴

从前，有个著名的音乐家公明仪。他的筝弹得非常好，但有时会作些傻事。

有天，他看到一头牛在他家附近的田里吃草。他一下子有了灵感，就跑出去为这头牛弹琴。公明仪弹的曲子非常优美，他自己也陶醉在音乐之中。可是那头牛根 本不理会那美妙的音乐，只顾着吃草。公明仪感到十分奇怪，不明白为什么牛对他的演奏无动于衷。很明显，牛不理会他并不是因为他的演奏很糟糕。而是因为牛听 不懂也欣赏不了这种高深的曲调。

“对牛弹琴”这个成语就是从上述故事演化而来的，指那些说话或写东西不考虑到听众的人。一般来说，是说话人或作者高估了听众或读者，所以，这则成语嘲 讽的主要是听众或观众，而不是说话者

第二篇：中国成语典故-- 害群之马(中英对照)

The horse which does harm to the herd-A black sheep

It was about four thousand years ago.Huangdi(Yellow Emperor)-the first legendary ruler in China went to the countryside to visit an old friend with his entourage.They met a boy keeping watch over a herd of horses on their way.Huangdi asked the boy, “Do you know the way to my friend's village far away from here?”

The boy said yes.Then the emperor asked, “Do you know my friend?”

The answer was yes again.Huangdi thought the boy was broad-minded.So he asked him,“Do you know how to rule a country?”

The boy said, “There is little difference between ruling a country and watching over a herd of horses.You simply have to drive the wild horses out of the herd.”

The emperor left, brooding over the boy's words.The idiom is taken from what the boy said and is used to describe anyone who has a bad influence on his peers.害群之马

大约四千年前，黄帝－传说中中国的第一个帝王，带着随从去乡村看望他的一个老朋友。路上，他们遇到了一个看守马群的小男孩。

由于去朋友的村庄路途遥远，黄帝就问小男孩：“你知不知道村庄的路？那儿住着我的一个朋友。”

男孩说知道。

黄帝又问男孩：“认不认识我的朋友？”

男孩回答认识。

黄帝想这小孩懂这么多，于是问他：“你知道该怎样治理国家吗？”

男孩说：“治理国家的方法和看守一群马差不多。只要把野马从马群里赶出去就行了。”

黄帝离开时一直想着小男孩的话。

成语“害群之马”出自于这个小男孩说的话，用来形容给集体带来坏影响的人。

第三篇：中国成语典故-- 图穷匕见 (中英对照)

When the Map is Unrolled, the Dagger is Revealed

In the end of the Warring States Period（475－221 BC）, there was a strong country named Qin.It wanted to annex other countries to unite China.In 228 BC, the Qin army captured a country and prepared to attack another country name Yan.So the prince Dan of Yan sent a brave man called Jing Ke to assassinate the King of Qin.In order to gain the confidence of the King of Qin, he carried a map of the most fertile part of Yan territory to Qin and hid a sharp dagger in it.He came to Qin and entered the palace.When the king ordered the map be presented, he took out the map and presented it to the king with great respect.Slowly, he unrolled the map.When it was completely unrolled, the hidden dagger appeared.Jing Ke grabbed it and stabbed at the king.But the king dodged the dagger and hid himself behind a big pillar.Jing Ke had never got the chance to kill the king as he was soon killed by the palace guards.The plan has failed.Later, Qin had wiped off Yan.The idiom describes the real intention is revealed in the end.图穷匕现

战国末期，有一个很强大的国家叫秦国，它想吞并其他国家，统一天下。公元228年，秦国的军队占领了其中一个国家。接着又准备入侵另一个叫燕国的国 家。燕国的太子丹就派了一名叫荆轲的勇士前往秦国刺杀秦王。

为了获得秦王的信任，荆轲带上了一张地图，上面画着燕国最富饶的地方，准备献给秦王。他在这张地图里藏了一把非常锋利的匕首。他来到秦国，见到秦王，恭敬的将地图献上，然后，慢慢打开地图给秦王看。当地图完全打开时，他抽出那把藏着的匕首，刺向秦王。但秦王躲开了，跑到了一根大柱子后。秦王的卫士们立 刻跑来围住他，马上就把他给杀了。燕国太子刺杀秦王的计划失败了。后来，燕国也被秦国给吞并了。

后来，人们用这个成语来比喻事情发展到最后，真相或本意就露出来了。

第四篇：中国成语典故-- 鹏程万里(中英对照)

A Roc's flight of ten thousand li-A bright future

In the Chinese classic 《Chuangtze》, there is a legend like this:Once upon a time, a gigantic fish named Kun lived in the northern sea.No one knew how large it actually was.This fish could change itself into the enormous bird called Peng(roc), measuring thousands of kilometers in length.When the bird was spreading its wings, it looked like huge clouds in the sky.It could, in one stretch, fly from the northern sea to the southern sea on the other side of the globe and soaring up to 90000 li(45000 kilometers)in the heaven.The bird can surely fly over a long distance without stop.Now people use this idiom to with others have a long career or a bright future.鹏程万里

在《庄子》一书中有这样一个故事：

很久很久以前，北海里住着一条巨大的鱼，名字叫鲲（K%n）。没有人知道它到底有多大。这条鱼能够变成鹏（P0ng），一种庞大的鸟，有几百万米长。鹏鸟展开翅膀就像天空里的一大片云。它能一口气从北海 飞到地球另一边的南海。当它展翅高飞的时候，它可以冲上90000哩（45000公里）的高空。

毫无疑问，这种鸟一次能飞过很长的距离。人们用鹏程万里这个成语来祝愿别人事业顺利，前途光明。

第五篇：中国成语典故--兔死狗烹(中英对照)

The hounds are killed for food once all the hares are bagged

During the Spring and Autumn Period（770－476BC）, there were two famous senior officials in the State of Yue.The King of the Yue named Gou Jian didn't accept the advice of Fan Li and blindly launched an attack against the neighboring State of Wu.As a result, he suffered disastrous defeat and was caught by the King of Wu.The King of Wu took him back and had him as a slave.Fan Li persuaded him to endure humiliation, pretend to surrender and wait for an opportunity to avenge.Later, Wen Zhong went to the State of Wu on diplomatic missions and helped Gou Jian gain the confidence.Years later, Gou was set free.With the help of Fan and Wen, the State of Yue rapidly rehabilitated and later annexed the Wu.As they had done so much contribution, both Fan and Wen was awarded great riches.Gou Jian even offered half of the state to Fan.But Fan rejected and decided to live in seclusion for knowing Gou too well.As a hermit, Fan wrote to his friend Wen.In his letter, Fan said, “When all the flying birds have been shot down, the good bow is put away;when all the hares have been bagged, the hounds are killed for food.I suggest you withdraw in order to avoid disaster.” Wen took his advice and pretended to be ill and stopped attending imperial court meetings.But it was too late.Gou Jian believed the slanderous gossips about Wen and ordered Wen to kill himself.Later, people use it to mean trusted aides are eliminated when they have outlived their usefulness.“

兔死狗烹

范蠡和文仲是春秋时期越国的两个大官。越王勾践不听范蠡劝告，盲目进攻邻国吴国，结果被吴国打败，他自己也被吴王抓去作苦力。范蠡说服勾践忍受耻辱，假装服从，等待机会再报仇。文仲也多次到吴国拜访，并且帮助勾践恢复信心。几年以后，吴王把勾践放回越国。在范蠡和文仲的相助下，越国很快就恢复了以前的 强大，最后把吴国给消灭了。

因为范蠡和文仲为越国作出了巨大的贡献，越王就赏给他们很多财宝，还把国土的一半分给范蠡。但范蠡很了解勾践这个人，所以他决定谢绝了这些赏赐，找个 地方隐居起来。他还写信给文仲告诉他：当天上的鸟儿被射完了，弓箭也就没用了。当所有的兔子被抓完了，猎狗也将被杀了吃掉。我劝你还是早点离开勾践，免得 惹来灾难。文仲看完信后，接受了范蠡的劝告，他假装生病，不再参加朝中会议。但太迟了，勾践听信了别人对他的谣言，逼他自杀了。

后来，人们用”兔死狗烹"来比喻事情成功以后，把出过大力的人杀掉。