英语成语小故事

英语成语小故事

破镜重圆 A Broken Mirror Joined Together This set phrase metaphorically means the reunion of husband and wife after an enforced separation or a rupture. At the end of Southern Dynasties,when the Chen Dynasty was about to be overthrown. Xú Déyán felt very worried.He foreknew that his wife Princess Lè Chāng was destined to separate from him. His wife is the last Emperor Chén Shūbǎo's younger sister. Hence he broke a round bronze mirror into halves. One half is given to the Princess,the other half left with himself. The couple agreed on it that the wife would pretend to sell the broked mirror in the street of Cháng'ān,the capital of the Suí Dynasty,on the Lantern Festival. After the fall of Chén Dynasty,Princess Lè Chāng was captured and sent to Chang'an and forced to be a concubine-servant in the mansion of Yáng Sù. Xú Déyán missed his wife very much and went to the captial to look for her. On the 15th day of the first lunar month,he found a man selling half the mirror. After asking the man,he knew that his wife had been a concubine-servant of Yáng Sù. Thinking that he could not see her again,he sighed a great sorrow. Having known the matter,Yáng Sù felt much sympathy for the couple.He sent for Xú Déyán and told him to take wife away.Thus the husband and the wife were reunited into a happy couple. 自相矛盾 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- His Spear Against His Shield (Zi Xiang Maodun) A man of the state of Chu had a spear and a shield for sale. He was loud in praises of his shield."My shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it through."He also sang praises of his spear."My spear is so strong that it can pierce through anything.""What would happen," he was asked, "if your spear is used to pierce your shield?"It is impossible for an impenetrable shield to coexist with a spear that finds nothing impenetrable. 刻舟求剑 Making His Mark (Ke Zhou Qiu Jian) A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat."This is where my sword fell off," he said.When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword? 井底之蛙 The Frog in the Shallow Well (Jing Di Zhi Wa) Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly worms, crabs and tadpoles, and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?"Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck. It hesitated and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea."Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease. 守株待兔Staying by a Stump Waiting for More Hares To Come and Dash Themselves Against It This story took place more than 2,000 years ago,in the Warring States period（475-221 B.C.）.Tradition has it that in the State of Song at that time there was a man who was famous for staying by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it. He was a yong farmer,and his family had been farmers for generations.Year after year and generation after generation, farmers used to sow in spring and harvest in autumn,beginning to work at sunrise and retiring at sunset.In good harvest years,they could only have enough food to eat and enough clothing to wear.If there was a famine due to crop failure,they had to go hungry. This young farmer wanted to improve his life.But he was too lazy and too cowardly.Being lazy and cowardly over everything,he often dreamed of having unexpected blessings. A miracle took place at last. One day in late autumn,when he was ploughing in the field,two groups of people were hunting nearby.As shoutings were rising one after another,scared hares were running desperately.Suddenly,a blind hare dashed itself headlong against the stump of a dead tree in his field and died. That day,he ate his fill. From that day on,he no longer went in for farming again.From morning till night,he stayed by that miraculous stump,waiting for miracles to take place again. This story comes from"The Five Vermin"in The Works of Han Feizi.Later generations often use the set phrase"staying by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it"to show grusting to chance and windfalls or dreaming to reap without sowing.It is also used to show adhering to narrow experiences and not being able to be flexible.