第一篇：中國成語典故-- 對牛彈琴 (中英對照)

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.對牛彈琴

從前，有個著名的音樂家公明儀。他的箏彈得非常好，但有時會作些傻事。

有天，他看到一頭牛在他家附近的田里吃草。他一下子有了靈感，就跑出去為這頭牛彈琴。公明儀彈的曲子非常優美，他自己也陶醉在音樂之中。可是那頭牛根 本不理會那美妙的音樂，只顧著吃草。公明儀感到十分奇怪，不明白為什么牛對他的演奏無動于衷。很明顯，牛不理會他并不是因為他的演奏很糟糕。而是因為牛聽 不懂也欣賞不了這種高深的曲調。

“對牛彈琴”這個成語就是從上述故事演化而來的，指那些說話或寫東西不考慮到聽眾的人。一般來說，是說話人或作者高估了聽眾或讀者，所以，這則成語嘲 諷的主要是聽眾或觀眾，而不是說話者

第二篇：中國成語典故-- 害群之馬(中英對照)

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.害群之馬

大約四千年前，黃帝－傳說中中國的第一個帝王，帶著隨從去鄉村看望他的一個老朋友。路上，他們遇到了一個看守馬群的小男孩。

由于去朋友的村莊路途遙遠，黃帝就問小男孩：“你知不知道村莊的路？那兒住著我的一個朋友。”

男孩說知道。

黃帝又問男孩：“認不認識我的朋友？”

男孩回答認識。

黃帝想這小孩懂這么多，于是問他：“你知道該怎樣治理國家嗎？”

男孩說：“治理國家的方法和看守一群馬差不多。只要把野馬從馬群里趕出去就行了。”

黃帝離開時一直想著小男孩的話。

成語“害群之馬”出自于這個小男孩說的話，用來形容給集體帶來壞影響的人。

第三篇：中國成語典故-- 圖窮匕見 (中英對照)

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.圖窮匕現

戰國末期，有一個很強大的國家叫秦國，它想吞并其他國家，統一天下。公元228年，秦國的軍隊占領了其中一個國家。接著又準備入侵另一個叫燕國的國 家。燕國的太子丹就派了一名叫荊軻的勇士前往秦國刺殺秦王。

為了獲得秦王的信任，荊軻帶上了一張地圖，上面畫著燕國最富饒的地方，準備獻給秦王。他在這張地圖里藏了一把非常鋒利的匕首。他來到秦國，見到秦王，恭敬的將地圖獻上，然后，慢慢打開地圖給秦王看。當地圖完全打開時，他抽出那把藏著的匕首，刺向秦王。但秦王躲開了，跑到了一根大柱子后。秦王的衛士們立 刻跑來圍住他，馬上就把他給殺了。燕國太子刺殺秦王的計劃失敗了。后來，燕國也被秦國給吞并了。

后來，人們用這個成語來比喻事情發展到最后，真相或本意就露出來了。

第四篇：中國成語典故-- 鵬程萬里(中英對照)

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.鵬程萬里

在《莊子》一書中有這樣一個故事：

很久很久以前，北海里住著一條巨大的魚，名字叫鯤（K%n）。沒有人知道它到底有多大。這條魚能夠變成鵬（P0ng），一種龐大的鳥，有幾百萬米長。鵬鳥展開翅膀就像天空里的一大片云。它能一口氣從北海 飛到地球另一邊的南海。當它展翅高飛的時候，它可以沖上90000哩（45000公里）的高空。

毫無疑問，這種鳥一次能飛過很長的距離。人們用鵬程萬里這個成語來祝愿別人事業順利，前途光明。

第五篇：中國成語典故--兔死狗烹(中英對照)

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

范蠡和文仲是春秋時期越國的兩個大官。越王勾踐不聽范蠡勸告，盲目進攻鄰國吳國，結果被吳國打敗，他自己也被吳王抓去作苦力。范蠡說服勾踐忍受恥辱，假裝服從，等待機會再報仇。文仲也多次到吳國拜訪，并且幫助勾踐恢復信心。幾年以后，吳王把勾踐放回越國。在范蠡和文仲的相助下，越國很快就恢復了以前的 強大，最后把吳國給消滅了。

因為范蠡和文仲為越國作出了巨大的貢獻，越王就賞給他們很多財寶，還把國土的一半分給范蠡。但范蠡很了解勾踐這個人，所以他決定謝絕了這些賞賜，找個 地方隱居起來。他還寫信給文仲告訴他：當天上的鳥兒被射完了，弓箭也就沒用了。當所有的兔子被抓完了，獵狗也將被殺了吃掉。我勸你還是早點離開勾踐，免得 惹來災難。文仲看完信后，接受了范蠡的勸告，他假裝生病，不再參加朝中會議。但太遲了，勾踐聽信了別人對他的謠言，逼他自殺了。

后來，人們用”兔死狗烹"來比喻事情成功以后，把出過大力的人殺掉。