趣味英語小故事大全
Look at the Sky from the Bottom of a Well
趣味英語小故事坐井觀天
There is a frog. He lives in a well and he never goes out of the well. He thinks the sky is as big as the mouth of the well。
有一隻青蛙住在井底，他從來沒有去過井外面。他以為天空就和井口一樣大。
One day a crow comes to the well. He sees the frog and says, “Frog, let’s have a talk。”
一天， 一隻烏鴉飛到井邊，看見青蛙，就對它說：“青蛙，咱們聊聊吧。”
Then the frog asks, “Where are you from?”
青蛙就問他：“你從哪裡來?”
“I fly from the sky,” the crow says。
“我從天上上來。”烏鴉說。
The frog feels surprised and says, “The sky is only as big as the mouth of the well. How do you fly from the sky?”
青蛙驚訝地說：“天空就只有這井口這麼大，你怎麼會從天上來? ”
The crow says, “The sky is very big. You always stay in the well, so you don’t know the world is big。”
烏鴉說：“天空很大。只不過你一直呆在井裡，所有不知道世界很大。”
The frog says, “I don’t believe。”
青蛙說：“我不相信。”
But the crow says, “You can come out and have a look by yourself。”
烏鴉說：“你可以出來，自己看看嘛。”
So the frog comes out from the well. He is very surprised. How big the world is!
於是青蛙來到井外。他十分驚訝，原來世界這麼大!
趣味英語小故事畫蛇添足
An official of the ancient State of Chu awarded a pot of wine to his men after the ceremony of Spring Sacrifice. One man said， “We have only one pot of wine. It's not enough for all of us but sufficient for one. Let's determine who'll have the wine by drawing a snake on the ground. He who finishes first will have the wine.”
The others agreed. Very soon， one man finished his snake. He was about to drink the wine when he saw the others were still busy drawing. He said complacently，“How slowly you are! I still have enough time to add feet to my snke.” But before he finished the feet， another man finished his snke and grabbed the pot from him， saying，“Whoever has seen a snake with feet? Yours is not a snke. So the wine should be mine!” He drank the wine. The man adding the feet to the snake had to give in and could only regret his foolishness.
From that story comes the idiom “Draw a snake and add feet to it”。 Now people use this idiom to illustrate the truth that going too far is as bad as not going far enough.
楚國有一個官員，在春天祭過了祖宗之後，便將一壺酒賞給他的辦事人員喝。有人提議：“我們只有一壺酒，肯定不夠我們大家喝的，一個人喝倒是綽綽有餘。我們每人在地上畫一條蛇，誰畫得最快，就把這壺酒給他。” 大家都同意了。
有一個人很快就把蛇畫好了。他正打算喝這壺酒時，看見別人都還忙著畫呢。他就得意揚揚地說：“你們畫得好慢呀，等我再畫上幾隻腳吧!” 他的蛇腳還沒畫完，另一個人已經把蛇畫好了。那人把酒壺奪了過去說：“有誰見過長腳的蛇?你畫的不是蛇，這壺酒應該是我的了。”說罷，就喝起酒來。那個給蛇畫腳的人沒辦法，只能懊悔自己的愚蠢。
“畫蛇添足”這個成語就是從這個故事來的。現在人們用它來說明這麼個道理：做的過分和做的不夠是一樣有害的。
趣味英語小故事指鹿為馬
In Qin dynasty, there was a powerful and evil counselor named Zhao Gao。
在秦朝，有個很得勢的奸臣叫趙高。
Zhao Gao wanted to rebel, but he didn't know how many people in the court would stand by his side。
趙高想造反，但是又不知道群臣中有多少人會支援他。
So he worked out a way to test the people。
於是他想了個辦法來測試。
He presented a deer as a tribute to the emperor in front of the court, and said that it was a swift horse。
他在群臣面前送了一頭鹿給皇上，並說這是一匹千里馬。
The emperor not accepting his statement said, "This is obviously a deer."
皇上不信，說:“這明明是鹿啊。”
Then, Zhao Gao took this opportunity to ask the court, "Is this a deer or a horse?"
然後趙高藉機問各位大臣:“這是鹿還是馬?”
In the court, those who didn't dare to go against Zhao Gao agreed with him and said that it was a horse, and those who dared to go against Zhao Gao said that it was a deer。
在大臣中，不敢反抗趙高的都贊同說是馬，敢於反對趙高的說是鹿。
Later, Zhao Gao remembered the counselors who didn't agree with him and persecuted them to solidify his power。
後來，趙高記住了這些反對他的人並加以迫害，以鞏固自己的勢力。
This story is still popular even today. People use this idiom to describe someone who calls white black。
這個故事流傳至今，人們用這個成語來形容一個人顛倒黑白。