經典簡短英語成語故事帶翻譯

　　想要學好英語，一定要懂得學習方法。有趣的學習方法能讓你的英語水平提升得更快，小編在此獻上英語故事，希望對你有所幫助。

　　成語寓言故事:Killing the Pig to Educate the Son殺豬教子

　　Zeng Zi was one of Confucius' disciples.

　　曾子是孔子的一個學生。

　　One day, Zeng Zi's wife wanted to go to market. Their son wanted to go together with her. He made a row, crying and fussing without stop. His wife could do nothing but bend down to humour him, saying:

　　有一天，曾子的妻子要上街。兒子吵著要跟媽媽一起去，又哭又鬧，吵個不停。妻子沒有辦法，只好彎腰哄他，說:

　　"My darling, go home now. Mama will be back soon. When I'm back, I'll kill the pig to make a meal for you."

　　“我的小寶貝，回家去吧!媽媽去了就回來，一回來就殺豬給你吃。”

　　When the son heard this, he went home happily.

　　兒子聽了，高高興興地回家去了。

　　Not long after, the wife returned home from the market. Zeng Zi tied up their fat pig, took out a shining sharp knife and prepared to kill it. When his wife saw this, she hurriedly held Zeng Zi by the hand and said:

　　過了不久，妻子從街上回到了家。曾子就把家裡的肥豬捆住，拿出雪亮的尖刀，準備殺豬。妻子看見了就急忙拉住曾子的手，說:

　　"What's the matter with you? I was only trying to humour the child."

　　“你這是怎麼了?我只不過是哄哄小孩的。”

　　Zeng Zi said seriously:

　　曾子嚴肅地說:

　　"How can you cheat a child? The child is still small and doesn't understand things. He only follows the example of his parents. Now you cheat him, then he will follow your example and cheat others. Furthermore, when a mother cheats her child, the child will no longer trust his mother. Then, how can you educate the child well?"

　　“你怎麼能夠哄騙孩子呢?現在，孩子還小，不懂事，他只會照著父母的樣子去做。你現在哄騙孩子，孩子就會學你的樣子，去哄騙別人。做母親的哄騙兒子，做兒子的就不會再信任母親。這樣，怎麼能教育好孩子呢?”

　　Having said this, Zeng Zi raised his knife and killed the fat pig.

　　曾子話一說完，就一刀宰了肥豬。

　　成語寓言故事:Buying the Case but Returning the Pearl買犢還珠

　　In the past, a man of the State of Chu intended to go to the State of Zheng to sell pearls.

　　從前，有個楚國人準備到鄭國賣珍珠。

　　First he used rare lily magnolia to make a small exquisite case which he fumigated with the delicate fragrance of osmanthuses and Chinese prickly ashes. Furthermore, the case was inlaid with emerald-green jadeite, and adorned with attractive rosy jade. The whole case was decorated in an extremely exquisite way.

　　他先用名貴的木蘭做了一隻精巧的小匣子，又用幽香的牡桂和花椒把匣子薰了一下，並且在匣子上面鑲了碧綠的翡翠，還嵌上引人注目的玫瑰石，整個匣子裝演得十分考究。

　　A man of the State of Zheng saw this exquisite case and liked it very much. He bought it with a great deal of money, but he returned the pearl in the case to the man of Chu.

　　有個鄭國人看到這隻精美的匣子，非常喜歡，就用重金買了下來。但是，他卻把匣子裡的珍珠退還給了那個楚國人。

　　Later, people ridiculed the man of Chu by saying that he was good at selling cases, but not good at selling pearls.

　　後來，人們都嘲笑這個楚國人，說他很善於賣匣子，卻不善於賣珍珠。

　　To go too far in the pursuit of form just like letting a presumptuous guest usurp the host's role, which brings about opposite results.

　　過分追求形式，反而會喧賓奪主，效果適得其反。

　　成語寓言故事:Be There Just to Make Up the Number濫竽充數

　　During the Warring States Period, King Xuan of the State of Qi loved to listen to the yu ***an ancient wind instrument***, especially in the ensemble.

　　戰國時期齊國的齊宣王喜歡欣賞吹竿，特別愛聽合奏。

　　In the palace, there was a band of fully 300 yu players. King Xuan of Qi often ordered this band to play for him.

　　王宮裡，專門有個吹竿的樂隊，足足有三百人。齊宣王常常叫這個三百人的樂隊為他演奏。

　　A man named Nan Guo could not play the yu. But when he learned of King Xuan's hobby, he volunteered his service and bragged about how well he could play. He asked for permission to play for the king with other players. King Xuan was very glad to hear this and granted his request.

　　有一個名叫南郭的人，不會吹竿。但是，當他了解了齊宣王的這個嗜好以後，就毛遂自薦，吹噓自己吹竿吹得如何好，請求跟別的樂師一道為大王演奏。齊宣王聽了非常高興，批准了他的要求。

　　Thereupon, in each performance he would mingle with others, put on an act, play at random, and swindled the same amount of remuneration as paid to others. In this way, he drifted along till King Xuan of Qi died.

　　於是，每次演奏時，他混在裡面，裝模作樣，胡亂地吹奏一番，卻騙得了跟別人同樣的報酬。就這樣，他一直混到齊宣王去世。

　　After King Xuan of Qi died, King Min succeeded to the throne.

　　齊宣王死後，滑王繼位。

　　Under his father's influence, King Min also loved to listen to the yu. The only difference was that he liked to listen to solos, not ensembles. King Min proclaimed that the players must perform one by one for him.

　　齊洛王受父親的影響，也喜歡欣賞吹竿。不同的是，齊滑王只愛聽獨奏，不愛聽合奏。滑王宣佈，吹竿的樂師必須一個一個地為他演奏。

　　When Nan Guo heard of this, he was afraid. He knew he could not drift along any longer, so he sneaked away that very night.

　　南郭先生一聽就害怕了，知道自己再也混不下去，只好連夜溜走了。