英語短篇勵志故事及譯文

　　我們有時間的話就應該多找一些來看看，那麼都有哪些呢?一起來看看吧。

　　：網開一面

　　Give the wrong-doer a way out

　　Beginning with Yu the GREat, the Xia Dynasty had lasted about four hundred years before Jie became the supreme ruler.

　　And that was in the 18th century BC. Jie was extremely tyrannical and dissolute. This aroused GREat resentment among the people. Tang, the Chief of the tribe Shang took advantage of this situation to overthrow the Xia Dynasty and established the Shang Dynasty in the early 17th century BC. Among the preparations for the overthrow had been the winning over of popular support.

　　One day, Tang was having a walk in the open country. He saw a man catching birds with a big net spread in a box-like and mumbling: "Come on, birds! Come into my net. All of you, whether you are flying high or low, east or west. Come into my net!"

　　Tang walked over and said to the man, "This method is ruthless! You'll spare no birds this way!" With these words, he cut the net down on three sides. Then he murmured in a light voice as if praying: "Oh, birds! Fly to the left or right as you like. And if you're really tired of your life, come into this net!"

　　When chiefs of other tribes heard about this, they were all moved. They said, "Tang is a good king indeed. He is so kind even to birds and beasts. He must be more merciful to human beings." And very soon, about forty tribes pledged allegiance to Tang.

　　From that story came the idiom "Open the net on three sides". Later, people changed it into "Give the wrong-doer a way out."， indicating to be lenient to the wrong-doers.

　　網開一面

　　從大禹到桀，夏朝一共持續了四百多年的歷史。

　　那是在公元前十八世紀。桀是個極端殘暴，放蕩的人。他激起了人民的極度不滿。部落商的領袖湯利用這個形勢，推翻了夏朝，並在公元前十七世紀早期建立了商朝。在準備這場推翻夏朝的行動中，湯贏得了廣泛的支援。

　　一天，湯在一片開闊的田野裡散步。他看見一個人正在捕鳥。那人支開一張像籠子般的大網，喃喃的說："來吧，鳥兒們!飛到我的網裡來。無論是飛得高的還是低的，向東還是向西的，所有的鳥兒都飛到我的網裡來吧!"

　　湯走過去對那個人說："你這種方法太殘忍了!這樣作你連一隻鳥也不放過!"

　　一邊說著，湯砍斷了三面網。然後，像做祈禱那樣，他輕輕的低聲說道，"哦，鳥兒們，喜歡向左飛的，就向左飛;喜歡向右飛的，就向右飛;如果你真的厭倦了你的生活，就飛入這張網咖!"

　　其它部落的首領得知這件事後都非常感動。他們說："湯真是一位賢王啊。他對鳥獸都如此仁慈，何況是對人呢?" 不久就有四十多個部落宣誓效忠湯。

　　"網開三面"這個成語就是由此而來的。後來，人們把它改為"網開一面"，表示寬容的對待做錯事的人。

　　：驚弓之鳥

　　A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string

　　During the time of the Warring States ***475-221 BC***， there lived a well-known archer named Geng Ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.

　　One day, as he was standing by the side of the King of Wei, a flock of swan geese were flying over. With confidence, Geng Ying said to the king, "The twang of my bow-string might bring down a bird." The King doubted much. Just then a solitary swan goose appeared, low and slow in its flight, sad and dolorous in its cry. Instantly Geng Ying bended his bow and forcibly pulled the bowstring. Twang! High up went he shrilling sound into the air and down fell the bird to the ground. The king admired with bewilderment. Gang Ying then explained: "The bird was flying low and slow, because it was already hurt; it was crying in a bitter tone, because it had lost its companions. Due to the fact that it was already hurt and sad at heart, the twang of my strong bow, that birds dreaded most, startled it. The shrilling sound made its heart beat fast, its wings weak, its balance uneven. Thus it fell down just as commonly as a man drops his chop-sticks, at the thunder-stroke, at a dinner table." Henceforth comes the idiom "A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string", illustrating a case where a man who had been previously and repeatedly frightened became numb and stupefied by a new thing of the same nature not knowing how to face the new situation.

　　驚弓之鳥

　　戰國時期，有個傑出的弓箭手，叫做更贏。他的射箭本領在當時可稱是舉世無雙。有一天，他和魏王並肩站著，天空中忽然飛過一群鴻雁。更贏很自信的對魏王說："我可以用弓聲就把飛鳥給打下來。"魏王很懷疑。正在那是，一隻孤雁很低很慢的飛過。鳴聲悽慘。更贏見了，就張著弓，扣著弦，砰的一聲，直入雲宵。那孤雁果然應聲落地。魏王驚歎之餘，不明白這是怎麼回事。更贏解釋說："那孤雁飛得低且慢，因為它已經受過傷;它鳴叫的聲音悲而哀，因為它離了群。身傷心碎，使它心跳加速，兩翼無力，體重失去平衡，正如人們吃飯時，突然聽見雷聲，筷子落地的情況一樣自然而平常。

　　後人根據上面的故事，做成了"驚弓之鳥"這個成語，形容先前多次受過驚嚇的人，忽然遇到同樣可怕的事物，就嚇得魂飛魄散，驚惶失措，不知如何去應付新的環境。

　　：破鏡重圓

　　A broken mirror joined together

　　During the Southern and Northern Dynasties ***420-589***, there lived a beautiful, intelligent princess name Lechang in the State Chen. She and her husband Xu Deyan loved each other dearly. But before long their country was in danger of being invaded by the troops of the Sui Dynasty. Princess Lechang and Xu Deyan had a premonition that their county would be occupied by the invaders and they would have to leave the palace and go into exile. During the chaos they might lose touch with each other. They broke a bronze mirror, a symbol of the unity of husband and wife into two parts and each of them kept a half. They aGREed that each would take their half of the mirror to the fair during the Lantern Festival, which is on the 15th day of the first Lunar month, in the hope that would meet again. When they were united the two halves would join together. Soon their premonition came true. During the chaos of war, the princess lost touch with her husband was taken to a powerful minister Yang Su's house and was made his mistress.

　　At the Lantern Festival the next year, Xu Deyan took his half of the mirror to the fair. He hoped that he could meet his wife. It so happened that a servant was selling the other half of the bronze mirror. Xu Deyan recognized it immediately. He asked the servant about his wife. As he heard about her bitter experience, tears rolled down his cheeks. Xu Deyan wrote a poem on the half of the mirror kept by his wife: "You left me with your broken mirror Now the mirror is back but not you I can no longer see your reflection in the mirror Only the bright moon but not you" .

　　the servant brought back the inscribed half of the mirror to princess Lechang. For days, she could not help sobbing because she knew her husband was still alive and that he missed her but they could not meet forever.

　　the minister, Yang Su, found this out. He was also moved by their true love and realized it was impossible to get Lechang's love. So he sent for Xu Deyan and allowed the husband and wife to reunite.

　　From that story comes the idiom "A broken mirror joined together".

　　It is used to suggest the happy reunion of a separated couple.

　　破鏡重圓

　　南北朝時期，陳國公主樂昌美麗且有才華。她與丈夫徐德言感情深厚。但當時，隋朝正入侵陳國，陳國即將被滅亡。樂昌公主和徐德言都預感到他們的國家將被入侵者佔領，他們也會被迫離開王宮，背井離鄉。戰亂中，他們可能失去聯絡。於是，他們將一枚象徵夫妻的銅鏡一劈兩半，夫妻二人各藏半邊。相約在第二年正月十五元宵節那天，將各自的半片銅鏡拿到集市去賣。期盼能重逢，並將兩面鏡子合而為一。不久他們的預感就成為了現實。戰亂中，公主與丈夫失散了，並被送到隋朝一位很有權勢的大臣楊素家中，成了他的小妾。在第二年的元宵節上，徐德言帶著他的半邊銅鏡來到集市上，渴望能遇見他的妻子。碰巧，有一名僕人正在賣半面的銅鏡。徐德言馬上認出了這面鏡子。他向那名僕人打聽妻子的下落。當他得知妻子的痛苦遭遇後，他不禁淚流滿面。他在妻子的那半面銅鏡上題了首詩："鏡與人俱去，鏡歸人不歸。無復嫦娥影，空留明月輝"。

　　那個僕人把題了詩的銅鏡帶回來，交給了樂昌公主。一連幾天，她都終日以淚洗面，因為她知道丈夫還活著而且想念她，但他們卻無法再相見了。

　　楊素終於發現了這件事。他也被兩人的真情所打動，覺得自己也不可能贏得樂昌的愛。於是，他派人找來了徐德言，讓他們夫妻團圓了。

　　"破鏡重圓"這個成語就是從這個故事來的。形容夫妻分開後，又高興的團圓。