成語故事英文翻譯

　　 功虧一簣

　　within an ace of winning

　　功虧一簣

　　Once a man planned to build a terrace.

　　古時，有一個人要築一座九仞***八尺=一仞***高的山。

　　He worked very hard and spent a lot of time digging and carrying earth.

　　他十分努力的建造這座山，並且花了很多時間挖土、搬運泥土。

　　When the mound was almost completed and only one more basket of earth was needed, the man gave up.

　　終於當山快要建成的時候，幾乎只差最後一籃子的泥土就行了的時候，他放棄了。

　　The terrace was never completed.

　　這座山便永遠無法完工。

　　This idiom means to fail to succeed for lack of final effort.

　　這個典故用以形容“離成功只有一步之遙，但最終失敗告終”的意思。

　　 草木皆兵

　　be afraid of one's own shadow

　　草木皆兵

　　In AD 383, the king of Former Qin ***秦朝***, Fu Jian ***fú jiān 苻堅***, led a huge army to attack Eastern Jin.

　　公元383年，秦王苻堅率領步兵、騎兵90萬，攻打江南的晉朝。

　　After losing the first round of fighting, Fu Jian looked down from a city wall, and was terrified when he saw the formidable battle array of the Eastern Jin army.

　　在一輪戰敗後，苻堅從城牆俯視周遭，當他看到勢不可破的東晉部隊，他感到很害怕。

　　And then looking at the mountains around, he mistook the grass and trees for enemy soldiers.

　　此時，苻堅在壽春城上望見晉軍隊伍嚴整，士氣高昂，再北望八公山，只見山上一草一木都像晉軍的士兵一樣，於是更加恐慌。

　　As a result, when the nervous Fu Jian led his army into battle, it suffered a crushing defeat.

　　後來苻堅全軍覆沒，帶著少數殘餘的隊伍逃回去了。

　　This idiom describes how one can defeat oneself by imaging difficulties.

　　這個成語後來形容人在極度驚恐時，疑神疑鬼的心理狀態。

　　 九牛一毛

　　a drop in the bucket九牛一毛

　　Li Ling was a great general during the time of emperor Han Wu-di ***hàn wǔ dì漢武帝***. He was a very good fighter, and he won every battle.

　　西漢時代有個很有名的大將軍名叫李陵，他驍勇善戰，百戰百贏。

　　One time, however, Li Ling's troops were so hopelessly outnumbered by the Huns that although they fought bravely, the whole army was soon taken captive.

　　有一次，雖然李陵的軍隊奮勇殺敵，因為兵力不足而戰敗投降。

　　Li Ling shamefully surrendered for the moment, planning to wait for an opportunity to strike back.

　　李陵打算暫時先忍辱投降，以便伺機等待機會反擊。

　　But when news of the surrender reached the capital, the emperor's jealous ministers began to degrade Li Ling in front of the emperor.

　　但當李陵投降的訊息傳到首都，皇上身邊嫉妒的大臣們都開始指責李陵。

　　What he heard made the emperor so angry that he had Li Ling's wife and mother put to death.

　　皇上十分氣憤，他將李陵的妻子與母親都賜死了。

　　Ze-ma Chian, who had always respected Li Ling, believed that he wouldn't surrender without a reason, and urged the emperor not to believe rumors.

　　司馬遷一直很敬重李陵，他不信李陵會無緣無故投降，便諫言皇上不要聽信謠言。

　　This time, the emperor grew angry at Sz-ma Chian, and locking him up, punished him severely.

　　但就因為這樣，皇上便遷怒司馬遷，並將他囚禁，進行嚴懲。

　　Sz-ma Chian then wrote a long letter to a friend, saying, "I am now in the middle of writing a history book. If I die, it will be as if one ox in a group on nine were to lose a single hair. I am willing to withstand punishment in order to complete this book." Sz-ma Chian finally did finish his book - the very famous Shr-Ji.

　　司馬遷隨後寫了一封長信給他的朋友，說道：“我現在在寫一部歷史長篇，如果我死了，就如同九牛一毛般微不足道，但我願意承受住這般的懲罰，來完成這部書。”最終，司馬遷完成了這部名流千古的史學著作——《史記》。