中国寓言故事-英文版精编版

画蛇添足

Once upon a time, there was a nobleman who gave some wine to his servants．The wine was not enough for all．The servants finally decided whoever first finished drawing a snake on the ground would get the cup of wine．One of the servants finished drawing first．He took up the cup and was about to drink the wine when he thought of adding feet to the snake．He went on drawing．Then another servant finished drawing his snake. He snatched the wine cup and drank up the wine saying: “It is I who first finished drawing the snake．What you have drawn is not a snake．A snake doesn't have feet.”

杞人忧天

In the Spring and Autumn Period, in the State of Qi, there was a man who always let his imagination run away with him. One day he even worried that the sky would fall on his head. He was so worried that he could neither eat nor sleep. Later, someone persuaded him that his fears were ground-less. This idiom satirizes those who worry unnecessarily.

东施效颦

In the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期,770-476 BC), there was a beauty in the State of Yue called Xishi. She often suffered from pains in her chest, and so she would often walk around doubled over and with her brows knitted. There was an ugly girl in the village called Dongshi who envied Xishi. Striving to emulate Xishi, she imitated her stoop, knitting her brows at the same time. She thought that this made her elegant, but in fact, it only made her more ugly. Later, this idiom came to be used to indicate improper imitation that produces the reverse effect.

草木皆兵

In AD 383, the king of Former Qin (秦朝), Fu Jian (fú jiān 苻坚), led a huge army to attack Eastern Jin. 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. And then looking at the mountains around, he mistook the grass and trees for enemy soldiers. As a result, when the nervous Fu Jian led his army into battle, it suffered a crushing defeat. This idiom describes how one can defeat oneself by imaging difficulties.

塞翁失马

Near China's northern borders lived a man well versed in the practices of Taoism. His horse, for no reason at all, got into the territory of the northern tribes. Everyone commiserated with him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said his father.

After a few months, his animal came back, leading a fine horse from the north. Everyone congratulated him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a cause of misfortune," said his father.

Since he was well-off and kept good horses, his son became fond of riding and eventually broke his thigh bone falling from a horse. Everyone commiserated with him.

"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said his father.

One year later, the northern tribes started a big invasion of the border regions. All able-bodied young men took up arms and fought against the invaders, and as a result, around the border nine out of ten men died. This man's son did not join in the fighting because he was crippled and so both the boy and his father survived.