成语故事英语

篇一：用英语讲成语故事

用英语讲中国成语故事

成语故事之一

对牛弹琴

古时候，有一个人琴弹得很好。一次，他对着牛弹了一段曲子，希望牛也能欣赏他的技巧。曲子虽然很好听，但是牛却丝毫不理会，只顾埋头吃草。这个人只好叹了口气离开了。 “对牛弹琴”这个成语，比喻对不懂道理的人讲道理。也用来讥笑说话的人不看对象。

Playing the Lute to a Cow

In ancient times there was a man who played the

zither(古筝）very well.Once,he played a tune in front of a cow, hopping that the cow would appreciate it. The tune was melodious(悦耳的），but the cow showed no

reaction, and just kept on eating grass. The man signed

and went away.

This idiom is used to indicate(显示；象征）reasoning with stubben(顽固的；固执的）people or talking to the wrong audience.

成语故事之二

刻舟求剑

战国时期有个楚国的人，得到一把宝剑，非常珍爱。一天，他坐船过江，不小心把宝剑掉到江中去了。他急忙在剑掉下去的船舷上刻了一个记号。船靠岸后，他就从刻有记号的地方跳下水去找他的剑。

“刻舟求剑”这个成语讽刺那些办事迂腐，不知道变通情况的人。

Notching the Boat to Find the Sword

In the Warring States Period, a man in the State of Chu had a sword which he cherished(珍爱；珍惜）very much. One day, when he was crossing a river in a boat, the sword suddenly fell into the water. The man the made a mark on the side of the boat at the spot where the sword had fallen overboard. When the boat reached the shore, he jumped from the spot he marked into

the water to look for his sword.

This idiom satirizes(讽刺）those who stick to rigid rules instead of taking changed circumstances(情况）into account.

一箭双雕

南北朝时代，有个名叫长孙晟的人，聪明敏捷，特别善于射箭。一天他同朋友一起去打猎，忽然看见两支雕在空中争夺一块肉。他的朋友立即给了长孙晟两只箭，说：“你能把两只雕都射下来吗？”长孙晟不慌不忙拉开弓，只射了一箭，就把两只雕同时射下来了。朋友直夸他好箭法。 英语小故事尽在英语学习网

这个成语比喻用一种办法同时得到两种收获或效果。 英语小故事尽在英语学习网 Killing Two Birds with One Stone 英语文章尽在

In the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties(420-589) there was an expert archer named Zhan sun Shang. One day he went hunting together with a friend. Suddenly they saw two vultures fighting for a piece of meat high in the air. His friend handed him two arrows, and said, “Can you shoot down both vultures?” Zhangsun Sheng effortlessly killed both vultures with only one arrow. Mao Sui Recommending Himself

in the Warring States Period, the State of Qin besieged the capital of the State of Zhao. Duke

Pingyuan of Zhao planned to ask the ruler of the State of Chu personally for assistance. He wanted to select a capable man to go with him. A man called Mao Sui volunteered. When the negotiate-actions between the two states were stalled because the ruler of Chu hesitated to send troops, Mao Sui approached him, brandishing a sword. At that, the ruler of Chu agreed to help Zhao, against Qin.

毛遂自荐

战国时代，秦国军队攻打赵国的都城。赵国的平原君打算亲自到楚国去请救兵，想挑选一个精明能干的人一同前去。有一个名叫毛遂的人，自告奋勇愿意同去。平原君到楚国后，与楚王谈了半天，没有一点结果。毛遂怒气冲冲地拿着宝剑，逼近楚王，终于迫使楚王答应出兵，与赵国联合共同抵抗秦国。

“毛遂自荐”这个成语用来比喻自己推荐自己，不必别人介绍。

Amazing the World with a Single Feat

In the Warring States Period, Duke Wei of Qi neglected state affairs, for the first three years of his reign, giving himself over to dissipation. One of his ministers, Chun Yukun who had a good sense of humor, said to him:” There is a big bird which has neither taken wing nor sung for three years.” The duke answered, “O(来自:www.Zw2.cn 爱 作文 网)nce that bird starts to fly and sing, it will astonish the world.” The duke thereupon devoted himself to his duties and built his state up into a powerful one.

This idiom is used to indicate that a person may rise from obscurity and achieve greatness. 不鸣则已一鸣惊人

战国时代，齐威王即位后作了三年国君，只顾享乐，不理政事。有个善于说笑话的人叫淳于髡，一天对齐威王说：“城里有一只大鸟，三年不飞也不叫，你知道这是什么道理？”齐威王说：“这鸟不飞则罢，一飞就冲天；不鸣则罢，一鸣就惊人。”在淳于髡的激发下，齐威王开始治理国家，取得很大成绩，齐国的声威一直保持了几十年

篇二：英语成语故事

天衣无缝

Divine Garments Without Seams

There was a man called Guo Han in the Tang Dynasty(618-907).One summer night,

when the moon was very bright he suddenly saw a girl descending slowly from the sky. He observed the girl closely, and found that the dress she was wearing was seamless. He was puzzled, and asked why. The girl answered,"Heavenly clothes are not sewn with needle and thread."

This idiom is used metaphorically to indicate the flawless handling of things. It can

also be used to indicate a perfectly written poem or other literary article.

唐朝有个人教郭翰。一个夏天的晚上，月光非常明亮，他忽然看见天空中有个女

子轻盈而缓慢地飘落下来。他仔细地观察那个女子，发现她身上穿的衣服连一条缝也没有，感到非常奇怪，便问那个女子。女子回答说：“天衣本来就用不着针线缝合的呀！”

这个成语用来比喻处理事情十分周密，不露一点痕迹。也比喻诗文写得很精辟，

找不出一点毛病。 黔驴技穷

从前，贵州没有驴子，有人从外地带回一头驴子，拴在山下，一只老虎看到了，以为是什么怪物，急忙躲到树林中去头头地瞧。驴子大叫一声，老虎吓了一跳，以为驴子要吃掉自己。时间一长，老虎觉得驴子没有什么恶意，逐渐走近去戏弄它，触犯它。驴子生气了，用蹄子踢老虎。老虎心里想：“你的本领不过就是如此啊！”于是立刻扑过去，一口把它咬死吃掉了。 这个成语比喻仅有的一点本事也用完了，在没有别的办法了。

The Guizhou Donkey Has Exhausted It's Tricks

In ancient times there were no donkeys in Guizhou province. Somebody brought a donkey from somewhere and tied it to a tree at the foot of a mountain. A tiger saw the donkey, and thought that it must be a fearsome monster. It hide behind a tree and spied on the donkey. When the donkey brayed, the tiger was frightened, thinking that the donkey was about to devour it. After a while, seeing that the donkey had not moved, the tiger approached it and teased it. The donkey became angry, and kicked the tiger. The tiger thought to itself:"It then all it is capable of?" It then jumped on the donkey and ate it.

This idiom is used to mean that one has exhauseted one's skills.

破镜重圆

A Broken Mirror Joined Together

This set phrase metaphorically means the reunion of husband and wife after an enforced separation or a rupture.

At the end of Southern Dynasties,when the Chen Dynasty was about to be overthrown. Xú Déyán felt very worried.He foreknew that his wife Princess Lè Chāng was destined to separate from him.

His wife is the last Emperor Chén Shūbǎo's younger sister.

Hence he broke a round bronze mirror into halves.

One half is given to the Princess,the other half left with himself.

The couple agreed on it that the wife would pretend to sell the broked mirror in the street of Cháng'ān,the capital of the Suí Dynasty,on the Lantern Festival.

After the fall of Chén Dynasty,Princess Lè Chāng was captured and sent to Chang'an and forced to be a concubine-servant in the mansion of Yáng Sù.

Xú Déyán missed his wife very much and went to the captial to look for her.

On the 15th day of the first lunar month,he found a man selling half the mirror.

After asking the man,he knew that his wife had been a concubine-servant of Yáng Sù. Thinking that he could not see her again,he sighed a great sorrow.

Having known the matter,Yáng Sù felt much sympathy for the couple.He sent for Xú Déyán and told him to take wife away.Thus the husband and the wife were reunited into a happy couple.

自相矛盾

A man of the state of Chu had a spear and a shield for sale. He was loud in praises of his shield.

"My shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it through."

He also sang praises of his spear.

"My spear is so strong that it can pierce through anything."

"What would happen," he was asked, "if your spear is used to pierce your shield?"

It is impossible for an impenetrable shield to coexist with a spear that finds nothing impenetrable.

刻舟求剑

A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat.

"This is where my sword fell off," he said.

When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.

The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?

井底之蛙

Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly worms, crabs and tadpoles, and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?"

Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck. It hesitated and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea.

"Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."

After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease.

Hide the ears and stole the bell(掩耳盗铃)

Once upon a time,there was a very foolish man.But he himself didn't think so.He thought that he was very clever.One day,he saw a family hanging up a beautiful bell.He liked the bell and wanted to steal it.

But if he put his idea into practice,he must touch the bell,and the bell would make a noise.Then other people would hear the noise and catch him.How to avoid the state?

Suddenly a good idea came across his mind.He took action.The man hide his ears behind his hands.Then he used his right arm to leave his right hand.He took his right hand to steal the bell.The bell rang,but he could't hear it.The people heard the bell ringing and caught the man. But the man was still very confused and asked:"How did you hear the noise?"

Ha ha,what a foolish man!

Amazing the World with a Single FeatIn the Warring States Period, Duke Wei of Qi neglected state affairs, for the first three years of his reign, giving himself over to dissipation. One of his minister, Chun Yukun who had a good sense of humour, said to him:”There is a big bird which has neigher taken wing nor sung for three years.” The duke answered, “Once that bird starts to fly and sing, it will astonish the world.” The duke thereupon devoted himself to his duties and built his state up into a powerful one.This idiom is used to indicate that a person may rise from obscurity and achieve greatness.

战国时代，齐威王即位后作了三年国君，只顾享乐，不理政事。有个善于说笑话的人叫淳于髡，一天对齐威王说：“城里有一只大鸟，三年不飞也不叫，你知道这是什么道理？”齐威王说：“这鸟不飞则罢，一飞就冲天；不鸣则罢，一鸣就惊人。”在淳于髡的激发下，齐威王开始治理国家，取得很大成绩，齐国的声威一直保持了几十年。

中国有句俗语，“一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳”。

这个俗语真要讲的就是，很久很久以前，人们还都是用井水的那个年代。有两个小朋友，名字叫做“一朝”和“十年”，他们是好朋友，每天都在一起玩耍、做游戏。有一天，他们在井边玩耍，突然，趴在井口边的“一朝”被一条攀在井绳上的蛇咬了一口。在一边的“十年”听到好朋友的哭喊赶快看过去，这时那条蛇已经逃之夭夭了。他只看到了井绳和好朋友“一朝”的痛苦。因为“十年”很年幼，所以他把井绳和痛苦联系在了一起，认为是井绳咬了好

朋友。从那以后，就流传下来了“一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳”的说法。从这个故事中，可见人们对灾祸感受之深。 解释:比喻遭过一次挫折以后就变得胆小怕事

Long, long ago, people were still using well water in those days. There were two children, called the "once" and "Decade," they were good friends and played together every day . One day, they played near the well, suddenly,” once” was bitten by a snake climbing on the hemp rope when he lying on the wellhead side. "Decade" , on the other side , heard the cry of friend and quickly run to look at him, when the snake had been away. He only saw hemp rope and "once" suffering. Because the "Decade" very young, so he link hemp rope and suffering together, considered hemp rope bitten his friend. Since then, they have been handed down on "once bitten, twice shy".

This idiom Metaphor: people becomes too timid after a setback.

篇三：成语故事英文版

1、守株待兔：

相传在战国时代宋国，有一个农民，日出而作，日入而息．遇到好年景，也不过刚刚吃饱穿暖；一遇灾荒，可就要忍饥挨饿了．他想改善生活，但他太懒，胆子又特小，干什么都是又懒又怕，总想碰到送上门来的意外之财。

奇迹终于发生了。深秋的一天，他正在田里耕地，周围有人在打猎。吆喝之声四处起伏，受惊的小野兽没命的奔跑。突然， 有一只兔子，不偏不倚，一头撞死在他田边的树根上。当天，他美美地饱餐了一顿。

从此，他便不再种地。一天到晚，守着那神奇的树根，等着奇迹的出现。成语“守株待兔”，比喻亡想不劳而得，或死守狭隘的经验，不知变通。 staying by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it

this story took place more than 2,000 years ago,in the warring states period（475-221

b.c.）.tradition has it that in the state of song at that time there was a man who was famous for staying by a stump waiting for

more hares to come and dash themselves against it.

he was a yong farmer,and his family had been farmers for generations.year after year and generation after generation, farmers used to sow in spring and harvest in autumn,beginning to work at suise and retiring at sunset.in good harvest years,they could only have enough food to eat and enough clothing to wear.if there was a famine due to crop failure,they had to go hungry.this young farmer wanted to improve his life.but he was too lazy and too cowardly.being lazy and cowardly over everything,he often dreamed of having unexpected blessings.

a miracle took place at last. one day in late autumn,when he was ploughing in the field,two groups of people were hunting nearby.as shoutings were rising one after another,scared hares were running desperately.suddenly,a blind hare dashed itself headlong against the stump of a dead tree in his field and died.

that day,he ate his fill.

from that day on,he no longer went in for farming again.from morning till night,he stayed by that miraculous stump,waiting for miracles to take place again.

this story comes from"the five vermin"in the works of han feizi.later generations often use the set phrase"staying by a stump waiting for more hares to come and dash themselves against it"to

show grusting to chance and windfalls or dreaming to reap without sowing.it is also used to show adhering to narrow experiences and not being able to be flexible. try to help the Shoots grow by pulling them upward/spoil things by excessive enthusiasm

2、拔苗助长

There once was an impatient farmer who lived during the Song Dynasty.(sòng cháo,960-1279 AD).

春秋时代，宋国有个急性子的农夫。

Everyday the anxious farmer would measure the growth of the crops.

庄稼长出禾苗以后，他每天都去观看。

To his dismay, his crops were growing much slower than he expected。

令他沮丧的是，禾苗长得太慢。

The farmer racked his brains trying to find better ways of planting in order to get quicker results.

农夫绞尽脑汁想让禾苗长快些。

One day he finally came up with a solution.

一天他终于想出方法。

He started to physically pull the crops out of the ground, thus making them taller.

他跑到田里，把禾苗一颗颗往上拔，使它们长高。

The farmer worked very hard and at day’s end was physically exhausted but mentally happy as his plan had produced the desired results.

农夫虽然很累但他很高兴看到禾苗长高。

When the farmer went home, he told his son of his “brilliant” method.

当农夫回家时，把这个好办法告诉了他儿子。

His son went to the field only to discover that all of his crops were all dead.他的儿子赶忙跑到田里去看，禾苗全都枯萎了。

3、井底之蛙：

成语井底之蛙的故事--中国成语故事英语版中英对照

Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle（海龟） that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing（栏杆，扶手） beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits（腋窝） and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly（蠕动地，回避地） worms, crabs and tadpoles（蝌蚪） , and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough（水槽） of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?"

一口废井里住着一只青蛙。有一天，青蛙在井边碰上了一只从海里来的大龟。 青蛙就对海龟夸口说： “你看，我住在这里多快乐！有时高兴了，就在井栏边跳跃一阵；疲倦了，就回

到井里，睡在砖洞边一回。或者只留出头和嘴巴，安安静静地把全身泡在水里：或者在软绵绵的泥浆里散一回步，也很舒适。看看那些虾，谁也比不上我。而且，我是这个井里的主人，在这井里极自由自在，你为什么不常到井里来游赏呢！”

Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck.

那海龟听了青蛙的话，倒真想进去看看。但它的左脚还没有整个伸进去，右脚就已经绊住了。 It hesitated（踌躇，犹豫） and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea."Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's

width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts（干旱） seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."

它连忙后退了两步，把大海的情形告诉青蛙说： “你看过海吗？海的广大，哪止千里；海的深度，哪只千来丈。古时候，十年有九年大水，海里的水，并不涨了多少；后来，八年里有七年大早，海里的水，也不见得浅了多少。可见大海是不受旱涝影响的。住在那样的大海里，才是真的快乐呢！”

After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease（不安的，拘束的）. 井蛙听了海龟的一番话，吃惊地呆在那里，再没有话可说了。