成语故事英文版.doc

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 sunrise 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。