【www.gbppp.com--成语故事】
退避三舍的故事
春秋时候，晋献公听信谗言，杀了太子申生，又派人捉拿申生的弟弟重耳。重耳闻讯，逃出了晋国，在外流忘十几年。
经过千幸万苦,重耳来到楚国。楚成王认为重耳日后必有大作为，就以国群之礼相迎，待他如上宾。
一天，楚王设宴招待重耳，两人饮洒叙话，气氛十分融洽。忽然楚王问重耳：“你若有一天回晋国当上国君，该怎么报答我呢？”重耳略一思索说：“美女待从、珍宝丝绸，大王您有的是，珍禽羽毛，象牙兽皮，更是楚地的盛产，晋国哪有什么珍奇物品献给大王呢？”楚王说：“公子过谦了。话虽然这么说，可总该对我有所表示吧？”重耳笑笑回答道：“要是托您的福。果真能回国当政的话，我愿与贵国友好。假如有一天，晋楚国之间发生战争，我一定命令军队先退避三舍（一舍等于三十里），如果还不能得到您的原谅，我再与您交战。” 四年后，重耳真的回到晋国当了国君，就是历史上有名的晋文公。晋国在他的治理下日益强大。
公元前633年，楚国和晋国的军队在作战时相遇。晋文公为了实现他许下的诺言，下令军队后退九十里，驻扎在城濮。楚军见晋军后退，以为对方害怕了，马上追击。晋军利用楚军骄傲轻敌的弱点，集中兵力，大破楚军，取得了城濮之战的胜利。
故事出自《左传·僖公二十二年》。成语“退避三舍”比喻不与人相争或主动让步。
retreating about thirty miles as condition for peace
during the spring and autumn period (770-476 b.c.), duke xian of the state of jin killed the crown prince sheng because he had heard slanders about sheng and believed them. he also sent his men to arrest chong er, shen sheng and believed them. he also sent his men to arrest chonh er, shen sheng's brother. hearing the news, chong er escaped from the state of jin, remaining a fugitive for more than ten years. after innumerable hardships, chong er arrived at the state of chu at last. king cheng of the state of chu treated him with high respect as he would have treated the ruler of a state, believing that he would have a vright fuure.
one day, king cheng of the state of chu gave a banquet in honoudr of chong er. suddenly, amid the harmonious atmosphere of drinking and talking, king cheng of the
state of chu asked chong er. "how will you repay me when you return to the state of jin and become its ruler one day?" after thinking for a moment, chong er said, "you have plenty of beauties and attendants as well as jewelry and silk cloth, and the state of chu abounds in rare brides and animals. what treasure can the state of jin boast having to present to your majesty?" king cheng of the state of chu said, "you are too modest. nevertheless, you still have to show your gratitude to me in one way or another, i presume?" smiling, chong er answered, "if i should be fortunate enouge to return to the state of jin and become its ruler, the state of jin would be friendly to the state of chu. if, one day, there should be a war between the two states, i would definitely order my troops to retreat three she (one she is equivalent to thirty li. the li is a chinese unit of length equivalent to 1/2 kilometre. and, therefore, three she is about thirty miles.) as a condition for peace. if, under that condition, you were still not reconciled, i would have to fight with you." four years later, as might be expected, chong er returned to the state of jin and became its ruler. he was none other than duke wen of the state of jin famous in ancient chinese history. ruled by him, the state of jin became increasingly powerful.
in the year 533 b.c., the chu troops and the jin troops confronted each other in a battle. faithful to his promise, duke wen of the state of jin ordered his troops to retreat about thirty miles. after retreating, the jin troops were stationed at chengpu. seeing that the jin troops were retreating, the chu troops thought that the enemy troops were afraid, and began chasing them. taking advantage of the chu troops' arrogance and their talking the jin troops lightly, the jin troops concentrated their forces and inflicted a crushing defeat on the chu troops, thus winning the victory of the battle of chengpu.
this set phrase, "retreating about thirty miles as a condition for peace," is derived from the chapter "the twenty-second year of duke xi" in zuozhuan, the famous commentary by zuo qiuming on the spring and autumn annals. the idea of this set phrase is to give way to somebody in order to avoid a conflict.
掩耳盗铃的故事
春秋时侯，晋国贵族智伯灭掉了范氏。有人趁机跑到范氏家里想偷点东西，看见院子里吊着一口大钟。钟是用上等青铜铸成的，造型和图案都很精美。小偷心里高兴极了，想把这口精美的大钟背回自已家去。可是钟又大又重，怎么也挪不动。他想来想去，只有一个办法，那就是把钟敲碎，然后再分别搬回家。
小偷找来一把大锤，拼命朝钟砸去，咣的一声巨响，把他吓了一大跳。小偷着慌，心想这下糟了，这种声不就等于是告诉人们我正在这里偷钟吗？他心里一急，身子一下子扑到了钟上，张开双臂想捂住钟声，可钟声又怎么捂得住呢！钟声依然悠悠地传向远方。【英文版的成语故事】
他越听越害怕，不同自由地抽回双手，使劲捂住自已的耳朵。“咦，钟声变小了，听不见了！”小偷高兴起来，“妙极了！把耳朵捂住不住就听不进钟声了吗！”他立刻找来两个布团，把耳朵塞住，心想，这下谁也听不见钟声了。于是就放手砸起钟来，一下一下，钟声响亮地传到很远的地方。人们听到钟声蜂拥而至把小偷捉住了。
故事出自《吕氏春秋·自知》“掩耳盗钟”被说成“掩耳盗铃”，比喻愚蠢自欺的掩饰行为。
plugging one's ears while stealing a bell
during the spring and autumn period,zhi bo of the spring and autumn period,zhi bo of the state of jin destroyed fan's family.taking advantage of this occasion,a man went to fan's house and tried to steal something.as soon as the man entered the gate,he saw that there hung a big bell in the courtyard.the bell was cast in high-quality bronza,and was beautiful in design and shape.the theif was very glad,and decided to carry this beautiful bell back home.but no matter how hard he tried,he could not move the bell,because the bell was both big and heavy.he thought and thought again,and believed there was only one way to solve the problem.he had to break the bell to pieces before he was able to carry them back to his home separately.
the thief found a big iron hammer,with which he struck the bell with all his might.the striking produced an enormous crashing sound,which might.the striking produced an enormous crashing sound,which made the thief terribly frightened.the thief got flurried,thinking that it was too bad to have produced the crashiing sound which would himself on the bell,trying to muffle the crashing sound with his arms.but
how could the crashing sound of the bell be muffled?the crashing sound still kept drifting melodiously to distant places.the more he listened to the sound,the more frightened hw became.he xubconsciously shrank back,and covered his ears hard with his hands."hey,the sound becomes fainter,inaudible,"the thief became cheerful at once," wonderful!the sound of the bell can not be heard when the ears are covered."he immediately got some odd bits of cloth,made two rolls with them,and had his ears plugged with the two cloth rolls.he thought that in this way nobody could hear the sound of the bell.feeling relieved,he began striking the bell,one blow after another.the resounding sound of the bell was heard at distant places,and finally people caught the thief by gracing the sound.
this story comes from"knowing yourself" in the annals by buwei,written just before the qin dynasty（221-207 b.c.）was founded.allegedly,when li yuan,emperor gao zu of the tang dynasty（618-907），read this story,he felt it simply ridiculous and said,"this is what is called plugging one's ears while stealing a bell."
later,people have used the set phrase "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell" to refer to the ignorance and foolishness of the person who deceives himself as well as others.
唇亡齿寒的故事
春秋时候，晋献公想要扩充自己的实力和地盘，就找借口说邻近的虢（guó）国经常侵犯晋国的边境，要派兵灭了虢国。可是在晋国和虢国之间隔着一个虞国，讨伐虢国必须经过虞地。“怎样才能顺利通过虞国呢？”晋献公问手下的大臣。大夫荀息说：“虞国国君是个目光短浅、贪图小利的人，只要我们送他价值连城的美玉和宝马，他不会不答应借道的。”晋献公一听有点舍不得，荀息看出了晋献公的心思，就说：“虞虢两国是唇齿相依的近邻，虢国灭了，虞国也不能独存，您的美玉宝马不过是暂时存放在虞公那里罢了。”晋献公采纳了荀息的计策。
虞国国君见到这两们珍贵的礼物，顿时心花怒放，听到荀息说要借道虞国之事时，当时就满口答应下来。虞国大夫宫之奇听说后，赶快阻止道：“不行，不行，虞国和虢国是唇齿相依的近邻，我们两个小国相互依存，有事可以自彼帮助，万一虢国灭了，我们虞国也就难保了。俗话说：‘唇亡齿寒’，没有嘴唇，牙齿也保不住啊！借道给晋国万万使不得。”虞公说：“人家晋国是大国，现在特意送来美玉宝马和咱们交朋友，难道咱们借条道路让他们
走走都不行吗？”宫之奇连声叹气，知道虞国离灭亡的日子不远了，于是就带着一家老小离开了虞国。
果然，晋国军队借道虞国，消灭了虢国，随后又把亲自迎接晋军的虞公抓住，灭了虞国。 故事出自《左传·僖公五年》。成语“唇亡齿寒”，比喻双方关系密切，相互依存。
if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold
during the spring and autumn period (707 - 476 b.c.), duke xian of the state of jin wanted to expand his position of strength and sphere of influence. therefore he would like to send his troops to destroy the state of guo on the pretest that the state of guo often encroached on theborders of the state of jin. but there was a third state, the state of yu,between the state of jin and the state of guo, and the jin army had to cross the state of yu before it could reach the state of guo . "how can my army cross the state of yu without a hitch?" duke xian of the state of jin asked his ministers.xun xi , one of the ministers, said, "the monarch of the state of yu is short - sighted and covets small advantages. if we give him priceless precious stones and fine horses, it is not unlikely that he will allow our army to pass through his country. " seeing that duke xian of the state of jin was a little bit grudging, xun xi continued to say, "the state of yu and the state of guo are neighbor stated as closely related as lips and teeth. the state of yu cannot exist independently if the state of guo is destroyed. your precious stones and fime hores are just left in the care of the monarch of the state of yu." so duke xian of the state of jin accepted xun xi's plan. when the monarch of yu saw the precious gifts, he was elated,and readily promised to let the jin army pass through his state. hearing the news, gong zhiqi, one of the ministers as the state of yu, hastened to admonish the monarch, saying," that won't do.for the state of yu and the state of guo are neighbor states as closely related as lips and teeth. our two small states are interdependent, and can help cach other when problems crop up .if the state of guo were destroyed, it would be difficult for our state of yu to continue to exist. as the common saying goes, if the lips are gone ,the teeth will be cold, the teeth can hardly be kept if the lips are gone. so it won't do at all to allow the jin army pass our state." the monarch of the state of yu said," the state of jin is a big
perfectly impartial
during the spring and autumn period (770-476 bc), a very noble official caled qi huangyang lived in the state of jin. one day, the king summoned him to court and asked, now that the magistrate position of nanyang county is vacant, who do you think is suitable for the post?
xie hu is the right man for the job, qi replied without hesitation.
surprised, the king asked, did you say xie hu? i thought he's your enemy. why did you renetmend him to take such an important position?
smiling, qi huangyang said, your majesty didn't ask me my personal opinions o xie hu. you simply asked me who i thought would be netpetent for the position. therefore i renetmended xie hu.
the king followed qi's advice and made xie hu magistrate of nanyang county. and sure enough, xie hu administered the county very well and won respect from local people and his colleagues.
some days later, the king again asked qi huangyang for his opinions. this time, the king was trying to find a suitable candidate for a court judge position. qi huangyiang renetmended qi wu for the job. once again, the king was surprised again by the renetmendation because qi wu was the son of qi huangyang. the king asked: who do you renetmend your son? aren't you afraid people will gossip?
qi huangyang replied, your majesty, you asked me who was the most capable person for the position of a judge, and i think qi wu is.
although the king was a bit hesitant about making qi wu the judge, he nevertheless gave him the position. as it turned out, qi wu was an upright and talented judge, who people greatly respected.
qi huangyang's actions were praised by confucius who said, qi huangyang was right. he renetmended people according to their abilities and talents, not because of personal sentiments， not because of fearing others' gossip. therefore, people like qi huangyang are referred to as people without selfish motives.
from confucious' netment came the idiom unselfish. anyone who handles affairs fairly and impartially can be described as unselfish; perfectly impartial. 大公无私
春秋时，晋国有位品格非常高尚的大臣祁黄羊。有一次，晋王召祁黄羊入宫问他：南阳县缺个县令，你看，应该派谁去当比较合适呢？」祁黄羊毫不迟疑地回答说：解狐去，最合适了。平公惊奇的问他：你是说解狐？ 他不是你的仇人吗？你为什么还要推荐他担任这么重要的职位？【英文版的成语故事】
祁黄羊笑着说：陛下只问我什么人能够胜任这个职位，并没有问我对解狐的个人看法呀！因此我推荐解狐。于是，晋王采纳了他的建议，派解狐到南阳县去上任了。当然，解狐到任后，治理有方，他的同僚和当地百姓都尊敬他。
过了一些日子，平公又向祁黄羊征求意见。这回，晋王想找个合适的人选担任朝廷法官。祁黄羊推荐了祁午。平公又奇怪起来了，因为祁午是祁黄羊的儿子。他问道：你怎么推荐你的儿子，不怕别人讲闲话吗？祁黄羊说：陛下只问我谁最是合适的，我认为祁午是。
尽管晋王还有些犹豫，他还是派了祁午去做法官。事实证明，祁午是个正直，有才能的法官，很受人们的爱戴。孔子听说这两件事，十分称赞祁黄羊。孔子说: 祁黄羊是对的。他推荐人，完全是以才能做标准，不因为个人偏见，便不推荐他；也不因为怕人议论，便不推
荐。像黄祁羊这样的人，才够得上说大公无私啦！
大公无私这个成语就是由孔子的评论而来的，用来形容那些公正无私处理事物的人。
英语成语故事：指鹿为马
In Qin dynasty, there was a powerful and evil counselor named Zhao Gao。
在秦朝，有个很得势的奸臣叫赵高。
Zhao Gao wanted to rebel, but he didn't know how many people in the court would stand by his side。
赵高想造反，但是又不知道群臣中有多少人会支持他。
So he worked out a way to test the people。
于是他想了个办法来测试。
He presented a deer as a tribute to the emperor in front of the court, and said that it was a swift horse。
他在群臣面前送了一头鹿给皇上，并说这是一匹千里马。
The emperor not accepting his statement said, "This is obviously a deer."
皇上不信，说“这明明是鹿啊。”
Then, Zhao Gao took this opportunity to ask the court, "Is this a deer or a horse?" 然后赵高借机问各位大臣，“这是鹿还是马?”
In the court, those who didn't dare to go against Zhao Gao agreed with him and said that it was a horse, those who dared to go against Zhao Gao said that it was a deer。
在大臣中，不敢反抗赵高的都赞同说是马，敢于反对赵高的说是鹿。
Later, Zhao Gao remembered the counselors who didn't agree with him and persecuted them to solidify his power。
后来，赵高记住了这些反对他的人并加以迫害，以巩固自己的势力。
This story is still popular even today. People use this idiom to describe someone who calls white black。
这个故事流传至今，人们用这个成语来形容一个人颠倒黑白。
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 netpanions. 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 netmonly as a man drops his chop-sticks, at the thunder-stroke, at a dinner table. henceforth netes 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. 惊弓之鸟
战国时期，有个杰出的弓箭手，叫做更赢。他的射箭本领在当时可称是举世无双。有一天，他和魏王并肩站着，天空中忽然飞过一群鸿雁。更赢很自信的对魏王说：我可以用弓声就把飞鸟给打下来。魏王很怀疑。正在那是，一只孤雁很低很慢的飞过。鸣声凄惨。更赢见了，就张着弓，扣着弦，砰的一声，直入云宵。那孤雁果然应声落地。魏王惊叹之余，不明白这是怎么回事。更赢解释说：那孤雁飞得低且慢，因为它已经受过伤；它鸣叫的声音悲而哀，因为它离了群。身伤心碎，使它心跳加速，两翼无力，体重失去平衡，正如人们吃饭时，突然听见雷声，筷子落地的情况一样自然而平常。
后人根据上面的故事，做成了惊弓之鸟这个成语，形容先前多次受过惊吓的人，忽然遇到同样可怕的事物，就吓得魂飞魄散，惊惶失措，不知如何去应付新的环境。
本文来源：http://www.gbppp.com/jy/438056/
推荐访问:成语故事英文版 英文成语故事短