有道理的英文勵志故事

　　多看一些的話，我們總會有所感悟的，那麼都有哪些呢?一起來看看吧。

　　：李代桃僵

　　The plum tree sacrifices itself for the peach tree-Sacrifice oneself for another person

　　This idiom comes from a old folk song. the last two stanzas go like this:

　　One family has five brothers, all serving to a minister as attendants. Every five days, they go back home for a reunion, decorating their horses and garments with shining gold. They vie with each other for ostentation and extravagance, attracting crowds of onlookers along the road.

　　Now there is a peach tree by a well, and a plum tree next to it. When worms come to gnaw at the root of the peach tree, the plum tree invites them to gnaw at its own root. Finally, the plum dies, ossified.

　　Even trees know how to sacrifice for other trees, why can't brothers do the same?

　　李代桃僵

　　這個成語來自於一首古老的民歌。 歌曲的最後兩段說的是：

　　一戶人家有兄弟五人，都在一個大官的家中做僕人。每隔五天，他們會回家團聚一次。他們用金子裝飾馬匹和衣服，吸引了許多路人來看。五人互不相讓，相互比較誰的排場大。

　　如今一口井邊有一棵桃樹，桃樹旁是一棵李樹。有蟲子來咬桃樹的根，李樹便讓蟲子來咬自己的根。最終，李樹變得僵硬，枯死了。

　　連樹都知道為了別的樹犧牲自己，為什麼兄弟之間反而做不到呢?

　　：半途而廢

　　Give up halfway

　　During the Warring States Period 475-221BC, there was a man called Yue Yangzi in State Yue. One day he saw a piece of gold on the road and picked it up. He took it home and gave it to his wife. But his wife was not happy. The virtuous woman said, "I hear that a man of morality doesn't drink a thief's water and a man of probity refuses to accept alms. What do you think of the action of picking up another's lost valuable and possessing it for one's own?"

　　Yue Yangzi, feeling ashamed, sent the gold back to where he found it.

　　the next year, Yue Yangzi felt that he should go out and visit scholars to enrich his knowledge. So he set off.

　　A year later, he came back home suddenly.

　　"Why have you returned?" asked his wife in surprise, "You've only spent one year studying with scholars."

　　"I come back because I missed you very much."

　　Without saying anything, his wife took a pair of scissors and went to the loom at which she had worked. Pointing at the half done brocade, she proclaimed : "This brocade is woven from the finest silk. I wove one strand after another to produce the brocade. Now if I cut it, all my previous work will be wasted. It's the same with your studies. You can acquire knowledge only through diligence. Now, you've stopped halfway. Isn't it the same as cutting the brocade on the loom?"

　　Yue Yangzi was moved by what she said. He again left home to visit scholars. Several years later he became a learned man.

　　半途而廢

　　戰國時期，魏國有個叫樂羊子的人。有一天，樂羊子在路上看到一塊金子，他就撿起金子，帶回了家並把它拿給妻子看。可他妻子一點兒也不高興。這個賢惠的女人對他說："我聽人說'壯士不飲盜泉之水;廉潔的人不食嗟來之食'。把別人遺失的貴重之物撿起來據為己有，你怎麼看待這種行為呢?"

　　樂羊子聽了妻子的話，覺得很慚愧，就把那塊金子又扔到原來的地方。

　　第二年，樂羊子離開家到了一個很遠的地方，去拜師求學。

　　一年後，樂羊子突然回到家中，他的妻子很驚訝地問："你怎麼回來了?你才和那些學者學了一年呀。"樂羊子說："我太想你了，所以回來看看。"

　　他的妻子聽了以後，二話不說，拿起把剪刀走到她的織布機前。她指著那塊已經完成了一半的錦緞說："這塊錦緞用的是最好的絲。我一絲絲的累積來織成這錦緞。如果我現在把它剪斷，就等於前功盡棄。你求學也是這樣。如果現在停止，和剪斷織布機上的錦緞有什麼區別?"

　　樂羊子被妻子的話所感動，於是立刻離開家，繼續拜師求學。

　　幾年後，樂羊子終於完成學業，成為一個博學的人。

　　：濫竽充數

　　Be there just to make up the number

　　During the Warring States Period 475-221BC, the King of the State of Qi was very fond of listening to yu ensembles. He often got together 300 yu players to form a grand music. The king treated his musician very well. A man named Nanguo heard about that and he managed to become a member of the band, even though he wan not good at playing the instrument at all. Whenever the band played for the king, Nanguo just stood in the line and pretended to play. Nobody realized he was making no sound at all. As a result, he enjoyed his treatment just as the other musician did. When the king died, his son became the new ruler who also liked the music played on the yu. However, he preferred solos so that he ordered the musicians to play the yu one by one. Therefore, Nanguo had to run out of the palace.

　　the idiom "Be there just to make up the number" is used to mock someone who passes for a specialist. You can also hear people saying it about themselves to show their modesty.

　　濫竽充數

　　戰國時，齊宣王喜歡聽竽，通常是三百人的大合奏。因為他給予樂師非常優厚的待遇，所以一個叫南郭的人儘管並不擅長吹竽，也設法混進樂隊。當樂隊演奏時，他就站在隊伍裡假裝也在吹。沒有人注意到其實他連一點聲音也沒吹出來，所以南郭也享受到和其他樂師一樣的待遇。宣王死後，他的兒子繼承了王位。他也喜歡聽竽，可是他喜歡聽獨奏，讓樂師一個個吹給他聽，於是南郭不得不逃跑了。

　　"濫竽充數"這個成語用來嘲笑那些沒有真正才幹，混在行家裡的人。 人們有時也用"濫竽充數"來表示自謙。