In the song Dynasty (960-1279),there was a scholar whose name was Wen Tong and who styled himself Yuke. He was not only admired by others for his great learning, but also enjoyed widespread renown for his bamboo drawing. Every day there were always quite a few peoply who called at his house to ask for one of his bamboo drawings.

 

北宋画家文同，字与可。他画的竹子远近闻名，每天总有不少人登门求画。文同画竹的妙诀在哪里呢？

  Actually, Wen Tong loved bamboos so much that he had grown various bamboos everywhere around his house. No matter what season it was and no matter whether it was sunny or rainy, he used to go to the bamboo forest to observe how they were growing. He pondered over the lenght and breadth of the bamboo poles as well as the shapes and colours of the leaves. Whenever he had gained a new understanding, he went back to his study, spread a piece of paper and prepareed some ink by rubbing an ink stick on an ink slab, and drew what was in his mind on the paper. Through accumulation over a long period of time, the images of the bamboo in different seasons, under different weather conditions and at different moments were deeply imprinted in his mind.So whenever he stood before the paper and picked up a painting brush with concentrated attention, the various forms of the bamboo which he had observed at ordinary times at once rose before his eyes. And so every time he was drawing bamboos he appeared confident and at ease, and all the bamboos he had painted were very vivid and true to lift.

原来，文同在自己家的房前屋后种上各种样的竹子，无论春夏秋冬，阴睛风雨，他经常去竹林观察竹子的生长变化情况，琢磨竹枝的长短粗细，叶子的形态、颜色，每当有新的感受就回到书房，铺纸研墨，把心中的印象画在纸上。目积月累，竹子在不同季节、不同天气、不同时辰的形象都深深地印在他的心中，只要凝神提笔，在画纸前一站，平日观察到的各种形态的竹子立刻浮现在眼前。所以每次画竹，他都显得非常从容自信，画出的竹子，无不逼真传神。

  

  When people spoke highly of his paintings, he always said modestly that he had just put the images of the bamboo imprinted in his mind on the paper.

  当人们夸奖他的画时，他总是谦虚地说：“我只是把心中琢磨成熟的竹子画下来罢了。”

 

  A young man wanted to learn bamboo drawing; when he knew that Chao Buzhi had made a profound study of Wen Tong's art of drawing, he went to Chao Buzhi for instruction. Chao Buzhi wrote a poem to him. In the poem, there are the following two lines:

  When Yuke was painting the bamboos,

  He bad their images ready in his bosom.

  有位青年想学画竹，得知诗人晁补之对文同的画很有研究，前往求教。晃补之写了一首诗送给他，其中有两句：“与可画竹，胸中有成竹。”

  

  Later people have summarized the lines as " having had the images of the bamboo ready in one's bosom," which means having had ready plans or designs in one's mind before doing a certain job so that its success is guaranteed. It is also used go mean being calm and cool - headed in dealing with things.

  “胸有成竹”，比喻做事之前已作好充分准备，对事情的成功已有了十分的把握；又比喻遇事不慌，十分沉着。

  

  This story comes from an article writted by Su Shi concerning Wen Yuke's art of bamboo drawing.

 　故事出自北宋苏轼《文与可yún dāng谷偃竹记》。 

 

 

 

 

　　li ling was a great general during the time of emperor han wu-di (hàn wǔ dì汉武帝). he was a very good fighter, and he won every battle.

　　西汉时代有个很有名的大将军名叫李陵，他骁勇善战，百战百赢。

 

　　one time, however, li ling's troops were so hopelessly outnumbered by the huns that although they fought bravely, the whole army was soon taken captive.

　　有一次，虽然李陵的军队奋勇杀敌，因为兵力不足而战败投降。

 

　　li ling shamefully surrendered for the moment, planning to wait for an opportunity to strike back.

　　李陵打算暂时先忍辱投降，以便伺机等待机会反击。

 

　　but when news of the surrender reached the capital, the emperor's jealous ministers began to degrade li ling in front of the emperor.

　　但当李陵投降的消息传到首都，皇上身边嫉妒的大臣们都开始指责李陵。

 

　　what he heard made the emperor so angry that he had li ling's wife and mother put to death.

　　皇上十分气愤，他将李陵的妻子与母亲都赐死了。

 

　　ze-ma chian, who had always respected li ling, believed that he wouldn't surrender without a reason, and urged the emperor not to believe rumors.

 

英文中对应的“九牛一毛”的表达方式是“a drop in the bucket”，意思就是“一个水桶里的一滴水”，一个大水桶里的一滴水那就是九牛一毛，少之又少啦~同时也可以翻译成“沧海一粟”或者是“微不足道”

 

　　下面我们一起来看几个例句：

 

　　（1）"i'm sorry i scratched your car."

　　“很抱歉，刮花了你的车。”

 

　　"don't worry about it. it's just a drop in the bucket. that car has more scratches on it than i can count."

　　别担心，小事一桩~这车本来就被刮了很多次了。

 

　　（2）when i think how many people there are in the world, i realize that my own problems are just a drop in the bucket.

　　当我意识到这个世界上的人是何其多，我的个人问题简直是微不足道。

面我们来看一句特蕾莎修女的名句：

 

　　“we ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

　　“我们自己总是会觉得我们的所作所为犹如沧海一粟，但是这一整片大海却少不了这一粟。”

 

　　就因为这一句话，曾有一次公益活动的名字就叫做“we need your drop.”(我们需要你的帮助）

　　司马迁一直很敬重李陵，他不信李陵会无缘无故投降，便谏言皇上不要听信谣言。

 

　　this time, the emperor grew angry at sz-ma chian, and locking him up, punished him severely.

　　但就因为这样，皇上便迁怒司马迁，并将他囚禁，进行严惩。

 

　　sz-ma chian then wrote a long letter to a friend, saying, "i am now in the middle of writing a history book. if i die, it will be as if one ox in a group on nine were to lose a single hair. i am willing to withstand punishment in order to complete this book." sz-ma chian finally did finish his book - the very famous shr-ji.

　　司马迁随后写了一封长信给他的朋友，说道：“我现在在写一部历史长篇，如果我死了，就如同九牛一毛般微不足道，但我愿意承受住这般的惩罚，来完成这部书。”最终，司马迁完成了这部名流千古的史学著作——《史记》。

 

 

 

　　tsau pi and tsau jr were sons of tsau tsau. both were very gifted writers, and tsau jr was especially quick-witted.

　　曹丕与曹植都是曹操的儿子，二者均有才华，特别是曹植更具文采。

 

　　after tsau tsau's death, tsau pi took over the throne of the kingdom of wei. jealous of tsau jr's literary ability, and afraid that he might cause problems, tsau pi was always looking for a way to kill his brother.

　　在曹操死后，曹丕继任大统，但他嫉妒曹植的才华，同时也惧怕曹植回谋反，所以一直在伺机杀害曹植。

 

　　one day, tsau pi called tsau jr into see him.he ordered his brother to make up a poem within the time it took to walk seven steps, adding that if he could not, his life would be in danger.

　　有一天，曹丕要求接见曹植，他要求曹植在他七步之内作诗一首，如果做不到，就会有生命危险。

 

　　greatly saddened, tsau jr began to walk and to think. before he had taken the seven steps, he had already finished his poem, the meaning of which was: "brothers are of the same family, so why should the oppress each other?"

　　悲愤之下，曹植急中生智，作出七步诗，是的意思就是“本来就是亲兄弟，为什么要这样步步紧逼，伤及感情？”

 

　　tsau jr was very intelligent and loved to study. he wrote many outstanding articles which showed his artistic talent and earned him the admiration of many people. one scholar said of him: "heaven gave the world ten decalitres of talent, and tsau jr alone has eight of them."

　　曹植文采俱佳，热爱学习，他曾做过不少才华横溢的文赋，均令世人感叹不已。曾有一位学者说道：“如若天下文采共有十斗，曹植一人独占八斗。”

today, to say that a person "has eight decalitres of talent" is to say that he has a great aptitude for writing.

　　今天，如果我们说一个人“才高八斗”，就是指他“才华横溢，很有文采”。

 

　　【文化链接】

 

　　英文中“才高八斗”并没有特别固定的说法，“highly talented”就可以表达相应的意思，当然“highly gifted”或者是“extremely talented”都是可以的。

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