Classic proverb story

A person who is not satisfied with anything is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant-extremely greedy.

The meaning of greed

"The heart is not enough."

Like a monster in the forest, a snake is a slender reptile with a small belly. Swallowing a frog or a mouse is almost the same. It's a bit much to want to swallow a huge elephant in one gulp. It is impossible to swallow an elephant with a snake. Its purpose is only to warn people not to be "unpopular" but to be "satisfied". Isn't there an idiom called "contentment is always happy"?

There is also an allusion:

According to legend, in a village in Shenze during the Song Ren period, there were only two people in the family. The mother was old and sick, unable to work, and her life was very difficult. Her son, Wang Kuang, is 30 years old, unmarried and lives by selling grass.

One day, Wang Zao went to the north of the village to pull weeds, pulling and pulling, and found a spotted snake more than seven inches long in the grass, covered in injuries and unable to move. Wang Qian moved with compassion, carefully took it home, washed it and painted it. After a while, the snake woke up and nodded to thank Wang Zao. Mother and son were very happy and soon made up a story for it. Snakes grow up and always seem to want to talk to them. They are very cute. The monotonous and lonely life of mother and son adds a bit of fun. As the days passed, Wang mowed the grass early, his mother kept the house, and the little snake was in the basket all day. Suddenly one day, the little snake got bored in the house and climbed into the yard to bask in the sun, becoming thick and long, like a beam. The old lady was shocked when she saw this situation. The king jumped back, and the snake returned to the house and returned to its original shape. She said anxiously, "I lost my mind today and scared my mother to death, but don't be afraid. You have to take three small skins from me and do it again." Wang Qian said, "No, ground samples will harm your health. Let's find another way! " The spotted snake urged, "Never mind, hurry up, I can hold it." Wang Qian had to do it with tears in her eyes. Mom woke up soon after eating the soup. Both mother and son were grateful and puzzled, but neither said anything. Wang jumped back to the scene of putting golden light in the snake basket every night, thinking that this snake was extraordinary.

It is said that Song Renzong doesn't care about state affairs all day, and life in the palace goes on day after day. There is nothing new. He is very boring. If he wants to play the night pearl, he will put up a notice. Whoever can provide one will be rewarded. The story reached the ears of Wang Kuang. When he came home, he told the snake. The snake pondered for a while and said, "You have been very kind to me these years. You saved my life. You always wanted to repay me, but you never got a chance. Now I can finally do something for you. " To tell the truth, my eyes are two night pearls. If you gouge out one of my eyes and give it to the emperor, you will be promoted and made a fortune, and your mother can spend her old age safely. "Wang was very happy after hearing this, but after all, he has feelings for snakes. In order to have the heart to do it, he said, "It's cruel to do that, and you will feel unbearable pain." The snake said, "Never mind, I can resist." So, the king dug a snake eye and went to the capital the next day to present the orb to the people's emperor. Manchu officials have never seen such a strange sphere, and they are full of praise. At night, the sphere emits strange light, which illuminates the whole courtyard. The emperor was very happy. He made the king a high official and generous, and gave him a lot of gold and silver.

When the emperor saw the sphere, he admired it and took it for himself. Nishinomiya saw it and wanted one, too. As a last resort, Song Renzong ordered to look for the orb again, and said that he would give the position of prime minister to the second person who proposed the treasure. Wang Jiyi, I got the second eye of the snake and offered it. Isn't that mine, Prime Minister? So he went to the emperor and said he could find another one. The emperor happily gave the Prime Minister to him. Unexpectedly, when Wang Kuang's guards went to get the second eye, the snake refused to give it anyway, saying that he wanted to see Wang Kuang, so Wang Kuang had to come to see the snake himself. When the snake saw the king, he bluntly advised him, "I have given one eye to repay you. You have risen to the palace and made a fortune, so don't want my second eye." People should not be greedy. "Wang Luan has long been fascinated by this official, but he still listened and said shamelessly," Don't I want to be a prime minister? "If you don't give it to me, how can I be one? Besides, I have already told the emperor about this matter, and the official gave it to me. Don't give me a bad ending, just help me! " He insisted on taking a second eye. When the snake saw that it had become so greedy and cruel, it got angry a long time ago and said, "OK! You take the knife! However, you have to put me in the yard to get it. " Wang Zao couldn't wait to analyze the snake's words. He agreed, so he put the snake in the sunny yard and turned back to the house to get the knife. When he came out to dig out the treasure, the snake body had become a girder, panting at him with his mouth open, and Wang Zao was scared out of his wits. It was too late to run, and the snake swallowed the greedy man in one bite.

Speak of the devil.

Emperor Xian of Han once escaped from danger when Li Li advised Guo Si to go to war. However, after Li and Guo joined forces, they continued to hunt down Emperor Xiandi. Someone recommended Cao Cao, saying that he had made great contributions in suppressing the Qingzhou Yellow Scarf Army, and the allied forces killed him before the emissary came out. Seeing that there was no way out, Xia Houdun was ordered by Cao Cao to lead the army to "protect" successfully. After that, the allied forces of Li and Guo were defeated, and Cao Cao made him a high official. Therefore, there is a saying called "Speak of the devil and he will arrive".

The folk saying is that Cao Cao took the initiative to escort, which is slightly different from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

See "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" for the fourteenth time, "Move to Xu Department". Besides, Cao Cao crusaded against Dongdan. He was the prefect of Dongjun. At this time, the yellow turban insurrectionary appeared in Shandong. He and Bao Xin, the prime minister of northern Hebei Province, fought against the Yellow Scarf Uprising, with more than 300,000 troops. From then on, Cao Cao became more and more famous, and was named the general of Town East by the court. After Dong Cheng and Yang Feng arrived in Luoyang, they were still worried about the attack of Cui Li and Guo Si, so they invited Xian Di and announced that Cao Cao had entered the DPRK to assist the royal family. After receiving the order, Cao Cao set out in Shandong and came to Luoyang to escort him. Just outside Luoyang, Cui Li and Du Ji came to attack Luoyang.

Concise English-Chinese dictionary official explanation,

Talk of the devil, and he is sure to appear.

or

Speak of the devil, here she comes!

street

Speak of the devil.

English expression represents the extended meaning of folk proverbs, that is to say, although Cao Cao came to escort the coachman, it was precisely because of Cao Cao's timely escort that he realized the plot of seizing the emperor to make the princes, and he was a devil more insidious than Li Guo and others. So this sentence can sometimes be derogatory.

Don't worry too much.

philosophy of life

-We'll cross the bridge when we come to it.

There is an old saying in China, "If you cross a bridge, you must cross it." This argument more or less explains a truth: everything has a turn for the better.

In fact, this "phenomenon" is very simple: when the ship is sideways, it is deflected by the impact of a large area of water, and the force is along the direction of the water flow, so the ship moves forward along the direction of the water flow, forming a stable shape with vertical force.

The same is true in life. Many things are subtle, and it is often difficult for people to really understand them clearly, but this is how things often develop. For example, when I was a child, I often heard my elders say, "Cross the bridge." I always feel that this idea is very negative, even very Q. Who can guarantee that we will cross the bridge when we cross it? However, with the growth of age, I found that this sentence really has some truth; If office workers and friends can understand this truth, it will definitely help to relax at work and study.

For example, for the first time, you won an important task and took charge of a major project plan. Such a project must require the cooperation of many units and personnel. However, because it is the first time for you to undertake such an important task, you are very nervous, so you remind and contact again and again for fear that things will screw up. It's just that all the units and personnel are fooling around, and everything seems to have nothing to do with themselves, which makes you more anxious. At this time, experienced colleagues will comfort you and say, "Never mind, you will be relieved after crossing the bridge. But it's obviously too late, how can we rest assured? So you turned to the superior officer for help. Unexpectedly, the officer sent you away with the old saying: "Never mind, you will be straight when you get to the bridge. " ; Now you really don't call every day and nobody cares about you. Even the only superior leader you expect is so indifferent. You can hardly sleep at night ... but then, things really ended at the last minute, and the bridge really crossed. Once, twice and three times, you gradually learn the experience. The next time a new colleague is entrusted with a heavy responsibility for the first time, it is also nervous and anxious. You will also pat him on the shoulder and say, "Don't worry, don't panic, you will cross the bridge when you come to it." "

It turns out that it makes sense for others to say so to you. It is the crystallization of wisdom accumulated by their past experience, not just talking about it. Although everything is ready, the sooner things are prepared, the better. However, when we are young, we bear a heavy responsibility. We have only one task in mind, only this matter, so we are often overly nervous and ask others to cooperate in advance. However, others may have several to-do items at the same time, many of which are more urgent than yours. People have no obligation and no reason to be overly nervous with you in advance. What's more, you are a novice, and others have already had experience. He knows better than you when it is best to help you. You are too early and nervous, of course no one will pay attention to you.

This is the advantage of experience. Experienced people know how to fight a war, so they know how to fight a war. However, you are new here, eager to show off, too subjective and inexperienced, and it is easy to screw things up. Listen to the old man, I believe it's really time to cross the bridge when you come to it. Of course, others will cooperate with you according to their duties, but they have no obligation to accompany you in advance before the time comes. At this time, you need to relax and be nervous.

"In the face of complex and chaotic environment, we must have a unique vision and keen sense of touch, find opportunities in difficulties, create magic in dangers, and always keep a calm, objective and rational mind and attitude."

Don't wash your dirty clothes in public

Spelling: Jiāchǒu bükàwàI yáng

Interpretation: it is not convenient to disclose the disgraceful things at home.

Out: Song Shi Puji's "Five Lights Will Meet Yuan": "The monk asked:' How is the Flower City Sword a family style? "said:' I don't want to say it. Say,' Why? Say:' Don't wash your dirty linen in public. "

Example: ~, if it is spread to each other and laughed at by others, water under the bridge.

★ Feng Ming magnum "Awakening the World" Volume 8

Never possible.

The release of monkeys and horses, one of the 12 zodiac animals. Generally refers to the next few years.

Comprehensive application of law; As an adverbial; derogatory sense

You can't finish it if you go on like this.

Synonyms are far away.

The antonym is just around the corner.

According to the main branch of the lunar calendar, the Year of the Monkey is a period of 12, and the month of the horse is also a period of 12. There must be a horse month every year in the Year of the Monkey, and the period of the Year of the Monkey is 12. This year coincides with the Year of the Monkey, and Ma Yue is the fifth month of the lunar calendar.

Similarly, the year of rooster is a period of 12, and the year of rabbit is a period of 12. Every year in the Year of the Rooster, one month is the Year of the Rabbit.

Astronomy and ancient experts in China agree that the origin of the term "Year of the Monkey, Horse Month" has not been verified. Professor Luo, a famous ancient Chinese expert in the Chinese Department of Fudan University, said that most of the word came from folk proverbs after consulting relevant classics. A popular saying holds that "Year of the Monkey, Horse Month" is a homophonic variant of "Year, Month", while in English, "Year of the Monkey, Horse Month" is considered as "a year in a year"

Please don't invite me, Wang fried rice cake

Ningbo proverb. Hard work, but not appreciated. There are many "kings" in Ningbo men's names. Anyone with "Wang" in his name is called "Wang". In the traditional Ningbo custom, the habit of "the man is the master outside and the woman is the master inside" is maintained, that is, the man does not do housework. Stir-fry rice cakes with slow fire. Men who are impatient and not good at housework don't know the trick of frying rice cakes. They will stir-fry rice cakes with strong fire, and they will definitely burn. His efforts were not only not praised, but also scolded by his wife. Because "Huowang" and "Awang" are homophonic, the original "Huowang Fried Rice Cake" is called "Awang Fried Rice Cake".

A good horse never looks back to eat the grass left behind-a real man never looks back.

The allusion of "a good horse never eats grass again" is that a good horse walks out of the stable and rushes to the vast grassland, where he can catch a glimpse of delicious tender grass at a glance, so he eats it along the selected route until his stomach is big and round, and he will never chew one bite in the east, one bite in the west and then go back to eat the missed tender grass. In other words, not all the grass behind us is bad, nor all the grass in front of us is good. It's just that a good horse will carefully eat the grass in front of him, so there is no' turning back to the grass'. Many times people just use this sentence to make an excuse for themselves. But it belongs to a neutral proverb, which neither praises nor derogates.

Family harmony and prosperous career.

Interpretation: Family harmony can flourish.

Source: the strange situation witnessed in the past 20 years. The 87th time: "A family must be kind if it is alive. Never said, "home and everything will prosper." "

An unexpected opponent or destroyer appeared in the middle.

It means that something unexpected has happened.

Cheng was the leader of the peasant uprising army at the end of Sui Dynasty, and later came to Wagangzhai. After the defeat, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, Xiping Turkic, and made great contributions. This man is simple, honest and frank, with an axe in his hand and often squatting in the middle of the road, so there is a saying that he is Cheng.

Cheng is a famous novel character. His original name was Cheng (Cantonese Bite) Jin, and later it was called. He came from the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties. In the novel Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, he was written as Cheng. He is an officer in charge of the army. He followed Shi Biao, Wang, etc. At the end of Sui Dynasty, he later followed Li Shimin to defeat the heroes at the end of Sui Dynasty. When he arrived in Tang Gaozong, he became a general, but later he was dismissed for leading an army to the west. There are rumors in the official history.

In the novel, he is a lucky general who uses an axe as a weapon. His martial arts is not very good, but he is very lucky. In the war, I met a weak opponent, and the three axes have been hit. When I met a strong opponent, I couldn't win after 36 hatchets and ran away. Now there are proverbs such as "Cheng San Banfu", "Thirty-six Banfu" and "Cheng Ban Fu", all of which come from this historical novel character.

All roads lead to Rome.

Rome, as the center of the most powerful Roman empire in the world at that time, extended in all directions, and there were roads connecting Rome from several provinces, so. Later, I changed my mind and had various ways to achieve my goal.

In fact, Great Rome has become a symbol, so many proverbs are related to Rome, such as "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", "Rome was not built in a day" and so on.

"All roads lead to Rome" has its own road, which is called "Roman Road" built by the ancient Romans in Europe and North Africa. It is a great project in ancient Europe comparable to China and Qin.

In the process of Qin destroying six countries, many roads were built. After the establishment of the Qin dynasty, they continued to be maintained and built, forming a "galloping road" leading to major regions of the country. Today, from Dongsheng in Inner Mongolia in the north, Lingling in Hunan in the south, and the coast of Bohai Sea in the east, we can still see the huge traffic engineering relics more than 2,000 years ago. Inner Mongolia Dongsheng "Straight Road" (Qin Chi Road, which goes straight to the north) still has 90 Li Long, and the road width is still more than 35 meters. At that time, the standard width of the chidao in the plain area was 50 steps, and it was 1 step 6 feet in the Qin dynasty. Now 1 foot is about 0.23 meters. It can be calculated that the road is about 70 meters wide, which should really be regarded as an ancient "expressway". There are three pillars and one tree on the roadside, ten miles and one pavilion, and the ancillary facilities of the expressway are also readily available.

Some books say that Qin Equator is the "imperial road" for Qin Shihuang's patrol, which is probably not true. Judging from the preserved relics, it is obvious that it has been used for a long time under heavy load. If we don't forget that the scale of Qin's invasion was rare in world history, with hundreds of thousands of people at every turn, the arduous task of logistics supply and transportation is not difficult to imagine; There is no doubt that Chidao was built for military needs. The same is true of the Roman road, which is mainly a "military road". The first road, from Rome to the southern Italian town of Kapuya, was built in 3 12 BC under the command of an inspector named "Appius Claudius Kekus", so it was named "Viaapia" after him. Where the Romans fought, they built this "road" and crisscrossed it to form a "net". In continental Europe, they all lead to Rome, but in Britain, they all lead to London.

The total mileage of Roman Road will probably not be less than that of Qin Chi Road, but it is far less than that of Qin Chi Road. Its pavement is often paved with stones, which is "paving the road". The paving method is similar to the pebble road in the south of China, but it is different from the "slate road" and better than the Qin Chi road, which is usually just a compacted dirt road. The basic military unit of ancient Rome was Centurias (as the name implies), and the standard organizational system was 42 Centurias to form a legion, so this Roman legion had about 4,000 people. After Caesar was murdered in 44 BC, his nephew and adopted son Gaius (heir) competed with Ma cantoni for the right of inheritance. After winning, his army expanded to 60 legions, but decreased to 28. The Roman Empire used tens of thousands of soldiers, far less than Qin Jun. For example, the fourth emperor Claudius (reigned in 4 1-54) conquered Great Britain with about 40,000 troops. In this case, Roman Road naturally does not need to be as wide as Qin Chi Road.

It's not just the "Roman Road" that leads to Rome.

In addition to conquering Great Britain, Claudius also made an important event, that is, issued an order to allow Gaul nobles to obtain Roman citizenship, which played a very important role in the "Romanization" of Gaul. Later, in other places it conquered, the Roman Empire also carried out similar and quite "enlightened" practices; And that is really conducive to the "Romanization" of the conquered. In this case, a large number of "mainlanders" poured into Rome, and Celts, Berbers, Jews and Egyptians all became Roman citizens, not to mention Greeks respected by the Romans. So, "Roman? Isn't it a kind of "ethics"? Script ion "(racial description), and became a politicalterm (political term).

Obtain Roman citizenship (Romanciti? Many "outsiders" of zenship became soldiers, some became officials, some became members of the Senate, and some even became emperors. Marcus Aurelius (121-180) is both an emperor and a famous neo-Stoic philosopher. He comes from the south of Gaul. Another famous figure from South Gaul is a historian and the author of History and Chronicle (Publius Cornelius Tacitus, 55 BC? - 120? )。 Born in northern Italy, the poet Virgil (70- 19b, Dante's guide to hell in The Divine Comedy) and the historian titus livius (59- AD 17, Roman history). In today's fashionable words, these people are "successful people". For them, the road to Rome means the road to "success"; "All roads lead to Rome", which is outside the "military road" or "official career".

Trajan, who reigned in 98- 1 17, was born in Spain. He was not only the first "mainlander" to become the emperor of Rome, but also made extraordinary achievements, so he was known as "Princess Optimus Prime" (the best emperor). He changed the policy of Augustus, the "founding emperor", took the Danube as the northeast border of the empire, crossed the Danube, captured the land of the Dacians, and turned it into a frontier province of the Roman Empire, which is today's Romania, thus a Latin-speaking country appeared among the Slavic-speaking countries in Eastern Europe. In order to ensure the supply of troops, Trajan built a multi-span stone pier wooden arch bridge on the Danube River east of the iron gate, with a total length of 800 meters and a single arch with a maximum span of 52 meters. For more than 1000 years, it has not only maintained the record of "the first in Europe", but also "the world champion". No comparable bridge has been found on Qin Chi Road so far, so we have to admit that Rome Road is also superior in this respect.

Obviously, the proverb "All roads lead to Rome" should have appeared long before the collapse of the Roman Empire. At first, it was probably a Latin proverb, which was translated into other languages, such as Germanic. Now there is also the saying "all Wege führen nach Roma" in German. Although Germans are not as "romanized" as Gauls, they also have Rome-centered or "orthodox" ideas; The first country established by the Germans is usually called the "First Empire" and in German it is called "Heilige Roma Lische Reich Deutscher Nation".

It was after the collapse of the Roman Empire that the Anglo-Saxons crossed the sea and came to England. They evolved into "English" and their language evolved into "English", even later. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340- 1400), the greatest English poet before Shakespeare, was lucky enough to travel to France and Italy because he was favored by many big noble and kings, but he was in Italy at that time, and Florence was the "center" instead of Rome, so he could only sigh, "We were born too late!" . Not only can the British not create this proverb, but it is also too late to translate it into English. The word "road" in All Roads lead to Rome was used as "surprise attack" in Old English (from the 5th century to 1 1 century), which means "riding a horse", but it became obsolete in Chaucer's era. As a "communication route", "Road" appeared at the latest in16th century; Originally written as "roadway", the word "road" in it still serves as the ancient meaning of "reading". The word "road" is also used to refer to horse riding and carriage driving. "railway" is now called "railway" in British English ("railway road" in American English), but it has also been simplified as "railway", and its evolution seems to be repeating the change from "railway" to "road" in that year.

Focus on one thing and forget other things.

Confucius loved to be less happy and said, "I don't know the taste of meat in March!" " "This is too exaggerated. In the age of Confucius, meat was very important to people. Confucius collects tuition fees, but what he collects is dried meat. However, after listening to the wonderful little music, his whole body is haunted by the pleasure and aftertaste brought by little music for a long time, and he may involuntarily fall into meditation and extrapolate; Maybe I am in a daze and don't remember anything, but my body and mind are very comfortable, quiet and sweet, and I feel great comfort and balance. So, he sighed with emotion: "I don't know the taste of meat in March!" Confucius, what a pure heart!