以逸待劳
西汉末年，军阀隗嚣脱离刘秀，去投靠在四川称帝的公孙述。刘秀大怒，派兵去攻打隗嚣，结果反被隗嚣打败。
Liu Xiu regrouped his forces and renewed the attack by sending his favorite general Feng Yi to occupy Ju Yi city.Wei Xiao got the news and ordered his subordinate Xing Xun to jockey for a favorable terrain.Feng Yi’s subordinates advised against waging war on Xing Xun’s troops.Feng Yi said in unequivocal terms,“We must seize Ju Yi city before them to wait at our ease for the exhausted troops of Xing Xun”.Feng Yi ordered a rapid march to occupy Ju Yi city before Xing Xun,and kept the news secretly.He
asked the soldiers to close the gate of the city,stop clamoring,and have a good rest.Xing Xun’s troop arrived in the city in a hurry,at this time Feng Yi waved flags with rolling drums. 刘秀重新组织兵力并派爱将冯异前去占领枸邑。隗嚣得到消息，命令部将行巡立刻去枸邑抢占有利地形。冯异的部将们都劝冯异不要和行巡大军作战。冯异斩钉截铁地说：“我们必须抢占枸邑‘以逸待劳’。”冯异命令部队急行军，抢在行巡之前，占领了枸邑。冯异严密封锁消息，紧闭城门，偃旗息鼓，让将士们休整。行巡的部分急匆匆地刚赶到城下，城楼上突然鼓声大作，亮出了冯异的帅旗。行巡的
Xing Xun’s troops was not prepared well and was scared to escape.Feng Ying opened the gate and led the troops to defeat enemies.
The idiom means making the army conserve energy and build up strength to defeat exhausted enemies.
军队毫无防备，吓得四下逃窜。冯异大开城门，领兵冲出城来，大败敌军。
“以逸待劳”这一成语指让自己的军队养精蓄锐，以等候疲惫赶来的敌军，将其打败。
〖Every Bush and Tree Looked like an Enemy Soldier〗
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty，Fu Jian，the King of the State of Qin，controlled northern China．In 383 A．D．，Fu Jian led the troops to assault the State of Jin．Knowing that the army of Jin was short of men，Fu Jian wanted to seize this opportunity of being much more numerous in armed forces to stage a quick attack． 草木皆兵
东晋时代，秦王苻坚控制了北部中国。公元383年，苻坚率兵攻打晋朝。苻坚得知晋军兵力不足，就想以多胜少，抓住机会，迅速 出击。
Unexpectedly，Fu Jian’s army was defeated by the army of Jin and suffered heavy losses.The senior generals of Fu Jian’s army were killed，and there were heavy casual-ties of more than 10，000 soldiers．Fu Jian’s army was dispirited and the morale was shaken.At the same time，Fu Jian saw that Jin’s army was in good order and the soldiers were full of high spirit．Every bush and tree on the mountain looked like a soldier in Jin’s army.He deeply regretted that he had looked down upon the enemy．
谁料，苻坚的部队被晋军击败了，损失惨重，大将被杀，士兵死伤万余。秦军的锐气大挫，军心动摇。此时，苻坚望见晋军队伍严整，士气高昂，山上一草一木都像晋军的士兵一样。他后悔自己过于轻敌了。
0vershadowed by the disastrous defeat，Fu Jian was finally hit by an arrow and ran away．Jin’s army won a brilliant victory by defeating a big army with limited armed forces． The phrase subsequently refers to one’s nervous，doubtful and panic spirit.
出师不利给苻坚心头蒙上了阴影，他最终中箭而逃。晋军以有限的兵力大败敌军，赢取了胜利。
成语“草木皆兵”，形容神经过敏、疑神疑鬼的惊恐心理。 Supreme Eloquence 大辩若讷
〖The Blind Man and the Sun〗 Once upon a time，there was a blind man who did not know what the sun is，so he asked other people to explain. 盲人问日
从前，有一个生来就失明的盲人，从来没有见过太阳。他问别人太阳是什么样子的。 One man said，“The sun is shaped like a copper plate．”So the blind man banged on a copper plate，and listened to its clanging sound．Later when he heard the sound of a temple bell，he thought that must be the sun．Another man said，“The sun gives out light just like a candle．”So the blind man held a candle to feel its shape．Later when he picked up a flute，he thought that this must be the sun． 一个人告诉他：“太阳的形状像铜盘。”他敲敲铜盘，听见了铜盘叮叮当当的声音。后来，他听见了庙里的钟声，就以为这是太阳 了。又有一个人告诉他：“太阳像蜡烛一样发光。”他摸摸蜡烛，感受到了它的形状。后来，他摸到了一支短笛，就以为是太阳了。
Yet we know that the sun is vastly different from a bell or a flute；but a blind man does not understand the difference because he has never seen the sun and only has heard it described． 可是我们知道太阳与钟声或笛子是多么的不同啊!因为盲人从来没有见过太阳，只是听别人描述而已，所以才造成这样的误解。 〖An Argument about the Sun〗
When Confucius was traveling in the eastern part of the country，he came upon two children in a heated argument，so he asked them to tell him what it was about．” “I think.”said one child，“that the sun is near to us at daybreak and far away from us at noon．”
二童辩日
孔子东游的途中，见到两个小孩在面红耳赤地争论什么，就走上前去，问他们在争论什么。
“我认为太阳在黎明的时候离我们最近，而在正午时离我们最远。”一个小孩儿说。 The other contended，“The sun was far away at dawn and nearby at midday．” “When the sun first appears，”said one child，“it is as big as the canopy of a car-riage，but at noon it is only the size of a plate or a bowl．Well，isn’t it true that objects far away seem smaller while those nearby seem bigger?” “When the sun comes out，”pointed out the other，“it is very cool，but at midday it is as hot as putting your hand in boiling water．Well，isn’t it true that what is nearer to us is hotter and what is farther off is cooler?”
另一个小孩儿立即争辩说：“我认为太阳在黎明的时候离我们最远，而在正午时离我们最近。”
一个小孩说：“太阳刚出来时像个大圆车篷，等到正午时像个盘子或盂，这不是远处的小而近处的大的道理吗?” 另一个小孩说：“太阳刚出来时清凉寒冷，等到了正午，它热得像把手伸向热水里。这
不正是距离近的就觉得热，距离远的就觉得凉 的道理吗? ”
Confucius was unable to settle the matter for them．The two children laughed at him，“Who says you are a learned man?”
孔子不能够断定谁是谁非。两个小孩笑看说：“是谁说你是学多才的人呢?” 〖The Argument above the Hao River〗
Zhuangzi and Hui Shi were strolling on the bridge，above the Hao River． “Out swim the minnows，so free and easy，”said Zhuangzi，“That’s how fish are happy．”“You are not a fish whence do you know that the fish are happy?” 濠梁之辩
庄子和朋友惠施在濠水的一座桥梁上散步。庄子看着水里的苍鲦鱼说：“苍鲦鱼在水里悠然自得，这是鱼的快乐啊。” 惠施说：“你不是鱼，怎么知道鱼的快乐呢?”
“You aren’t me．Whence do you know that I don’t know the fish are happy?” “I’ll grant that not being you I don’t know about you．You’ll grant that you are not a fish，and that completes the case that you don’t know the fish are happy．” 庄子说：“你不是我，怎么知道我不知道鱼的快乐呢?” 惠施说：“我不是你，固然不知道你；你不是鱼，无疑也没法儿知道鱼是不是快乐。” “Let’s go back to where we started when you said“Whence do you know that the fish are happy?”You asked me the question already knowing that I knew．I knew it from up above the Hao River．”
庄子说：“请回到我们开头的话题。你问‘你怎么知道鱼快乐’，这句话表明你已经肯定了我知道鱼的快乐了，而我则是在濠水的桥上知道鱼儿快乐的。” 〖Fix the Empty Sheepfold〗
During the Warring States Period，King Xiang of Chu was an incapable ruler.A minister named Zhuang Xin once said to King Xiang，“When you are inside the Palace， Minister Zhou and Xia are on your left and right sides．You only think about enjoying corrupted lives，but not caring about the administration of the state，so the state is in dan-ger!If you don’t believe me．please allow me to go to the State of Zhao to hide for a while，and see what happens next．” 亡羊补牢
战国时期，楚襄王十分昏庸无道。楚国有一个大臣，名叫庄辛。有一次他对楚襄王说：“您在宫里面的时候，周侯和夏侯伴您的左右，您整天想的是吃喝玩乐，却一点也不在乎国家的治理，因此国家已处在危险之中!您如果不信我的话，请允许我到赵国躲一躲，看事情究竟会怎样。”
After Zhuang Xin left for Zhao，in merely five months，the State of Qin attacked Chu.Now thinking Zhuang Xin’s words were correct，King Xiang of Chu immediately sent people to invite him back，and asked him what to do now． Zhuang Xin replied，“It’s not too late if you fix the sheepfold when you find a sheep is missing．”He then made some good suggestions to rehabilitate the state and recover the lost land． 庄辛到赵国才住了五个月，秦国果然派兵侵楚，这时楚襄王才觉得庄辛的话不错，赶紧派人把庄辛请回来，问他有什么办法。 庄辛回答说：“丢了羊，及时把羊圈修好，不算迟。然后他提出一些好的建议，帮助楚国振兴，收复失地。
Now we still use this idiom to advise someone that even when he has made a mis-take and
suffered losses，he can still draw lessons from the mistake and take steps to rem-edyit．
今天，我们仍用成语“亡羊补牢”来比喻事情出了差错，有了损失，仍然要及时吸取教训，设法给予补救。
〖A Loss May Turn Out to Be a Gain〗
Long，long ago，there lived an old man named Sai Weng．One day he found his horse missing．It was said that the horse was seen running outside the border of the coun-try．The neighbors came to comfort him for the unfortunate loss．But Sai Weng was unex-pectedly calm and said．“It doesn’t matter；it may not be a bad event，on the contrary,I think it can be a good one．”
塞翁失马
很久很久以前，有一位老人，名叫塞翁。一天，他发现他的马走失了。据说有人看见马跑过了边境。邻居们听到这事，都来安慰他。塞翁 却显得非常平静，他对来人说：“没关系，也未见得是一件环事。相反，还可能是件好事呢!” One night Sai Weng heard some noise of horses and got up to see．To his surprise he saw another beautiful horse as well as his own．It was clear that his horse had brought a companion home．Hearing the news．the neighbors all came to express congratulations on his good luck．At the greetings，however，Sai Weng was very calm and thoughtful．He added，“It is true that I got a new horse for nothing，but it is hard to say whether it is good or bad．It may be an unlucky thing．”
一天晚上，塞翁听到马叫声便起身看个究竟。令他大吃一惊的是他不但见到了自己的马，还见到了另外一匹骏马。很显然是他的马把自己的伙伴带回了家。听到消息后，邻居们都跑来道喜。然而塞翁在与邻居寒暄时显得不仅平静而且若有所思。他说：“我是白得了一匹马，不过还很难说这是福是祸，没准儿是不祥之物。”
What he said was found to be right．The son of Sai Weng was very fond of the horse brought home，and one day，when he was riding the horse，he fell off the horse and terri-bly hurt his left leg．From then on he was never able to walk freely．“Nothing serious．” Sai Weng said，“Perhaps it is going to be good．”
A year later，many of the youth there were recruited to fight in a war and most of them died．The son of Sai Weng was absolved from the obligation for his disability，so he escaped death．
谁想到塞翁竟一语成谶。他的儿子特别喜欢那匹骏马。一天骑马时，他不慎从马背上摔落下来，摔断了左腿。从此，他再也不能像 从前那样自由行走了。对此，塞翁却说：“不碍事，没准是件好事情呢!”
一年以后，很多年轻人都被征兵入伍，多数人都死在战场上。塞翁的儿子却因为残疾免除兵役，从而保全了性命。
〖Zhuangzhou Borrowed Grain〗
Zhuangzi’s family was poor and so he went to borrow grain from Duke Jianhe，the superintendent of river-courses．The superintendent said，“All right．When I get the rev-enue of my fief,I will lend you three hundred yuan．Will that do?” 庄周贷粟
庄子家里穷得没米下锅了，不得不到监河候那哩去借粮。监河候说：“行啊，我即将领到封邑的薪金，打算借给你三百金，可以吗?” Zhuangzi flushed with anger and said，“When I was on the way here yesterday,I heard someone calling me．I looked back and saw a carp in the cart-rut．I asked‘Come over，carp．What
are you doing here?’It replied，‘I aM a messenger from the East Sea．Will you save me with a bucket of water?’I said，‘All right．When I meet the princes in the State of Wu and the State of Yue，I will try to persuade them to divert the 庄子生气得变了脸色，说：“我昨天往你这里来，半路上听到有个声音在呼救，我回头一看，见到车轮碾成的沟里有一条鲋鱼，我问它 说：‘你过来，你是干什么的? ’鲋鱼回答说：‘我是东海龙王的信使，你有一斗的水使我活下去吗?’我说：‘行，我将到南方去游说吴越 water from the West River to welcome you．Will that do?’The carp flushed with anger and said，‘I have lost my normal environment and have no place to stay．I can survive with a mere bucket of water．But if you talk to me like this，you’d better look for me in the dried-fish market．’” 王，让他们把西江的水引过来迎接你，可以吗?’鲋鱼生气地变了脸色，说：‘我失去了正常的生活环境，我没有地方可以活下去了，我
只要获得一斗半升的水就能活命了，你竟然这么说，还不如早早地到卖干鱼的集市上去找我。’”
〖Paper Prices Skyrocketed in Luoyang〗 Zuo Si，a famous writer in Jin Dynasty，who was very naughty and did not like to study when he was a kid．His father often got angry with him，but young Zuo Si was as naughty as ever and would not study hard． 洛阳纸贵
晋代文学家左思，小时候是个非常顽皮、不爱读书的孩子。父亲经常为这事发脾气，可是小左思仍然淘气得很，不肯好好学习。
One day，Zuo Si’s father was chatting with his friends and his friends admired him for his clever and lovely son．Zuo Si’s father sighed at it，“Please do not mention him. My son Zuo Si does not study as well as I did when I was young．lthough I did not study well enough myself．It appears that he is actually good-for-nothing．”All this was wit-nessed by young Zuo Si．He was very sad，feeling intensely that he would not be able to have a bright future if he did not study hard．So he was determined to study assiduously from then on.
有一天，左思的父亲与朋友们聊天，朋友们羡慕他有个聪明可爱的儿子。左思的父亲叹口气说：“快别提他了，小儿左思的学习，还不如我小时候，看来没有多大的出息了。”这一切都被小左思看到听到了，他非常难过，觉得自己不好好念书确实很没出息。于是，他暗暗下决心，一定要刻苦学习。
Zuo Si grew up gradually and became an erudite scholar because of his unremitting efforts in his study．He wrote excellent essays．It took him ten years to finish the writing of“Ode to the Capitals of Three Kingdoms”，a literary masterpiece．Because of no ty-pography at that time，people who were fond of this“Ode”had to copy it to read．As there were so many people who vied with each other in making handwritten copies，the price of the writing paper in short supply went up greatly in Luoyang．
This idiom is used to show how popular an outstanding piece of literary work is．
左思渐渐长大了，由于他坚持不懈地发奋读书，终于成为一位学识渊博的人，文章也写得非常好。他用了十年时间撰写成了文学巨著 《三都赋》。由于当时还没有发明印刷术，喜爱《三都赋》的人只能争相抄阅，因为抄写的人太多，洛阳的纸张供不应求，一时间纸价大幅 上升。
成语“洛阳纸贵”用于称颂杰出的作品风行一时。
〖Issue Orders Repeatedly〗
Sun Wu was a great military scientist in the Spring and Autumn Period,whse theories bilities，asked him to train 180 maids of honor in his palace．Sun Wu divided them into two teams，each having one of the King’s favorite concubines as their leaders.He ex-plained to them again and again what to do when commands were issued.He warned them，“In the army，no order is allowed to be ignored．Whoever you are，you cannot
春秋时期，有一位著名军事学家名叫孙武。为了检验一下他的实际军事才能，吴王让他在宫内训练一百八十名宫女。孙武将她们分为两
队，分别用吴王宠爱的两个宫姬担任队长。孙武反复向她们解释，听到命令后应该怎么做。他警告说：“在军队里，决不可违抗命令，没有
谁能例外。你们要注意!”但是军令一下，宫女们却你望我，我望 make an exception，so be careful!”But when orders were given，the maids looked at each other，and then burst into laughter．They felt very much amused． Sun Wu said，“It’s my fault not having made the injunctions clear．Now I’ll repeat them．”At the end of his instruction he warned them seriously，“Orders are no laughing affairs．Everyone must observe them，otherwise one will be regretful．So do keep this in mind!” 你，然后哈哈大笑，她们觉得这一切挺好玩。 孙武见状说：“交代不明是我的错，现在我将刚才一番话再解释一次。”最后，他严厉地警告她们说：“命令可不是开玩笑的事情，人人
都必须遵守。否则，一定会后悔的，你们千万记住了!” Then the drilling began again.Though orders were issued，the maids made light of his words，poking fun at each other．Sun Wu at once pulled down his face and said severely，“Injunctions are clear，and you dare to disobey my orders once more!Soldiers， have the two leaders of the teams executed!”
The King，hearing about this，immediately sent words，asking him to forgive the two concubines for this time．But Sun Wu said，“In the army，even the King’s order can be rejected by the general if necessary．”Thus he had the two concubines put to death after all．Now there appeared a real army of maids．all paying attention to the strict rules with- out slack．
然后，又开始训练。命令传达下去，可是，宫女们仍然没有把他的语当回事，互相开着玩笑。孙武立刻沉下脸来，严厉地说：“号令已经
交代清楚，你们竟敢又一次违命!来人，把两个队长推出去斩首!”
吴王听说孙武要斩他的爱姬，急忙派人向孙武讲情，可是孙武说：“将在军中，君命有所不受!”遂命左右将两女队长斩了。至
此，宫女们人人严守军纪，不敢有丝毫的松懈。