【篇一】
The affair of the east window is exposed./The cat is out of the bag.
東窗事發(fā)
During the final years of the Song dynasty (sòng cháo 宋朝)， China was invaded by Jin (jīn金) people from the north.
宋朝末年，北方的金人來侵犯。
General Yue Fei led the army in resistance， and defeated the enemy.
將軍岳飛率領(lǐng)軍隊(duì)勇敢抵抗，終于把敵人打敗。
Just as he was about to take advantage of his victory and attack the Jin army， he received word that the emperor had ordered him to return.
正想乘勝追擊敵人的時(shí)候，忽然皇帝下了十二道金牌，命令岳飛和軍隊(duì)立刻回去。
As it turned out， this was actually a plot of Chin Hui， a Sung dynasty official who was conspiring with the enemy.In order to frame Yue Fei， Chin Hui had tricked him into returning early.
原來這是私通敵人的太師秦檜的詭計(jì)，假冒皇帝的意思來陷害岳飛。
Chin Hui had thought this plot up together with his wife， under the east window of their house.
秦檜的這些詭計(jì)，都是他和妻子王氏在家里的東窗下秘密商量出來的。
Sometime later， Chin Hui and his son Chin Shi died， one right after the other. Chin Hui‘s wife hired someone who could communicate with ghosts and spirits to come and find out how her husband and son were doing after death.
后來秦檜和他的兒子秦僖相繼死亡，王氏請(qǐng)了幾個(gè)研究神鬼靈魂的人來，想知道他們父子死后的情形。
After he had finished， the man said to her， “I first went to see your son， who told me that your husband was in the city of Feng-du. So I went there and found him doing hard labor， wearing iron cangue. He asked me to tell you that the thing which you two discussed under the east window has already been exposed.”
來的人在做法以后告訴王氏說：“我先見到了公子秦僖，他告 訴我秦太師在酆都城，我到了酆都城，看見太師正戴著鐵枷做苦工呢。他讓我轉(zhuǎn)告你，你們?cè)跂|窗下商量的那件事已經(jīng)被揭發(fā)了�！�
Now， when a wrong-doing is brought to light， it may be said that “the affair of the east window has been exposed.”
現(xiàn)在當(dāng)一件丑事被曝光之后，就可以說是：“東窗事發(fā)”了。
A secret is like a cat that has been kept in a bag. Once you let the cat out of the bag， it goes wherever it wants.
英語中的與“東窗事發(fā)”意義相近的是“the cat is out of the bag”，就是“貓從袋子里走出來了”，可以把貓想象成“秘密”，把不為人知的秘密藏在袋子里，貓一旦從袋子中走出，秘密也就隨之公開了，也就是“東窗事發(fā)”。
I’ve been keeping that thing a family secret.But now the cat is out of the bag because of you！
我一直把那件事當(dāng)做家族的秘密，但如今卻因?yàn)槟愣鴸|窗事發(fā)！
【篇二】
Adding Feet to a Snake
畫蛇添足
One day， Mr. Lion holds a party. Many animals come and drink a lot of wine.
一天，獅子先生舉行一場聚會(huì)，許多動(dòng)物都來了，他們喝很多酒。
At last there is a pot of wine. Who can drink it？
最后只剩一壺酒了。讓誰喝呢？
They drink out an idea and decide to have a match-Draw a snake.If you finish first， you can get it.
它們想了想，有了一個(gè)主意。它們比賽畫蛇，誰最快畫好，誰就喝這壺酒。
Soon Mr.Wolf finishes drawing.
不一會(huì)，狼先生畫好了。
“Yeah， I‘ve finished. I’m No.1，” he says.
“哈，我畫好了，我是第一個(gè)�！彼f。
But he draws again and says， “Oh， let me add feet and my snake.”
可是它又畫了起來，它還說：“再給它加幾只腳吧。”
At the time， Mr. Gorilla also finishes.
這時(shí)猩猩先生也畫好了。
He takes away the pot of wine and drinks， then he says， “That isn‘t a snake. Snakes have no feet. I get the wine.
“它拿起那酒壺喝起來。一邊喝一邊說：“那不是蛇，蛇是沒有腳的，我贏了這壺酒。”
In the Warring States Period (zhàn guó 戰(zhàn)國，475-221BC)， a man in the State of Chu (chǔ guǒ楚國) was offering a sacrifice to his ancestors.
戰(zhàn)國時(shí)代有個(gè)楚國人祭他的祖先。
After the ceremony， the man gave a beaker of wine to his servants.
儀式結(jié)束后，他拿出一壺酒賞給手下的幾個(gè)人。
The servants thought that there was not enough wine for all them， and decided to each draw a picture of a snake； the one who finished the picture first would get the wine. One of them drew very rapidly.Seeing that the others were still busy drawing， he added feet to the snake.
大家商量說： “我們都來畫蛇，誰先畫好誰就喝這壺酒。”其中有一個(gè)人先畫好 了。但他看到同伴還沒有畫完，就又給蛇添上了腳。
At this moment another man finished， snatched the beaker and drank the wine， saying， ’A snake doesn‘t have feet. How can you add feet to a snake？
這時(shí)，另一個(gè)人也畫好了，奪過酒壺吧酒喝了，并且說：“蛇本來是沒有腳的，你怎么能給它添上腳呢？”
This idiom refers to ruining a venture by doing unnecessary and surplus things.
“畫蛇添足”這個(gè)成語比喻做了多余而不恰當(dāng)?shù)氖�，反而把事情弄糟了�?br>
【篇三】
Covering One‘s Ears While Stealing a Bell
掩耳盜鈴
Mr. Wang thinks he is clever， but he always does [en]foolish
things.[/en]
王先生總以為自己很聰明，實(shí)際上他總干傻事。
One day he sees a beautiful bell at the top of a door. “Oh！ How nice！ I will take it home.” He thinks， “What can I do？” After a while he has a “good” idea. “Aha！ I have an idea now. I can plug my ears. Then I will not hear the ring when I take off the bell.”
一天，他看見一戶人家的門頭有個(gè)很漂亮的鈴鐺�！鞍。嫫涟�！我要把它拿回家去�！彼匝宰哉Z道：“我該怎么做呢？”過了一會(huì)兒他想到了一個(gè)“好”主意�！鞍」∥矣修k法了！我把耳朵堵上，拿鈴鐺的時(shí)候就聽不見鈴聲了�！�
Then he does so. But as soon as he takes off the bell， the owner opens the door. “What are you doing？” the owner says angrily.
于是他就這樣做了�？墒撬麆偰孟骡忚K，屋子的主人就打開門，怒氣沖沖地說：“你在干什么？”
At the time when Fan， a nobleman of the state of Jin， became a fugitive， a commoner found a bell and wanted to carry it off on his back.
春秋時(shí)侯，晉國貴族智伯滅掉了范氏。有人趁機(jī)跑到范氏家里想偷點(diǎn)東西，看見院子里吊著一口大鐘。鐘是用上等青銅鑄成的，造型和圖案都很精美。小偷心里高興極了，想把這口精美的大鐘背回自已家去。
But the bell was too big for him.
可是鐘又大又重，怎么也挪不動(dòng)。
[/en]When he tried to knock it into pieces with a hammer there was a loud clanging sound. [/en]
他想來想去，只有一個(gè)辦法，那就是把鐘敲碎，然后再分別搬回家。小偷找來一把大錘，拼命朝鐘砸去，咣的一聲巨響，把他嚇了一大跳。
He was afraid that someone will hear the noise and take the bell from him， so he immediately stopped his own ears.
小偷著慌，心想這下糟了，這種聲不就等于是告訴人們我正在這里偷鐘嗎？他越聽越害怕，不同自由地抽回雙手，使勁捂住自已的耳朵。
To worry about other people hearing the noise is understandable， but to worry about himself hearing the noise (as if stopping his own ears would prevent other people from hearing) is absurd.
“咦，鐘聲變小了，聽不見了！”小偷高興起來，“妙極了！把耳朵捂住不住就聽不進(jìn)鐘聲了嗎！”他立刻找來兩個(gè)布團(tuán)，把耳朵塞住，心想，這下誰也聽不見鐘聲了。于是就放手砸起鐘來，一下一下，鐘聲響亮地傳到很遠(yuǎn)的地方。人們聽到鐘聲蜂擁而至把小偷捉住了。
