【篇一】
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，許多動物都來了，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，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�！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�！�
【成語起源】
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)國時代有個楚國人祭他的祖先。
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�！逼渲杏幸粋�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，另一個人也畫好了，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>
【篇二】
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很漂亮的鈴鐺�！鞍�，真漂亮啊！我要把它拿回家去�！彼匝宰哉Z道：“我該怎么做呢？”過了一會兒他想到了一個“好”主意。“啊哈！我有辦法了！我把耳朵堵上，拿鈴鐺的時候就聽不見鈴聲了。”
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？”
【成語來源】
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.
春秋時侯，晉國貴族智伯滅掉了范氏。有人趁機跑到范氏家里想偷點東西，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。
[/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鐘聲了嗎！”他立刻找來兩個布團，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的地方。人們聽到鐘聲蜂擁而至把小偷捉住了。
【篇三】
The well of inspiration has dried up.Creative well has dried up.
江郎才盡
Jiang Yan lived during the Liang dynasty of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period， in the area now known as Henan province.
南北朝時，有一位名叫江淹的人，居住在現(xiàn)在的河南省。
Although he came from a poor family， he as extremely hard working， and so became a high-level civil official.
江淹出身貧寒，但他十分刻苦，所以后來便當(dāng)上了一位本地的高官。
Jiang Yan was very talented in the area of literature. Both his poems and his essays were outstanding， and he was known by nearly all the scholars of his time.
江淹十分有文采，在詩詞歌賦都十分優(yōu)秀，在當(dāng)時的學(xué)者中都極富盛名。
Jiang Yan once had a dream that a man came to him and said， “My name is Guo Pu. One of my pens has been here with your for several years. Please give it back to me now.”
有一天，江淹在涼亭里睡覺，做了一個夢，夢中有一個叫郭璞的人對他說：“我有一支筆放在你那里已經(jīng)很多年了，現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該是還給我的時候了。”
In his pocket， Jiang Yan found a multi-colored pen， which he returned to Guo Po.
江淹摸了摸懷里，果然掏出一支五色筆來，于是他就把筆還給郭璞。
As Jiang Yan grew older，the poems and essays that he wrote were not as good as those he had written when he was younger.
從此以后，江淹就再也寫不出如同年少時寫的美妙的文章了。
Everyone said that when Jiang Yan gave away his multi-colored pen， he used up the last of his talent.
因此，人們都說江郎自從放棄了他的五色筆之后，他的才華已經(jīng)用盡了。
【文化鏈接】
英文中與“江郎才盡”意義相近的表達是“The well of inspiration has dried up.”這是一個很有趣的表達方式，也很形象，就是說“靈感的源泉干涸了”（“well”有“井”的意思），也可以說“Creative well has dried up.”兩個表達方式是一樣的，所以當(dāng)你想說自己沒有才思了，有點江郎才盡的感覺的時候，就可以說“My well of inspiration has dried up.”或者“My creative well has dried up.”
我們在一起來看一些例句：
（1）What to do when your inspiration has dried up？（當(dāng)你江郎才盡的時候，該怎么辦呢？）
�。�2）We may feel that we have nothing fresh or original to contribute， as though the well of inspiration has dried up.（我們可能會覺得沒有任何新鮮的創(chuàng)意才思，就像是江郎才盡了。）
�。�3）Quickly we jump to fear or worry， afraid that our creative will surely dry up.（很快的我們就會變得害怕?lián)鷳n，擔(dān)心自己會江郎才盡。）
