洛陽紙貴 (Luòyáng zhǐ guì) (1) lit. paper has become expensive in Luoyang (because everyone is making a copy of a popular story) (idiom) (2) fig. (of a product) to sell like hotcakes From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=100 Zuo Si, a great scholar from the Western Jin Dynasty, was a dull-looking, inarticulate man who had few friends and was…
Month: February 2023
044. The Gambling Blacksmith
044. El Herrero Jugador (The Gambling Blacksmith) Once upon a time, Saint Pedro (St. Peter) had to go down to earth for some errands and [there he] met a blacksmith, who was a good-hearted man and who did him numerous favors. Saint Pedro was so pleased with the blacksmith’s help that he told him that…
Lùn gōng xíng shǎng (論功行賞 – 论功行赏)
論功行賞 (Lùn gōng xíng shǎng) Lit. to reward people based on their merits and achievements After Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and pacified the lands, he ascended the throne as emperor and became known as Emperor Gaozu of Han in history. Afterwards, he evaluated the merits and contributions of each official when determining their respective…
043. Young Maria And The Lizard Prince
043. Young Maria And The Lizard Prince (La Joven María Y El Príncipe Lagarto) Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who couldn’t have any offspring. This worried them greatly and the queen, in a fit of anger because God did not give them a son, once asked God to grant…
Lì bù cóng xīn (力不從心 – 力不从心)
力不從心 (Lì bù cóng xīn) (1) less capable than desirable (idiom); not as strong as one would wish (2) the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak In the Han Dynasty, Ban Zhao once used this phrase in her memorial “A Request Made For My Older Brother [Ban] Chao (為兄超求代疏)”. During the Eastern Han…
042. The Sleeping Princess
042. The Sleeping Princess (La Princesa Dormida) A princess lived in a palace of her father, the king. Every evening she would go out for a walk in the company of some of her ladies, and [in] one of those evenings she happened to pass in front of a humble house at whose door an…
Lǎo shēng cháng tán (老生常談 – 老生常谈)
老生常談 (Lǎo shēng cháng tán) (1) an old observation (idiom) (2) a truism (3) banal comments Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms – Book (History) of Wei – Biography of Guan Lu. During the Three Kingdoms Period there lived a man named Guan Lu who, since when he was little, was quick-witted, had been diligent…
041. The Musical Animals
041. Los Animales Músicos (The Musical Animals) [Nguyen: this story is incomplete, as it stops mid-way in my copy of the book. This story is most likely the same as the Grimm Brother’s The Breman Town Musicians.] A farmer had a very old donkey, so old that he was no longer fit to work and,…
Lǎo mǎ shí tú (老馬識途 – 老马识途)
老馬識途 (Lǎo mǎ shí tú) (1) an old horse knows the way (idiom); an experienced worker knows what to do(2) an old hand knows the ropes Originated from “Han Feizi – Grove (Forest) of Discussion, Upper Book (韓非子 – 說林上)”. Guan Zhong and Xi Peng (隰朋) accompanied Duke Huan (of Qi) on an expedition against…
040. The Frog Girlfriend
040. The Frog Girlfriend (La Novia Rana) Well, sir, it’s said that once upon a time, on a farm in the countryside there was a happily married couple; the two spouses loved each other very much and lived comfortably off the produce of their land, but they had no children. And this distressed them [greatly]…