049. The Three Lions (Los Tres Leones) A married couple had three sons and the father unfortunately fell ill with malignant (high) fevers that, despite the care lavished on him by his wife, he went to the grave in a short period of time. And when he died, his wife found out that she was…
Month: March 2023
Míng luò Sūn Shān (名落孫山 – 名落孙山)
名落孫山 (Míng luò Sūn Shān) (1) lit. to fall behind Sun Shan 孫山|孙山[Sun1 Shan1] (who came last in the imperial examination) (idiom)(2) fig. to fail an exam(3) to fall behind (in a competition) From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=8 In the Song Dynasty, there was a man named Sun Shan (孫山) from Wudi (吳地). He was very smart, had…
048. Juan Of Calaís
048. Juan Of Calaís (Juan De Calaís) This was a man who had a small store in a [certain] town, a store that sold fabrics and this sort of things. Being a good merchant that he was, he had the habit of traveling often to the surrounding towns to sell his goods. One day, he…
Mén tíng ruò shì (門庭若市 – 门庭若市)
門庭若市 (Mén tíng ruò shì) (1) front yard as busy as a marketplace (idiom) (2) a place with many visitors From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=128 According to the “Zhan Guo Ce – First Book of Qi“, in the State of Qi from the Warring States Period lived a high official by the name of Zou Ji (鄒忌) who…
047. The Three Hairs of the Devil
047. The Three Hairs of the Devil (Los Tres Pelos Del Diablo) There was [once] a woman who had a lovely boy and a king who had a girl who was very beautiful. But it turned out that the king also wanted to have a boy [for a son], so that he went to see…
Mǎi dú huán zhū (買櫝還珠 – 买椟还珠)
買櫝還珠 (Mǎi dú huán zhū) (1) to buy a wooden box and return the pearls inside (2) to show poor judgment (idiom) From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=200 The book “Han Feizi – Outer Congeries of Sayings, The Upper Left Series” recorded that one day the king of Chu said to Tian Jiu (田鳩): “The philosophy of Mozi is…
046. Delgadina
046. Delgadina There was this king who had three daughters whom he loved dearly. The youngest among the three was called Delgadina and she was her father’s favorite. One day the king asked her for love and Delgadina refused [his advance] and said: God forbid that I would be my father’s wife and my sisters’…
Mǎ shǒu shì zhān (馬首是瞻 – 马首是瞻)
馬首是瞻 (Mǎ shǒu shì zhān) (1) to follow blindly (idiom) (2) to take as one’s only guide From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=716 The Zuo Zhuan recorded that in the fourteenth year of Duke Xiang of Lu (魯襄公)’s reign, the State of Jin joined forces with Lu, Qi, Song, Zheng and other states to attack Qin to avenge the…
045. The Lion and Angelina
045. El León Y Angelina (The Lion and Angelina) A man who was the owner of many fertile lands had three daughters, and all three were reputedly the most beautiful [women] in the region. The man was accustomed of going about his lands to see how they were being run, and one day when he…