雞鳴狗盜 (Jī míng gǒu dào) (1) crowing like a cock and stealing like a dog (idiom)(2) bag of tricks(3) useful talents(4) lowly skill set, or person with lowly skill set From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=476 According to the “Records of The Grand Historian – Volume 75 – Biography of Lord Mengchang“, Lord Mengchang was a nobleman with great…
Author: nlt
029. The Buried Daughter
029. The Buried Daughter (La Hija Enterrada) A king had only one daughter, whom he pampered and loved above all else [in the world]. The two of them lived in a beautiful palace when one day a gypsy woman who was begging for alms happened to pass by. The king did not want to let…
Huà bǐng chōng jī (畫餅充饑 – 画饼充饥)
畫餅充饑 (Huà bǐng chōng jī) Lit. Draw a cake to satisfy the hunger From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=957 According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Yu (盧毓) from the Wei Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms Period was an upright man who had the courage to speak his mind when remonstrating to his superiors. As such, he…
028. Puss In Boots
028. Puss In Boots (El Gato Con Botas) A miller had three sons and all his possessions consisted of a donkey, a cat, and a mill. When the time came to divide it among his sons, the oldest locked himself in the mill and said: The mill is for me. The second grabbed the donkey…
Huá ér bù shí (華而不實 – 华而不实)
華而不實 (Huá ér bù shí) (1) flower but no fruit (idiom); handsome exterior but hollow inside (2) flashy From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=507 According to “Zuo Zhuan – Duke Wen’s Fifth Year”, in the fifth year of Duke Wen of Lu’s reign in the Spring and Autumn period, there was an inn manager by the name of Ning…
SUP – 2022/11/11 – Bolinas Lagoon, CA
A quick note for the pictures in this post: I inadvertently forgot to reset the white balance setting in my Canon SX40 from cloudy to clear blue, beautiful sky, so that the JPEG pictures below have a warm glow to them, which do not quite reflect the true conditions of that day. You can see…
027. The Three Spinstresses
027. The Three Spinstresses (Las Tres Hilanderas) A married couple had a loafing daughter, but who was also very beautiful, that her parents were very proud of her beauty and did nothing but talked about her to everyone. They were so proud [of her] that not only did they talk about her beauty but also…
Hú jiǎ hǔ wēi (狐假虎威 – 狐假虎威)
狐假虎威 (Hú jiǎ hǔ wēi) (1) lit. the fox exploits the tiger’s might (idiom) (2) fig. to use powerful connections to intimidate people In the Warring States Period, at the time when the State of Chu was most powerful, King Xuan of Chu was surprised that all the northern states were afraid of his subordinate,…
026. Blancaflor
026. Whiteflower (Blancaflor) There was a married couple who wanted to have children, but the woman was unable to conceive. So many years went by until the husband, after coming back from hunting one day, said to his wife: I would like to have a son even if the devil takes him away! for that…
Hú lún tūn zǎo (囫圇吞棗 – 囫囵吞枣)
囫圇吞棗 (Hú lún tūn zǎo) (1) to swallow in one gulp (idiom) (2) (fig.) to accept without thinking (3) to lap up From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=4 The Blue Cliff Record – The Third Book contains the following story: A monk asked Master Zhaozhou (趙州和尚) whether he had ever personally met Master Nanquan (南泉大師)? Zhaozhou gave an analogy…