妄自尊大 (Wàng zì zūn dà) Lit. Ridiculous self-importance (idiom); arrogance From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=114 In the last years of Wang Mang‘s reign, many warlords ruled over the lands, which after several rounds of battles left three major forces still standing: Wei Xiao (隗囂), Gongsun Shu (公孫述), and Liu Xiu (劉秀). According to the Book of the Later…
035. The Sacristan Who Speaks To The Faithful
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 1 – Magnificent Stories, Stories of Animals, Anecdotes (Cuentos maravillosos, Cuentos de animales, Anécdotas) 035. The Sacristan Who Speaks To the Faithful (El Sacristan Que Habla A Los Fieles.) One Sunday morning the Priest of a country parish woke up in ill health…
Wáng yáng bǔ láo (亡羊補牢 – 亡羊補牢)
亡羊補牢 (Wáng yáng bǔ láo) (1) lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom)(2) fig. to act belatedly(3) better late than never(4) to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=484 According to the Annals of the Warring States – The Fourth Book of Chu, in the Warring States Period…
034. The Tale of the Three Dead Men
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 1 – Magnificent Stories, Stories of Animals, Anecdotes (Cuentos maravillosos, Cuentos de animales, Anécdotas) 034. The Tale of the Three Dead Men (El Cuento De Los Tres Difuntos) They once found three men [recently] murdered, and they looked to be foreigners. They didn’t…
Wàn sǐ bù cí (萬死不辭 – 万死不辞)
萬死不辭 (Wàn sǐ bù cí) Lit. ten thousand deaths will not prevent me (idiom)Fig. ready to risk life and limb to help out Story taken from this link. From the Ming Dynasty – Luo Guanzhong‘s Romance of the Three Kingdoms – Chapter 8.[Diao] Chan replied: “I owe my life to you for having raised me,…
033. The Seller of Pequenes
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 1 – Magnificent Stories, Stories of Animals, Anecdotes (Cuentos maravillosos, Cuentos de animales, Anécdotas) 033. The Pequenes Seller (El Vendedor De Pequenes) [Nguyen: A pequén is a Chilean Onion Empanada.] (A variant of the previous story.) A Frenchman recently arrived in Santiago and…
Wànshì jùbèi, zhǐ qiàn dōngfēng (萬事俱備，只欠東風 – 万事俱备，只欠东风)
萬事俱備，只欠東風 (Wànshì jùbèi, zhǐ qiàn dōngfēng) (1) all is ready except what is crucial(2) 只欠東風 zhǐ qiàn dōng fēng – all we need is an east wind (idiom); lacking only one tiny crucial item From this link on baidu: link. Source: Ming Dynasty – Luo Guanzhong‘s “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” – Chapter Forty-Nine: “Kongming…
032. The Coquito Nuts Seller
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 1 – Magnificent Stories, Stories of Animals, Anecdotes (Cuentos maravillosos, Cuentos de animales, Anécdotas) 032. The Coquito Nuts Seller (El Vendedor De Coquitos) [Nguyen: to appreciate this very short story, I’d need to retain the original Spanish-French conversations, as the Spanish-speaking seller and…
Wán bì guī Zhào (完璧歸趙 – 完璧归赵)
完璧歸趙 (Wán bì guī Zhào)Lit. Returning the jade to ZhaoFig. Return of an item to its original owner From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=341 During the Warring States Period, the King of Qin wanted to use fifteen of his cities in exchange for the Heshibi jade disk (lit. Mr. He’s jade) from the State of Zhao. Due to the…
031. The Roasted Capon
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 1 – Magnificent Stories, Stories of Animals, Anecdotes (Cuentos maravillosos, Cuentos de animales, Anécdotas) 031. The Roasted Capon (El Capon Asado) (The young man D. A. Freire, from Santiago, told me about it in 1911.) A gentleman went out for a horse ride…