103. The Galician and The King’s Horse (El Gallego y El Caballo del Rey) [Note: From Wikipedia, Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra.] Something extraordinary once happened to a Galician who…
Bù xué wú shù (不學無術 – 不学无术)
不學無術 (Bù xué wú shù) Lit. without learning or skills (idiom); ignorant and incompetent. Explanation: Not learned, having no abilities. In the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the state official Huo Guang was an influential minister at the imperial court and was greatly trusted by the emperor. Before his death, Emperor Wu entrusted his…
102. The Devil’s Court Case
102. The Devil’s Court Case (El Juicio del Demonio) Two young men were walking along a road, and at a bend they encountered God and the Devil asking for alms. One of them only gave alms to God, but the other gave a peseta to God and a penny to the Devil because he remembered…
Bù rù hǔ xué, bù dé hǔ zǐ (不入虎穴, 不得虎子)
不入虎穴, 不得虎子 (Bù rù hǔ xué , bù dé hǔ zǐ) Meaning: (1) How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger’s lair? (idiom); (2) Nothing ventured, nothing gained. [Note: As the site that I usually take these idioms from has some typos and missing words for this particular story, I read from…
101. The Cursed Inn
101. The Cursed Inn (La Posada Encantada) Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in an inn by the road. The girl was very, very curious. She pried into everything, and everything caught her attention. One day some Moors arrived at the inn [and] they came with carts loaded with large…
Bù qū bù náo (不屈不撓 – 不屈不挠)
不屈不撓 (Bù qū bù náo) Meaning: unyielding; indomitable Explanation: “撓”, to bend, to yield. It describes not yielding to evil forces nor bowing out [in the face of] great difficulties. Story: Wang Shang (王商), courtesy name Ziwei (子威), inherited his father’s title as the Marquis of Lelu (樂呂侯). He was the prime minister under Emperor…
099. The Three Friends
099. The Three Friends (Los Tres Amigos) [Note: This is my second attempt at translating this story. My first was inadvertently overwritten a few minutes before publishing =( I’m reminding myself to never use ‘Ctrl-Z’ prior to publishing…. And this happened on one of the longest stories I’ve translated thus far too!] Once there were…
Bù kě tóng rì ér yǔ (不可同日而語 – 不可同日而语)
不可同日而語 (Bù kě tóng rì ér yǔ) (1) lit. mustn’t speak of two things on the same day (idiom); not to be mentioned in the same breath(2) incomparable Explanation: Something that cannot be discussed / considered at the same time. It is used to describe two things which have a large gap between them, so…
100. Six Friends With Superhero Powers
100. Six Friends With Superhero Powers (Seis Amigos de Novedades) In a small village surrounded by meadows, in a valley [situated] between mountains, there lived a Hunter who was reputed to be very skilled. He was not known for any skill worthy of mention, save for that of hunting. In the game of skittles he…
Bù hé shí yí (不合時宜 – 不合时宜)
不合時宜 (Bù hé shí yí) (1) untimely; (2) premature; (3) inopportune; (4) ill-timed; (5) out of fashion; (6) behind the times Emperor Ai of Han, Liu Xin, was the adopted son of Emperor Cheng of Han. He became emperor at the age of twenty, declaring the name of his era date as Jianping (建平, lit….