朽木不可雕也 (Xiǔ mù bù kě diāo yě) You can’t teach an old dog new tricksLit. Rotten wood cannot be carvedFig. A good-for-nothing, someone who cannot be taught Translated from link. Source: The Analects – Gongye Chang Zai Yu slept in the daytime. Kongzi said: “Rotten wood cannot be carved, a wall of muck cannot be…
045. Another Version
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 045. (Otra Version) Another Version In a country house there lived a young couple with two small children. The wife was a witch and on Thursday nights, while her husband was soundly asleep thanks to…
Xiū qī xiāng guān (休戚相關 – 休戚相关)
休戚相關 (Xiū qī xiāng guān) (1) to share the same interests (idiom)(2) to be closely related(3) to be in the same boat From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=214 Discourses of the States – Latter Discourses of Zhou (國語．周語下) once mentioned a story: Sun Zhou (孫周) was the great-grandson of Duke Xiang of Jin. Due to being pushed aside by…
044. Another Version
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 044. Otra Version (Another Version) (From the young student D. Francisco Vásquez, 15 years old, from Santiago.) In Chimba, Santiago there lived, very long ago, a witch who was married to a shoemaker, to whom…
Xiōng yǒu chéng zhú (胸有成竹 – 胸有成竹)
胸有成竹 (Xiōng yǒu chéng zhú) (1) to plan in advance (idiom)(2) a card up one’s sleeve(3) forewarned is forearmed From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=9 Wen Tong (文同, 1018-1079A.D.), courtesy name Yuke (與可), was from Yongtai (永泰), Zizhou (梓州) (east of present day Yanting County, Sichuan) in the Northern Song Dynasty. He excelled at poetry, literature, calligraphy, and painting,…
043. The Calchona
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 043. The Calchona (Told by the 14-year old child, D. Ramón Fernández G., a student from Santiago, in 1911.) A man, ignorant of his fiancee’s actions, got married to a witch. By certain events that…
Xìng gāo cǎi liè (興高采烈 – 兴高采烈)
興高采烈 (Xìng gāo cǎi liè) (1) happy and excited (idiom)(2) in high spirits(3) in great delight From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=388 From Southern Dynasties – Liang – Liu Xie – The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons: 叔夜俊俠，故興高而采烈 (Shuye was handsome and chivalrous, so he [his poetry] is cheerful and full of enthusiasm). Liu Xie (劉勰), courtesy…
042. The Chumaco
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 042. El Chumaco (The Chumaco) (Information provided to me in 1921 by the dental surgeon D. Roberto Sundt, a native of the Coquimbo Region.) A legendary character with whom women were frightened in the fields…
Xiǎo xīn yì yì (小心翼翼 – 小心翼翼)
小心翼翼 (Xiǎo xīn yì yì) (1) cautious and solemn (idiom); very carefully(2) prudent(3) gently and cautiously From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=435 The Classic of Poetry is the earliest extant collection of poems and songs. It was not written by one person at a point in time nor in a single place, but is mainly a collection of folksongs…
041. The Chanchillo
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 041. The Chanchillo (El Chanchillo) (Told by 17-year old D. H. Iribarren Charlín on July 8th, 1911.) The Chanchillo is a fish from the shores of Coquimbo, of about one and a half meter long…