姜太公釣魚
A Willing Victim Letting Himself Be Caught
The story happened around 3000 years ago.There was a wise man named Jiang Ziya living in a village near the Weishui River.He often went fishing at the Weishui River,but he would fish in an unusual way.He hung a straight fishhook,without bait,there feet above the water One day a farmer named Wu Ji went to the river,and saw the strange way of fishing by Ji He laughed and said,“How stupid it is to even think about fishing this way,how many fishes can you get?” Jiang Ziya replied,” lf a fish doesn’t want to live any more,it will come and swallow \the hook itself.” Soon his strange way of fishing was reported to Ji Chang,the Count of the feudal estate .Ji Chang was very interested,and went to visit Jiang personally.Soon they became great friends as Ji Chang realized that Jiang might be a great talent.He invited Jiang to work for him .Jiang helped Ji Chang and his son turn over the Shang Dynasty and establish the Zhou Dynasty.Jiang was given the title of Taigong,so people called him ’’Jiang Taigong.” Today,people use this old idiom “A willing victim Letting Himself Be Caught” to describe someone who willingly falls in a trap or does something regardless of the result.
毛遂自薦
Mao Sui Recommended Himself
In the Warring States Period ,the king of Zhao planned to ask the King of the State of Chu to resist Qin’s attacks together .He sent Pingyuan to Chu convince their king Before Pingyuan left ,a man called Mao Sui showed up ,volunteered to go with him .Pingyuan said ,”I haven’t heard that you have any special abilities ,so what help can you do over there ” Mao Sui said ,”You put me in a bag ,and my special abilities will stick out like an awl .” So Pingyuan agreed to take Mao Sui to the State of Chu .The negotiations between the two states lasted from morning to noon ,and still couldn’t come to a conclusion.At this time Mao Sui came up and said ,”Chu is a state big enough to rule the world .However ,you are so afraid of Qin.It is such a shame that we Zhao people are embarrassed by you .Now we ask you to combine our troops ,but you are acting like a coward !” The king of Chu felt ashamed after Mao Sui’s passionate words .He finally agreed to send troops tp fight Qin .This idiom describes the courage of self –recommending by people with great abilities .
對牛彈琴
Playing the Lute to a Cow
Once upon a time ,there was a man who played the lute very wellOne day ,he played a tune in front of a cow ,hoping that the cow would appreciate it .The tune was melodious ,but the cow showed no reaction ,and just kept on eating grass.The man sighed ,and went away .This idiom is used to mock the idea of reasoning with stupid people or talking to the wrong audience .