In the song Dynasty (960-1279),there was a scholar whose name was Wen Tong and who styled himself Yuke. He was not only admired by others for his great learning, but also enjoyed widespread renown for his bamboo drawing. Every day there were always quite a few peoply who called at his house to ask for one of his bamboo drawings. Actually, Wen Tong loved bamboos so much that he had grown various bamboos everywhere around his house. No matter what season it was and no matter whether it was sunny or rainy, he used to go to the bamboo forest to observe how they were growing. He pondered over the lenght and breadth of the bamboo poles as well as the shapes and colours of the leaves. Whenever he had gained a new understanding, he went back to his study, spread a piece of paper and prepareed some ink by rubbing an ink stick on an ink slab, and drew what was in his mind on the paper. Through accumulation over a long period of time, the images of the bamboo in different seasons, under different weather conditions and at different moments were deeply imprinted in his mind.So whenever he stood before the paper and picked up a painting brush with concentrated attention, the various forms of the bamboo which he had observed at ordinary times at once rose before his eyes. And so every time he was drawing bamboos he appeared confident and at ease, and all the bamboos he had painted were very vivid and true to lift. When people spoke highly of his paintings, he always said modestly that he had just put the images of the bamboo imprinted in his mind on the paper. A young man wanted to learn bamboo drawing; when he knew that Chao Buzhi had made a profound study of Wen Tong's art of drawing, he went to Chao Buzhi for instruction. Chao Buzhi wrote a poem to him. In the poem, there are the following two lines: When Yuke was painting the bamboos, He bad their images ready in his bosom. Later people have summarized the lines as " having had the images of the bamboo ready in one's bosom," which means having had ready plans or designs in one's mind before doing a certain job so that its success is guaranteed. It is also used go mean being calm and cool - headed in dealing with things. This story comes from an article writted by Su Shi concerning Wen Yuke's art of bamboo drawing. 北宋画家文同，字与可。他画的竹子远近闻名，每天总有不少人登门求画。文同画竹的妙诀在哪里呢？ 原来，文同在自己家的房前屋后种上各种样的竹子，无论春夏秋冬，阴睛风雨，他经常去竹林观察竹子的生长变化情况，琢磨竹枝的长短粗细，叶子的形态、颜色，每当有新的感受就回到书房，铺纸研墨，把心中的印象画在纸上。目积月累，竹子在不同季节、不同天气、不同时辰的形象都深深地印在他的心中，只要凝神提笔，在画纸前一站，平日观察到的各种形态的竹子立刻浮现在眼前。所以每次画竹，他都显得非常从容自信，画出的竹子，无不逼真传神。 当人们夸奖他的画时，他总是谦虚地说：“我只是把心中琢磨成熟的竹子画下来罢了。” 有位青年想学画竹，得知诗人晁补之对文同的画很有研究，前往求教。晃补之写了一首诗送给他，其中有两句：“与可画竹，胸中有成竹。” “胸有成竹”，比喻做事之前已作好充分准备，对事情的成功已有了十分的把握；又比喻遇事不慌，十分沉着。 故事出自北宋苏轼《文与可yún dāng谷偃竹记》。  

敢谈“抵抗”二字。在这大兵压境的危急时刻，多数大臣都劝魏王，用黄河以北和太行山以南的大片土地为代价，向秦王求和。 谋士苏代听了这些话，很不以为然，忙上前对魏王说：“大王，他们是因为自己胆小怕死，才让您去卖国求和，根本不为国家着想。您想，把大片土地割让给秦国虽然暂时满足了秦王的野心，但秦国的欲望是无止境的，只要魏国的土地没割完，秦军就不会停止进攻我们。” 说到这里，苏代讲了一个故事：从前有一个人，他的房子起火了，别人劝他快用水去浇灭大火，但他不听，偏抱起一捆柴草去救火，是因为他不懂得柴草不但不能灭火反而能助长火势的道理。大王若同意拿着魏国土地去求和，不就等于抱着柴草救火吗？” 尽管苏代讲得头头是道，但是胆小的魏王只顾眼前的太平，还是依大臣们的意见把魏国大片土地割让给秦国。到公元225年，果然秦军又向魏国大举进攻，包围了国都大梁，掘开黄河大堤让洪水淹没了大梁城，魏国终于被秦国灭掉了。 故事出自《史记•魏世家》。成语“抱薪救火”比喻用错误的方法去消灭祸害，结果反而使祸害扩大。 Carrying Faggots to Put Out a

In the Western Jin Dynasty there were two young men.One of them was Zu Ti and the other was Liu Kun.Both of them were men of ideals and integrity who were chivalrous and of a sanguine disposition.They not only wrote excellent articles but also were fond of practising martial arts to keep fit, in order to render meritorious service to the country.Both of them were chief clerks responsible for document administration in Luoyang.Although in appearance the Jin Dynasty had jurisdiction of the Central Plains comprising the middle and lower reaches of the Haunch and threatened by foreign invasion.Zu Ti and Liu Kun often talked about the country's situation till late into the night,and each time they talking very excitedly again. Liu Kun fell asleep without knowing it,but Zu Ti was too excited to fall asleep." Cock-a-doodle-doo,"came the crow of rooster in the wasteland.Zu Ti jumped up and kicked Liu Kun awake:"Listen.How inspiring the rooster's crow is.Let's get up and practised on a slope.From then on,they kept practising sword playing vigorously and energetically in the wasteland every day when they heard the first crow in the morning. Deeply moved by Zu Ti's patriotic passion,Liu Kun was determined to devote himself to his homeland.Once he wrote to his family:"At the time when the country is in dire peril,I am resolved to dedicate myselt to the service of my country.I often fear that I might lag behind Zu Ti in rendering service to the country,and,in fact,I am behind him..." The words" sleep with my head pillowed on a spear,waiting for the day to break"vividly described Liu Kun's determination to dedicate himself to the service of the country and to fight the enemy at any time.Later,this set phrase is used to mean maintaining sharp vigilance and being ready to fight at any time." 西晋人祖逖和刘琨，都是性格开朗、仗义好侠的志士。年轻时不但文章写得好，而且都喜欢练武健身，决心报效祖国。当时，晋朝表面上还管辖着中原大地，但实际上已是内忧外患，风雨飘摇了。祖逖和刘琨一谈起国家局势，总是慷慨万分，常常聊到深夜。 一天，祖逖又和刘琨谈得十分兴奋，刘琨不知什么时候睡着了，祖逖却久久沉浸在谈话的兴奋之中，不能入睡。“喔，喔，喔－－”荒原上的雄鸡叫了起来，祖逖一跃而起，踢醒了刘琨：“听，这雄鸡啼鸣多么振奋人心呀，快起来练剑吧！”于是，两人操起剑来，在高坡上对舞。从此，他俩每天清早听到头一声鸣叫，一定来到荒原上抖擞神练起剑来。 刘琨被祖逖的爱国热情深深感动，决心献身于祖。一次他给家人的信中写道：“在国家危难时刻，我经常‘枕戈待旦’（枕着兵器睡觉一直到天明），立志报国，常担心落在祖逖后边，不想他到底走到我的前头了！……” 故事出自《晋书•祖逖传》。“枕戈待旦”出自刘琨《与亲故书》，形象地写出了刘琨随时准备杀敌报国的决心。后来用作成语，形容时刻警惕敌人，准备作战。  

Going South by Driving the Chariot North Once a man wanted to go to the south, but his carriage was heading north. A passer-by asked him:"If you are going to south, why is your chariot heading north?" The ma answered, "My horse is good at running, My driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage, ad I have enough money."The man didint consider that the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were, ther further he was away from his destination. The idiom derived froim this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention. 南辕北辙 从前有个人要到南方去，他坐的车子却向北方行驶。过路人说：“你去南方，车子怎么向北行驶呢?”他回答说：“我的马很能跑路，我的车夫驾车的技术也很高明，加上我又带了充足的路费。”这个人没有考虑到，方向弄反了，他的条件越好，离他要取得地方就越远。 后来人们就把这个故事概括为“南辕北辙”。比喻一个人的行动和他的目的正好相反。  

淡得一无可取。于是就有人传说，有一次江淹乘船停在禅灵寺的河边，梦见一 个自称叫张景阳的人；向他讨还一匹绸缎，他就从怀中拘出几尺绸缎还他。因此,他的文章以后便不精彩了。又有人传说；有一次江淹在冶亭中睡午觉；梦见一个自称郭璞 的人，走到他的身边，向他索笔，对他说：“文通兄，我有一支笔在你那儿已经很久了，现在应该可以还给我了吧!” 江淹听了，就顺手从怀里取出一支五色笔来还他。据说从此以后，江淹就文思枯竭，再也写不出什么好的文章了。 其实并不是江淹的才华已经用完了，而是他当官以后，一方面由于政务繁忙，另一方面也由于仕途得意，无需自己动笔，劳心费力，就不再动笔了。久而久之，文章自然会逐渐逊色，缺乏才气。（节选自《应用写作》1995年第8期《但愿“江郎”才不尽》）  

许是好事，显然是自我安慰而已。过了几天，丢失的马不仅自动返回家，还带回一匹匈奴的骏马。 邻居听说了，对塞翁的预见非常佩服，向塞翁道贺说：“还是您有远见，马不仅没有丢，还带回一匹好马，真是福气呀。” 塞翁听了邻人的祝贺，反而一点高兴的样子都没有，忧虑地说：“白白得了一匹好马，不一定是什么福气，也许惹出什么麻烦来。” 邻居们以为他故作姿态纯属老年人的狡猾。心里明明高兴，有意不说出来。 塞翁有个独生子，非常喜欢骑马。他发现带回来的那匹马顾盼生姿，身长蹄大，嘶鸣嘹亮，膘悍神骏，一看就知道是匹好马。他每天都骑马出游，心中洋洋得意。 一天，他高兴得有些过火，打马飞奔，一个趔趄，从马背上跌下来，摔断了腿。邻居听说，纷纷来慰问。 塞翁说：“没什么，腿摔断了却保住性命，或许是福气呢。”邻居们觉得他又在胡言乱语。他们想不出，摔断腿会带来什么福气。 不久，匈奴兵大举入侵，青年人被应征入伍，塞翁的儿子因为摔断了腿，不能去当兵。入伍的青年都战死了，唯有塞翁的儿子保全了性命。 　  

A tiger caughta fox in a forest, and was just about to eat it, when the fox said, "You mustn't eat me. I was sent by Heaven to rule the animals. By eating me, You will violate the command of Heaven. If you dont believe me, just follow me to see whether the animals are afraid of me." The tiger agreed, and followed the fox as it walked around the forest. The animals all ran away on seeing them. The tiger thought they were afraid of the fox, so he let it go. He didnt realise that it was him that hte beasts were really afraid of. This idiom means relying on another 's power to bully or frighten others. 老虎在山林里捉到了一只狐狸，要吃掉它。狐狸连忙说：“你不能吃我，我是天帝派来统治百兽的。你要吃了我，就违抗了天帝的命令。你不信，就跟我倒山林里走一趟，看百兽见了我是不是都很害怕。”老虎相信了狐狸的话，就跟在狐狸的后面走进山林。百兽见了果然都纷纷逃命。老虎以为百兽真的害怕狐狸而不知道是害怕自己，于是就把狐狸给放了。 这个成语用来比喻依仗别人的势力去欺压人或吓唬人。  

and gradually the country became more stable and stronger.[/en][cn]周王听后觉得很有道理，就按这个办法去做，结果国家真的很快安定下来了，变得越来越稳定和强大。[/cn] [en]The idiom is then used to mean that if you love someone,you'll love people and things relative to him as well.[/en][cn]成语“爱屋及乌”后来就被用来比喻：因为喜爱一个人，连带和他有关的人或事物也喜爱、关心。[/cn]

面的铜镜。徐德言马上认出了这面镜子。他向那名仆人打听妻子的下落。当他得知妻子的痛苦遭遇后，他不禁泪流满面。他在妻子的那半面铜镜上题了首诗："镜与人俱去，镜归人不归。无复嫦娥影，空留明月辉"。 那个仆人把题了诗的铜镜带回来，交给了乐昌公主。一连几天，她都终日以泪洗面，因为她知道丈夫还活着而且想念她，但他们却无法再相见了。 杨素终于发现了这件事。他也被两人的真情所打动，觉得自己也不可能赢得乐昌的爱。于是，他派人找来了徐德言，让他们夫妻团圆了。 "破镜重圆"这个成语就是从这个故事来的。形容夫妻分开后，又高兴的团圆。  

经过检查便“冲动的购买”。而“装在袋中的猪”便是指冲动购买的物品。 另外有一个同源成语：sell a pig in a poke/ bag, 指的是以欺骗手法出售货物，类似中文的“挂羊头卖狗肉”。 看下面例句： It is getting popular to buy various products on the internet. However, consumers need to be careful in case they buy a pig in a poke and find no legal means of protecting their rights. 通过网络购买各类产品已渐趋流行。但是消费者要谨慎小心，以免在冲动之下购物，而没有法律途径可以保障自己的权益。