Buying shoes 郑人买履

Buying shoes
A man of the state of Zheng wanted to buy a pair of shoes. He measured his foot and put the measurement on a chair. When he set out for the market he forgot to bring it along. It was after he had found the pair he wanted that this occurred to him.
"I forgot the measurement",said he.
He went home to get it but when he returned the market had broken up and he did not get his shoes after all.
"Why didn't you try on the shoes with your feet? " He was asked " I 'd rather trust the measurement han trust myself." (《Hanfeizi》)

郑人买履
从前，郑国有个人想买双鞋。他量好了自己脚的尺码，把它放在了椅子上。可当他赶往市集时，却忘了带量好的尺码。他要买鞋时，才想了起来。
他说：“我忘带尺码了。”
他回家去取量好的尺码。 等他赶回来时，市集已经关了，他还是没能买到鞋。
有人问：“为什么不用你自己的脚去量鞋子呢？”
他说：“我宁愿相信尺码也不相信我自己的脚。”(《韩非子》)
履 shoe
量 measure
脚 foot
尺码 measurement
椅子 chair
市集 market
忘 forget
宁愿 would rather
相信 believe

Do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse 投鼠忌器

Do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse There is a story in "Hanshu" telling of a rich man, who being a lover of s and had a large collection. Among them was a rare vase made of jade. The vase of exquisite workmanship and of historical value and he loved it dearly. One night he noticed a mouse passing near the precious vase. The mouse jumped into the vase and was trying to eat some food which the man had carelessly left there. The sigh infuriated the man and in a fit of rage he threw a stone at the mouse. For sure, the mouse was killed, but the precious vase was broken also. The loss of the vase pained the man greatly and he deeply regretted his own thoughtlessness, which bought him this unrecoverable loss. He now realized that any one, who cares for the present and overlooks consequences is apt to bring disasters upon himself. So he exclaimed to warn people by saying do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse.

《汉书》中有这么个故事：有个富人，很喜欢古董并收藏了很多。其中有一件稀有的玉盂，工艺精湛，具有很高的历史价值，深受这个富人的喜爱。一天晚上，一只老鼠跳进了这个玉盂，想去吃里边的一些剩菜，正巧被这个富人看到了。他非常恼火，盛怒之下，他拿了块石头砸向老鼠。当然，老鼠是被砸死了，可是那个珍贵的玉盂也被打破了。这件事使富人非常难过，他深深后悔自己的鲁莽带来的不可挽回的损失。他认识到只考虑眼前，而忽视后果，将给自己带来灾难。 他向世人发出警告，不要为了除掉一只老鼠而烧毁自己的房子。
古董 antique
稀有 rare
盂 vase
工艺 workmanship
老鼠 mouse
盛怒 rage
后悔 regret
不可挽回的 unrecoverable
损失 loss
灾难 disaster
警告 warn

刻舟求剑 Making his mark

Making his mark
A man from the state from Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water by his carelessness. Immediately he made a mark on the boat.
"This is where my sword fell off", he said.
When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.
The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?
from L_shi chunqiu


刻舟求剑
　　从前，一个楚国人在坐船过河时，不小心把他的剑掉入了水中。他马上在船上做了个记号。“这是我的剑掉下去的地方”，他说。船停下来后，他就根据船上的记号跳入水中寻找他的剑。
船在移动但他的剑并没有。用这种方式来找剑难道不是非常愚蠢的吗？
选自《吕式春秋》
不小心 carelessness
掉 fall
马上 immediately
做记号 mark
愚蠢 foolish