【篇一】
All his life, Shen Nong had a crystal abdomen, and one could clearly see all of his internal organs. At that time, humans were often getting sick and even dying because they ate things indiscriminately [not knowing if they were good or bad]. Shen Nong determinedly tasted everything everywhere; the good-tasting things he put in a bag on his left side, those were for people to eat; the bad-tasting things he put in a bag on his right side, and those were used for medicine.
The first time, Shen Nong tasted a small fresh leaf. As this leaf fell into his stomach, it cleaned every inch of his insides so that every organ top and bottom was fresh and cool, as if [the leaf] was somehow on patrol [making the rounds], so Shen Nong called it “chá” [to investigate / check], and later generations of men called it “chá” [tea]. Shen Nong put it in the bag on the right. The second time, Shen Nong tasted a little light red flower that looked like a butterfly, which was sweet and delicious, with an exotic smell that filled his nostrils, so he called it “licorice”. He put it in the bag on the left. In this way, Shen Nong diligently tasted all manner of flora, and every time he was poisoned, he used tea to rescue himself. Before long, the bag on his left contained 47,000 kinds of flowers, grasses, roots and leaves, and the right side had 398,000 kinds.
But one day, Shen Nong tasted “heartbreak grass”, and this poison was too terrible, so there wasn’t enough time to eat the tea leaves to detoxify and he died. He sacrificed himself to save humanity, so people call him the “Bodhisattva of Medicine”, and people forever commemorate him through this story.
神农一生下来就是个水晶肚子，五脏六腑全都能看得一清二楚。那时侯，人们经常因为乱吃东西而生病，甚至丧命。神农决心尝遍所有的东西，好吃的放在身边左边的袋子里，给人吃；不好吃的就放在身子右边的袋子里，作药用。
第一次，神农尝了一片小嫩叶。这叶片一落进肚里，就上上下下地把里面各器官擦洗得清清爽爽，象巡查似的，神农把它叫做“查”，就是后人所称的“茶”。神农将它放进右边袋子里。第二次，神农尝了朵蝴蝶样的淡红小花，甜津津的，香味扑鼻，这是“甘草”。他把它放进了左边袋子里。就这样，神农辛苦地尝遍百草，每次中毒，都靠茶来解救。后来，他左边的袋子里花草根叶有四万七千种，右边有三十九万八千种。
但有一天，神农尝到了“断肠草”，这种毒草太厉害了，他还来不及吃茶解毒就死了。他是为了拯救人们而牺牲的，人们称他为“药王菩萨”，人间以这个神话故事永远地纪念他。
【篇二】
During the Han Dynasty, in the southwest there was a small country called Yelang, and although it was an independent nation, its territory was small, there weren’t many citizens, and its products were pitifully few. Because it was the largest kingdom in the near area, the Yelang king who’d never left his own country thought the country he ruled was the biggest on earth.
One day, the king of Yelang was on a national border inspection tour with his troops, when he pointed in front of him [to neighboring country] and said, “Which country is bigger?” In order to serve their own interests and make the king happy, the troops said, “Of course Yelang is bigger!” They walked along, and the king once again lifted up his head, gazed at the big mountain in the distance and asked: “Is there a taller mountain than this anywhere on earth?” And his men answered: “No, there’s no mountain taller than this one on earth.” After a while, they reached the river side, and the king asked again: “I think this is the world’s longest river.” And all his men said in unison “The king speaks truly.” After this, the ignorant king believed even more firmly that Yelang was the world’s biggest country.
Then one day, the Han Dynasty dispatched an envoy to Yelang, and en route they encountered the neighboring kingdom DianGuo, and the King of Dian asked the emissary: “If you compared the Han Dynasty and my Kingdom, which one would be bigger?” The emissary listened in astonishment, as he’d never have thought this small a country thought it could compare itself to the Han Dynasty. But he really never could have suspected that when he got to Yelang, the prideful and ignorant king who didn’t know that the kingdom he ruled was about the size of one Han county, would ask with an exaggerated opinion of his own worth, “Which is bigger: the Han Dynasty or my country?”
汉朝的时候，在西南方有个名叫夜郎的小国家，它虽然是一个独立的国家，可是国土很小，百姓也少，物产更是少得可怜。但是由于邻近地区以夜郎这个国家，从没离开过国家的夜郎国国王就以为自己统治的国家是全天下的国家。
有一天，夜郎国国王与部下巡视国境的时候，他指着前方问说：“这里哪个国家呀？”部下们为了迎合国王的心意，于是就说：“当然是夜郎国啰！”走着走着，国王又抬起头来、望着前方的高山问说：“天底下还有比这座山更高的山吗？”部下们回答说：“天底下没有比这座山更高的山了。”后来，他们来到河边，国王又问：“我认为这可是世界上最长的河川了。”部下们仍然异口同声回答说：“大王说得一点都没错。”从此以后，无知的国王就更相信夜郎是天底下的国家。
有一次，汉朝派使者来到夜郎，途中先经过夜郎的邻国滇国，滇王问使者：“汉朝和我的国家比起来哪个大？”使者一听吓了一跳，他没想到这个小国家，竟然无知的自以为能与汉朝相比。却没想到后来使者到了夜郎国，骄傲又无知的国王因为不知道自己统治的国家只和汉朝的一个县差不多大，竟然不知天高地厚也问使者：“汉朝和我的国家哪个大？”
【篇三】
Long ago, there was a man from the State of Chu who loved his sword very much. One day, he was sitting in his boat preparing to cross a river, when he accidentally dropped his sword into the water. He immediately made a notch on the side of the boat at the place where his dear sword fell. When he returned close to shore, he re-entered the water just beneath the notch he made, looking for his sword. Naturally, he wasn’t able to find it.
The sword was already gone because the boat and the river were in motion. This idiom is used to describe a person who sticks to rigid rules without considering a changing environment [or describes an action made pointless by changing circumstances].
从前有一位楚国人, 他非常爱惜他的宝剑。有一天，他正坐在船上准备过河，一不小心他就把宝剑掉进了河里。他马上在宝剑掉落的地方作了记号。当他到达对岸的时候，他沿着记号跳进河里去找他的宝剑。当然，他已经找不到了。
宝剑已经不在原来掉落的地方因为船和水都在移动。这个故事形容只会刻板地遵守规则，不懂变通的人。
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