中国故事 41 Missing the Bigger Picture 一叶障目 | 传播传统文化（音频版）

41、Missing the Bigger Picture

一叶障目

从前有个贫苦的读书人，整天做着发家致富的白日梦。一天，他在园子里看到螳螂用叶子隐蔽自己，以便捕蝉。读书人忽然来了灵感，用叶子遮住自己的眼睛，反复问妻子是否还看得见他。妻子嘲讽地表示看不到他。读书人信以为真，用叶子遮住眼睛，走到集市上偷盗，最终落到被扭送至官府的结局。

Once upon a time, in ancient China, there lived a poorscholar. He dreamed of becoming rich. He dreamed about it all day long, every day. Reading at his desk, he imagined himself relaxing in a grand palace. Having dinner with his wife, he would pretend there was a feast on the table, instead of onemeaslydish.

WHACK! His wifeslappedthe side of his head.

“Wake up! Stop daydreaming!” she scolded him. “It’s time to clear the dishes.”

One day, the scholar was reading a book under the big willow tree outside. His wife wasweedingthe vegetable garden nearby.

Suddenly, he jumped up so high that hebumpedhis head on the branch above him.

“Wah!” he cried. “I’m going to be rich!”

His wife looked up,startled.

“It says here,” he said excitedly, “there is a leaf once used by themantisto help him catch thecicada. The leaf is a screen. It made the mantisinvisible. The cicada never saw him coming!”

“And how will that make you rich?” his wife scoffed.

“I will find this leaf. It will make me invisible too!” cried the scholar.

His wife rolled her eyes, shook her head, and went back to gardening.

From that moment on, the scholar wasdeterminedto find the leaf.

“Could it be this one?” he wondered, climbing high on a branch.

“Maybe this one?” he said, swinging through another tree.

“Maybe that one?” he hoped,crawlingto the highest branch.

Early one morning, he climbed up the giant willow tree in front of the house. He carefully crawled out on a high branch.

Suddenly, hespotteda mantis and a cicada near the end of the branch.

“Whoa! This must be the tree!” hewhisperedexcitedly.

As he got closer to the mantis, a drop ofdewon a leaf caught the sunlight. The scholar examined the leaf.

“That must be the one!”

Hestretchedout his hand andgrabbedhold of theglisteningleaf.

“Got it!” he cried. The scholar was so excited he almost fell off the branch.

“Wife! I found it! I shall be rich!” he cried, rushing down the tree and running toward his wife.

His wife ran out of the house to see what her husband wasyellingabout.

“I found it, Wife! Here it is!” he said, excitedly showing her the leaf. “We’re going to be rich!”

He held up the leaf in front of his eyes.

“Can you see me?” he asked excitedly. “I’m invisible, right?”

His wife shook her head in disbelief. This time, she did notwhackhim across the head, though. A waste of energy, she thought.

Instead, she saidmockingly, “Where are you? I can’t see you at all.”

“Waahh!! It works! It works! I’m invisible!” the scholar cried. “I’m going to be rich!” he cried.

With that, he turned and ran to the market. His wife shook her head at her husband’s foolishness and went back inside

At the market, the scholar walked over to thevendorsellingbuns. They smelled delicious.

As he got closer, he held the leaf in front of his eyes.

“No one can see me now,” hesnickered. “Heh, heh.”

With his other hand, he reached for asteamedbun. He put the bun in his mouth. It tasted so good! He smiled and began to walk away.

“Stop! Thief!” cried the vendor. He came around the stand and chased the scholar.

“What? You can see me?” asked the confused scholar. “But I’m invisible.”

“Right, you’re invisible, and so is your money,”scoffedthe vendor. “Pay up. You can’t just steal my buns.”

“But…but…you can’t see me!” the scholarstammered.

“Stop your foolishness and pay up! If you don’t, I willhaulyou in front of the judge,” yelled the vendor.

The scholar couldn’t pay, so the vendor took him to thecourthouse.

The judge listened to the story. Then he looked at the scholar, shook his head and said, “A leaf before your eyes makes you blind to Mount Tai!

The idiom, “One Leaf Obstructs Sight” refers to people who have their view of important thingsblockedby small matters. They fail to see the whole or the big picture.

The End

Question:Why do you think the scholar’s wife didn’t tell him the truth when he asked if she could see him?

核心词汇

scholar n. 学者

measly adj. 无价值的，微不足道的

slap v. （用手掌或扁平物）掴、拍

weed v. 给……除杂草

bump v.（使）冲撞，撞伤

startle v. （使）惊吓

mantis n. 螳螂

cicada n.蝉，知了

invisible adj. 隐形的

determined adj.已下决心的

crawl v. 爬，爬行

spot v. 发现

whisper v. 低语，耳语

dew n. 露珠

stretch v. 伸长，舒展

grab v. 抓住

glisten v. （光洁或湿润表面等）闪闪发光

yell v. 叫喊，叫嚷

whack v. （用棍棒等）重打，猛击

mockingly adv. 嘲笑地，嘲讽地

vendor n. 小贩，摊贩

bun n. 小圆（果子）面包，小圆糕点

snicker v. 暗笑，窃笑

steam n. 蒸汽

scoff v. 嘲笑

stammer v. 结结巴巴地说

haul v. （用力）拖，拉

courthouse n. 法院大楼,此处可指衙门

block v. 阻碍，遮挡

so…that…如此……以至于……，本句意思是他跳得很高以至于撞到了树枝。

from …on 从……开始，本句意思是从那一刻起。

shall do sth 〔某事〕必定，一定〔发生〕，本句意思是我必定会富起来。

so+助动词+主语，表示“A如此”,“B也如此”，本句意思是你是无形的，你的钱也是无形的。

have sth done 表示让某事被别人做，本句意思是让他们看重要事物的视线被小事情挡住。

以下翻译来自百度翻译：

从前，在中国古代，住着一位贫穷的学者。他梦想成为富人。他整天都在梦想这件事。在书桌旁看书时，他想象自己在一座宏伟的宫殿里放松。与妻子共进晚餐时，他会假装桌上有一顿盛宴，而不是一道微不足道的菜。

重击！他的妻子拍了拍他的头。

“醒醒！别做白日梦了！”她责骂他。“该洗碗了。”

一天，书生在外面的大柳树下看书。他的妻子正在附近的菜园除草。

突然，他跳得很高，头撞到了头顶的树枝上。

“哇！”他喊道。“我要发财了！”

他的妻子惊愕地抬起头来。

“这里写着，”他兴奋地说，“有一片叶子曾经被螳螂用来帮助他捕捉蝉。这片叶子是一块屏障。它让螳螂看不见。蝉从来没有看到他来过！”

“那你怎么会发财呢？”他的妻子嘲笑道。

“我会找到这片叶子。它也会让我隐形！”学者喊道。

他的妻子翻了翻眼睛，摇了摇头，然后又继续做园艺。

从那一刻起，这位学者决心找到那片叶子。

“会是这个吗？”他在树枝上爬得很高，心里纳闷。

“也许是这棵？”他说，在另一棵树上荡来荡去。

“也许是那个？”他希望着，爬到最高的树枝上。

一天清晨，他爬上房子前面的一棵巨大的柳树。他小心翼翼地爬到一根高树枝上。

突然，他在树枝的末端发现了一只螳螂和一只蝉。

“哇！这一定是那棵树！”他兴奋地小声说。

当他靠近螳螂时，树叶上的露珠挡住了阳光。学者检查了树叶。

“一定是那个！”

他伸出手，抓住闪闪发光的叶子。

“明白了！”他喊道。这位学者激动得差点从树枝上摔下来。

“老婆！我找到了！我会发财的！”他喊道，冲下树向他的老婆跑去。

他的妻子跑出房子，想看看她丈夫在大喊大叫什么。

“我找到了，老婆！在这儿！”他兴奋地把叶子给她看。“我们要发财了！”

他把树叶举在眼前。

“你能看见我吗？”他兴奋地问。“我是隐形的，对吗？”

他的妻子不相信地摇了摇头。但这一次，她没有打他的头。她想这是浪费精力。

相反，她嘲弄地说：“你在哪里？我根本看不见你。”

“哇！！行得通！行得通！我隐形了！”学者喊道。“我要发财了！”他喊道。

说完，他转身跑向市场。他的妻子对丈夫的愚蠢行为摇了摇头，然后回到屋里。

在市场上，学者走向卖包子的小贩。它们闻起来很香。

当他走近时，他把树叶举在眼前。

“现在没人能看见我了，”他窃笑道。“嘿，嘿。”

他用另一只手去拿馒头。他把面包放进嘴里。味道好极了！他笑了笑，开始走开。

“站住！小偷！”小贩喊道。他绕着看台追那学者。

“什么？你能看见我吗？”困惑的学者问道。“但我是隐形的。”

“对，你是隐形的，你的钱也是隐形的，”卖主嘲笑道。“付钱吧，你不能就这么偷走我的面包。”

“但是……但是……你看不见我！”学者结结巴巴地说。

“别傻了，付钱吧！如果你不付钱，我就把你拖到法官面前，”小贩喊道。

这位学者付不起钱，所以卖主把他带到了法院。

法官听了这个故事。然后他看着这位学者，摇摇头说：“眼前的一片叶子会让你对泰山视而不见！”

“一片树叶挡住视线”这个成语指的是那些对重要事情的看法被小事所阻碍的人，他们看不到全局或大局。

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