《不食周粟》成语英译与典故

六、不食周粟

西汉时，

司马迁著了部史书叫《史记》，

有一篇《伯夷列传》很有趣。

讲的是殷商时有个孤竹国，

那国君，年老临终把遗嘱立，

他想让小儿子叔齐继大位。

叔齐他年纪虽小却懂道理，

他说是长兄伯夷该继位，

这本是祖宗立下的老规矩。

伯夷说父命不可违，

反复再三让叔齐。

兄弟二人互推让，

谁也不愿把位即。

兄弟俩，先后逃出王宫去，

只好由另一个兄弟把王位继。

时光倏忽几十载，

伯夷叔齐又巧遇。

原来是西伯姬昌已去世，

儿子姬发把位继，

姬发便是周武王，

弟兄俩决定投他去。

周武王看到商朝已衰落，

起兵征讨不迟疑。

弟兄二人得知后，

拦住马头齐劝阻。

武王不听紧催兵，

攻下商都周朝立。

哪知晓，伯夷叔齐不高兴，

认为那殷纣再坏是天子。

周武王不过是个诸侯王，

臣子灭君是篡逆。

更何况武王还有不孝罪，

兴兵之时父刚逝。

对待武王新政权，

伯夷叔齐不服气，

死抱着君、臣、父、子旧伦理，

对新生事物瞧不起。

弟兄俩双双躲进首阳山，

每日里，只是野果野菜来充饥。

大周朝，粟米虽多偏不食，

兄弟俩，竟然活活被饿死。

临终前，唱着一首自编的歌，

《采薇》便是诗歌题，

大意是：“登上西山采野菜，

君王残暴不可取。

可惜啊，周武讨伐商纣王，

以暴易暴惹人急。

暴臣以暴待暴君，

尧舜之世已远去。

我们何处去安身？

不遇明君宁饿死。

不食周粟是我志，

饿死自认命不济。”

到后来，“以暴易暴”作成语，

常形容，残暴势力互代替。

伯夷叔齐恨姬发，

此恨绝对无道理。

不明事理太固执，

饿死实在不足惜。

“不食周粟”作成语，

竟转为，形容做人有骨气。

Refuse to Eat Zhou's Food

In the Western Han Dynasty（206B.C.—24A.D.），Sima Qian wrote an historical book entitled“Records of the Historian”，in which there was a very interesting story about Bo Yi.

It says that in the State of Guzhu in Yin⁃Shang Dynasty（1766—1122B.C.），the old king made a will before he died，and he would let his youngest son Shu Qi inherit the throne.Shu Qi，young as he was，was quite ritualistic.He said that his eldest brother，Bo Yi should have the throne，as it was the old rule passed down from their forefathers.

The two brothers bandied the offer with each oth⁃er，and neither would take the legacy.The two broth⁃ers ran away from the palace，only to leave one of the other brothers to take the throne.

Time flew and decades went by.Bo Yi and Shu Qi met again.It happened that Xibo Jichang，the king had just died，and his son Jifa had inherited the throne.Jifa was none other than King Wu of Zhou Dy⁃nasty.

The two brothers wanted to go to him.King Wu of Zhou Dynasty noticed that the Shang Dynasty was on the decline，so he launched an attack on it without hesitation.When the two brothers heard the news，they grabbed his horse by the head and tried to stop him.But King Wu paid no heed to them and ordered his soldiers to hurry.Soon he overthrew the Shang Dynasty and set up a new Dynasty，Zhou.

The two brothers Bo Yi and Shu Qi were disap⁃pointed，and thought that though Yinzhou was a bad king after all he was the son of Heaven.Wu was but a Duke，and it was a usurpation for a subject to de⁃throne a ruler.And what was more Duke Wu commit⁃ted the crime of disloyalty.No sooner had his father died than he summoned his army.

The two brothers disdained Wu's new authority.Holding onto the old theory of king⁃and⁃minister⁃fa⁃ther⁃and⁃son，they looked down upon all the new things.Both the brothers hid in the Shouyang Moun⁃tain.They picked wild plants to eat for their daily food，while the Zhou Dynasty abounded in food，and they starved themselves to death.

Before dying，they sang a song composed by themselves，“Picking Wild Plants”was the title.It ran like this：“Having climbed the western hills to pick wild plants，A violent tyrant was no good；It is a worry that a tyrant replaced another tyrant，Times of Yao and Shun were gone forever，And where can we find a place to live？We'd rather starve to death as we haven't met a wise king.Refusing to eat Zhou's food，that is our will.And starving to death，we regard it our fate.”Later“Replace a Tyrant with a Tyrant”as an idiom，expresses the meaning that cruel power comes to the place of another cruel power.While Bo Yi and Shu Qi were considered stubborn and inflexi⁃ble，“Refusing to Eat Zhou's Food”as an idiom，means that one has quite a backbone.