《草菅人命》成语英译与典故

七、草菅人命

西汉时文帝幼子叫刘胜，

小时候生得很聪明。

文帝因此最爱他，

打算皇位让他承。

当时有贾谊文学大名家，

曾遭诽谤排挤离京城，

在长沙王那儿任太傅。

用人才，文帝又把他召进京。

这时候刘胜已封梁怀王，

汉文帝特让贾谊教刘胜。

贾谊想不仅要教他会读书，

还要让他把做人道理学通明。

秦末的赵高也教过秦二世，

只教他酷法和严刑，

学的是如何砍头割鼻子，

和怎样夷灭三族索人命。

到后来胡亥即位就乱杀戮，

把人命看得像草叶一样轻。

贾谊说，

二世杀人如割草，

并非是胡亥天生恶本性，

赵老师未能领他走正道，

秦末才有楚汉争。

贾太傅一心要教好梁怀王，

哪料想天有不测灾祸生，

刘胜骑马不小心，

马上摔下丧了命。

贾谊自觉失了老师职，

经常流泪心悲痛。

过了几年忧郁死，

后人提起总伤情。

到后来贾谊说的那句话，

演化为成语“草菅人命”，

意思是把人命当作菅草待，

常把统治者杀戮无辜的罪恶来形容。

To Kill People Like Cutting Clover

In the Western Han Dynasty（206B.C.—24A.D.），Emperor Wen had a little son named Liu Sheng，who was very clever when he was a child.Emperor Wen liked him very much，and decided to let him inherit his throne.

At that time，there was a famous scholar，Jia Yi，who had been slandered and expelled from the capital city.Jia was later a secretary to the Lord of Chang⁃sha.Wendi decreed his return to the palace to tutor his favorite son Liu Sheng，who had been appointed Lord of Lianghuai.

Jia Yi thought that he should not only teach him how to read and write，but also teach him how to conduct himself.Another scholar Zhao Gao at the end of the Qin Dynasty（221—206B.C.）tutored Qin II，but only taught him to make hard laws and to perse⁃cute the people.He taught him how to behead and cut off noses，and how to slaughter three generations of a household.

Qin II Hu Hai then began to kill people when he came to power，and he regarded human lives as grass leaves.Jia said the reason why Qin II killed people like cutting grass，was not because he was born to be evil，but because his teacher had taught him so.This led to the conflict between the States of Chu and Han.

With this in mind，Master Jia whole⁃heartedly wanted Lord Lianghuai to be a good emperor.But what man proposes，God disposes.Liu Sheng one day made a blunder while riding，and unfortunately fell dead from the horseback.

Jia Yi felt guilty as a teacher，and he often shed tears sadly.A few years later he died a melancholy death.The people were sad when they later men⁃tioned it.

The utterance made by Jia Yi，had changed into“to Kill People Like Cutting Clover”，which means to regard people's lives as grass，as to depict a tyranni⁃cal government who savagely kills innocent people.