《朝三暮四》成语英译与典故

九十七、朝三暮四

在《庄子》这部古书中，

有一个寓言故事趣味浓：

说是古代有个人，

最大的兴趣是养猴子。

别的饲料也没有，

喂猴全部用橡实。

每只猴每天早上喂三个，

晚上那顿喂四只。

过不久，猴子个个提意见，

怨恨主人太小气。

要求食物再增加，

不然抗议要绝食。

这人一听哈哈笑，

连说这是好建议。

于是他改成早上喂四个，

晚上那顿给三只。

愚蠢的猴子都高兴，

尽管肚子还会饥。

“朝三暮四”作成语，

常形容，玩弄手法把人欺，

也比喻有人经常会变卦，

做事缺乏准主意。

Three in the Morning and Four in the Evening

In the ancient book“Zhuang Zi”，there was a very interesting fable.It told that in the ancient times，there was a man whose hobby was to raise monkeys.He fed them with only oak cones，and nothing else.He gave each monkey three in the morn⁃ing，and he gave each four for the evening meal.By and by，the monkeys began to complain.They bad⁃mouthed their host as a miser，and they wanted more of their food，otherwise they would go on a hunger strike.

This man replied with ready laughter，and said that it was a good suggestion.Then he gave them four cones for their morning meal，and three cones for the evening meal.The foolish monkeys were all very pleased，though they were still very hungry.

“Three in the Morning and Four in the Evening”as an idiom indicates someone who blows hot and cold，or someone who chops and changes，and rides over the fence.