《覆巢之下安有完卵》成语英译与典故

十四、覆巢之下安有完卵

《三国志·魏书》有篇《孔融传》，

有一个故事把人感：

说的是有次曹操要征南，

想早日消灭刘备和孙权。

孔融却劝他别出兵，

他哪里肯听这意见！

背地里孔融说了几句牢骚话，

不小心被他的仇人偷听见。

那人添油加醋来挑拨，

把孔融的话儿向曹操传，

说孔融一向目中无他人，

从来对曹公就看不惯。

曹操顿时生怒气，

下命令把孔融一家全开斩！

抓人时孔融家个个胆破裂，

只有两个孩子从容不迫把游戏玩。

大家都以为孩子不懂事，

有人还偷偷去哄劝。

当时孔融很难受，

也希望孩子得保全。

正当他去向官兵把情求，

两个孩子却发了言：

“父亲不要再费唇舌，

说好话又岂能放过咱？

就好比鸟窝已经摔在地，

别指望能有完整的蛋！”

俩孩子从容不迫随父去，

孔家人被曹操全杀完。

后人提起这件事，

常常唏嘘又感叹。

记下了出自孩童口中语，

叫“覆巢之下无完卵”，

久而久之作成语，

讲起旧事感慨添，

抱怨曹操心太狠，

聪颖幼童丧黄泉。

这成语，常比喻事物整体遭殃后，

个体或局部难保全。

How Can Eggs Remain Unbroken When the Nest Is Ruptured

In the book“Wei，Three Kingdoms（220—265A.D.）”，there is an article“Life of Kong Rong”，which tells a very impressive story.

Once Cao Cao wanted to launch an attack on the South to wipe out Liu Bei and Sun Quan as soon as possible.Kong Rong tried to dissuade him，but to him Cao Cao promptly turned a deaf ear.Kong Rong then complained in the back streets，and someone passed this information on to Cao Cao，telling him that Kong Rong was disdaining him.Cao Cao then burst into a furious rage，and ordered Kong Rong and his whole family to be killed.Members of the family were dumbfounded when they were arrested.Only two children were playing as if nothing had happened.People thought that the children were too young to feel fear，and someone slyly went to tell them to run away.

Kong Rong was very sad，and hoped that his child⁃ren would be safe and sound.Just as he tried to ap⁃peal to the officers，the two children let out this utter⁃ance：“Father，you need not try in vain.How can they let go of us if you beg them honey⁃mouthedly.This is just like a bird's nest being torn down.How can the eggs be safe and sound！”The two children then followed at their father's heel，and the Kongs were killed one by one.Later when people mentioned this，they sighed and lamented for quite some time.They remember the words out of the children's mouths，“How Can Eggs Remain Unbroken When the Nest Is Ruptured”.

By and by this line turned into an idiom，in mem⁃ory of the old things，accusing the reckless Cao Cao of killing the innocent and intelligent children.

This idiom now implies“if something is damaged on the whole，its fracture and each part are ruined as well”.