《滥竽充数》成语英译与典故

三十五、滥竽充数

春秋时齐国的齐宣王，

喜欢听几百人一齐吹竽。

有一个南郭先生不会吹竽，

便混在众人中假装吹竽。

就这样他居然混了不少年，

得到的是和大家一样的待遇。

齐宣王死后儿子湣（mǐn）王即位，

这湣王和老子一样喜欢听吹竽。

可是他讨厌大家一起凑热闹，

便命令竽手们一个个单独吹奏。

南郭见自己难以再“充数”，

偷偷地溜回了宿舍卷行李。

这故事用来讽刺那混饭吃的人，

没本领总有一天难以混下去。

A Poor Yu Player in an Ensemble

During the Spring and Autumn Period（770—476B.C.）King Xuan of Qi State loved to listen to the musical instrument yu，and he loved to listen to an ensemble of several hundreds.

A man named Mr Nanguo who couldn't play yu at all，joined the band and pretended to be playing.He thus kept playing for many many years，getting the same amount of salary just as the others.

Then King Xuan of Qi died and his son Min be⁃came king.King Min was just like his late father and loved to listen to the yu.But he didn't appreciate the way so many people were crowded in front of him playing，so he ordered them to play it one by one.Mr Nanguo now found it hard to get along，and covertly went to his dorm，got his baggage and sneaked away.

This story is a satire on those who want to make a living by deceitful means，for they will soon find themselves in a fix.