《明珠暗投》成语英译与典故

四十、明珠暗投

西汉时刘濞（bì）被封为诸侯王，

一心要扯旗起兵反朝堂。

文学家邹阳劝他别造反，

刘濞根本不放心上。

邹阳就只好投奔梁孝王，

屈身在那里把门客当。

想不到有人嫉妒他才学，

私下里去找梁孝王，

说邹阳如何如何坏，

梁孝王急忙抓起要杀邹阳。

邹阳心里不服气，

在狱中写信给梁孝王，

信中讲世间何物最宝贵？

珠有明月珠，白璧名夜光。

但若是暗投到大路上，

人们对它也不会怎么样，

往往是见了按剑目斜视，

以为是祸祟不吉祥。

因为它被投的原因不清楚，

总认为凶多吉少心恐慌。

经常见弯木头做的车子本不好，

可是那地位显赫的人们也能看上，

这其中到底啥原因？

是由于车子周身刻花样。

刻上花纹装饰美，

谁见了心情都舒畅。

所以说献珍宝如果无人作介绍，

往往还会结怨谤。

假如有人作引荐，

枯木朽株也身价长。

可见天下的老百姓，

论本事比尧舜还高强。

论才智数得上伊尹和管仲，

还有那龙逢（pánɡ）比干是忠良，

要效忠君王无人荐，

只得屈居下位受冤枉。

梁孝王读了邹阳的信，

马上派人请邹阳。

内心激动无法表，

让邹阳坐到尊位上。

“明珠投暗”有来历，

常比喻好东西不能派用场。

由于人们不识货，

“明珠”无缘放光芒。

也比喻有才人不能得重用，

久而久之生怨谤。

还可喻好人误入歧途中，

迷途知返理应当。

Cast Pearls Before Swine

In the Western Han Dynasty（206B.C.—24A.D.）Liu Bi was conferred feudatory king，but he was am⁃bitious to rebel against the emperor.A man of letters，Zou Yang tried to dissuade Liu Bi，but Liu Bi turned a deaf ear to him.So Zou Yang had to go to King Xiao of Liang，and humbly be a guest there.

Unexpectedly one man envied him of his talent，and went privately to the King to heap abuse on Zou Yang.King Liang immediately ordered Zou Yang to be arrested and killed.Zou Yang didn't take it badly，and wrote a personal letter to King Liang.

In the letter，he wrote：what is the most precious thing on earth？Pearls with the bright light would be precious，but if they do not pay much heed to them，or perhaps they stared at them angrily with sword in hand，it would be considered they are ominous of bad luck.Why they were cast there was not yet known.They would feel more panic than at ease.The chari⁃ots of curve log you often see，is of course just ordi⁃nary，but the prominent people consider them to be very good.Do you know why it is so？Because the chariot was carved from head to toe.Since it was carved with beautiful patterns，everybody will take delight in seeing it.So when dedicating a treasure without a go⁃between to make an introduction，it tends to be basely slandered.But if you do have a go⁃between，rotten wood and withered trees might turn expensive.

So you can see the daily folks，may be wiser than Emperors Yao and Shun.In history we have talented Yi Yin and Guan Zhong，and also we have the loyal Long Pang and Bi Gan.If they had not been recom⁃mended to serve their emperors，they had to remain in the inferior place and be wronged.

Having read his meaningful letter，King Xiao of Liang sent an invitation to Zou Yang right away.The King was so impressed that he made Zou sit in the most honorable chair.

“Cast Pearls Before Swine”has its story，and it means something treasured is not always put to the right use.Because of people's ignorance，the Bright Pearls have got no chance to glitter.This idiom im⁃plies a talented man being long neglected，may nur⁃ture irritation and indignation.And it can also refer to a good person who falls awry by mistake，and who should turn around from it as quick as possible.