《拾人牙慧》成语英译与典故

六十六、拾人牙慧

东晋时有个大学者，

他的名字叫殷浩，

爱读《老子》和《易经》，

说起话引经据典颇深奥。

他有个外甥叫韩康伯，

善于谈吐性乖巧，

殷浩开初很喜欢他，

平日里注意启发和引导。

后来殷浩带兵打仗失利被罢官，

流放后仍和外甥在一道。

有一次见外甥正对别人发议论，

细听听全是自己说过的那一套，

个人的见解没一点，

那得意样子让舅舅觉得羞又臊。

殷浩说这孩子才疏学亦浅，

却自鸣得意唱高调，

实际上他的那点知识儿，

连我耳后的灰垢（ɡòu）都没学到！

到后来“拾人牙慧”作成语，

常比喻说话作文老一套。

别人的东西改头换面巧抄袭，

自己的见解实在找不到。

Pick Up Others'Phrases

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty（317—420A.D.），there was a learned scholar，whose name was Yin Hao.He liked to read“Lao Zi”and“The Book of Changes”.He backed up his statements with quota⁃tions and his statements usually bore good insights.

He had a nephew named Han Kangbo，who was good at talking and very cunning too.At first Yin Hao had quite a dose of liking for him，and tried often to instruct and direct him.Later，when Yin was removed from his post after he had failed to lead an army to victory，he came to live with his nephew after the ex⁃ile.

One day he saw his nephew talking to people，and he found it was just what he told him.As to his own opinions he had none.His vainglory made his uncle feel shamed.Yin Hao said this silly thing was very shallow，but he blew hard and boasted all along.Actually all that he learned may be less than the dust behind my ears.

Later on“Pick Up Other's Phrases”became an idiom，and it means someone is apt to use cliches in speaking and writing，or skillfully copy what others have said.There are no viewpoints in it that can be called his own.