《危如累卵》成语英译与典故

七十一、危如累卵

春秋时晋国的晋灵公，

即位后一天天变昏庸。

平日里生活奢侈贪享乐，

忘记了国家和百姓。

为了自己玩得好，

这一天召集群臣下命令，

叫他们多多准备好木料，

把全国民工都调动，

为他建一座新楼台，

半年之内要完工。

他也知文武群臣会反对，

发狠说我的主意已拿定，

谁要胆敢来劝阻，

小心他立时活不成。

有一位大夫叫荀息，

既有胆略又忠诚。

他要觐见晋灵公，

灵公心里不高兴。

明知他是来劝谏，

心想荀息不要命了。

荀息他也知有危险，

见到灵公却申明：

“今天我并非来劝谏，

陪主公玩玩行不行？”

灵公一听心欢喜，

脸上立刻现笑容。

荀息拿出了九颗蛋，

十二颗棋子托手中，

说能将棋子垒起来，

再把鸡蛋放在顶。

一个一个垒上去，

“主公你一见准高兴！”

灵公想，这游戏寡人从未见，

“好好好”地夸连声。

荀息一旁定定神，

捏定棋子手轻轻，

一颗一颗朝上垒，

颗颗棋子都摆定，

又把鸡蛋朝上放，

观者人人把气屏。

灵公连说“太危险”，

荀大夫至此开口语轻轻：

“主公啊，

垒蛋小事你担心，

你可知，

世上还有险事情？

情势比累卵险万倍，

告诉你，

不知我主可愿听？”

晋灵公连连点头叫快说，

荀息说：

“怕你听后怒气生。”

灵公连说不生气，

荀息趁机表真情：

“大王你下令修建八层台，

三年也难建成功。

这样使妇女不能把布织，

男人无法把地耕。

全国百姓都筑台，

国库很快要变空。

邻国若见我国弱，

就会发兵来进攻，

那样晋国会灭掉，

你看这算不算险情？”

晋灵公听到这里已醒悟，

忙下令废了建台的错决定。

“危如累卵”这成语，

比喻事物处于极度危险中。

As Precarious as a Pile of Eggs

Duke Ling in the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period（770—476B.C.），grew corrupted after he inherited the throne.He lived a luxurious life，forgetting all about his country and people.In order to have a good time，he mustered all his ministers and gave a decree.He asked them to prepare plenty of timber，and to gath⁃er all the workers in the country.He wanted to put up a new building，and it should be finished in half a year.He knew that the ministers would oppose him，so he swore that he had made up his mind，if anyone dared to stop him，he would put him to death immediately.

There was a minister named Xun Xi，who was dutiful and tactful.He would like to see Duke Ling a⁃bout this，which quite annoyed the latter.It was obvi⁃ous he had come to say no to him.Duke Ling thought Xun Xi was asking for death，Xun Xi also understood it was a dangerous thing to do.So he declared when he saw the Duke：“I haven't come to persuade you，I just came to play a game with you.”

Duke Ling was delighted to have heard that，and showed a smile on his face.Xun Xi took out nine eggs and 12 checkers in his hands，saying he could pile the checkers up，and then put all the eggs on the check⁃ers.“Pile them up one by one，it will surely make Your Majesty happy！”

Duke Ling didn't think that he had ever seen it before，“all right，all right，”he said repeatedly.Xun Xi held his breath for a while by his side，tenderly he pinched the checkers，and stacked them one by one.When all the checkers were settled，he then began to stack the eggs，while all the on⁃lookers were holding their breath.

Duke Ling said“It's too dangerous！”Now Xun Xi opened his mouth and spoke softly：“Your Stately Maj⁃esty，piling up eggs is but a trifle thing to worry about.Do you know there are other important things to worry about that might be 10 thousand times more dangerous than that？I wonder if you'd like to hear that？”

Duke Ling nodded his head and said yes.Xun Xi said，“I fear you'll be angry when you hear it.”Duke Ling repeatedly said he wouldn't be angry.Xun Xi then took the chance to tell him the truth，“Your Maj⁃esty ordered an 8⁃storey building to be built，and it must take 3 years to accomplish.In that way，all the women will not be able to spin，and all the men will not be able to plough.If all the countrymen are or⁃ganized to build it，the National Bank will be emptied soon.If the neighboring countries see our weakness，they will attack us with their army，then the State of Jin will be eliminated.Isn't it the most dangerous thing to think about？”

Duke Ling now saw that he was in the wrong，and immediately ordered a stop to his wrong decision.

The idiom“As Precarious as a Pile of Eggs”indi⁃cates that something is in extreme danger.