《一夜十起》成语英译与典故

八十八、一夜十起

东汉初年有个人，

复姓“第五”名叫“伦”，

为人正直性廉洁，

美名流传到如今。

曾在会（kuài）稽做太守，

家务事从不劳他人。

喂马谷草自己铡，

妻子烧饭守灶门。

朋友个个夸他说：

“第五真真无私心。”

他笑道：“莫过奖，

结论先请别忙下，

略举两例请评论：

有朋友，请我替他谋差事，

送我一匹黄骠马，

让我为他‘开后门’。

这匹骏马我没接受，

啥差事，我也没有把他任。

可是我经常还会想起他，

怕他怨我无情分。

再比如，我的侄儿生了病，

我看过回房便安寝；

可后来，我的儿子生了病，

我一夜十起看视勤。

即使这样还担心，

睡下了，也牵肠挂肚不安稳。

只这两件平常事，

你说说，我到底有无自私心？”

朋友听后很感动，

逢人便夸第五伦，

夸他真诚又直率，

实事求是看自身。

到后来，“一夜十起”作成语，

常形容，医生真诚待病人。

To Rise Ten Times in One Night

In the early Eastern Han Dynasty（25—220A.D.）there was a man whose family name was Diwu，given name Lun.He was honest and upright，and his fame comes down to the present.When he was appointed governor of Kuaiji District in Zhejiang Province，he never asked others to do his house chores.He cut grass for his cow himself，and when his wife cooked，he attended the fire for her.His friends all spoke highly of him：“Brother Diwu was really selfless.”But he smiled and said，“Don't over⁃praise me.Con⁃clusions should not be made too soon.Here I will give two examples for you to judge.One of my friends，who wanted me to do him a favour，offered me a yellow steed，begging me to open a‘back door’for him.I refused his offer of the horse，and I didn't give him the access to any official posts.But some⁃times I often think of him，and I am afraid that he might hate me.Another thing is that when my neph⁃ew was once ill，I went to see him and returned home to sleep soundly.But later when my son got ill，I rose ten times at night to tend him.And even so I was still worried about him，feeling quite upset before I fell a⁃sleep.From these two small matters in my everyday life，could you draw the conclusion that I am self⁃less？”

On hearing this his friends were very impressed，and praised Diwu Lun even more often.They praised him for his honesty and uprightness，and his true a⁃nalysis about himself.But later“to Rise Ten Times in One Night”became an idiom，indicating a doctor or a nurse tenderly look after his patients.