《鱼目混珠》成语英译与典故

九十二、鱼目混珠

有一部古书叫《玉清经》，

里头有一个故事很动听，

讲的是有位古人叫满愿，

有一次买了颗大珠心高兴。

珠大直径有一寸，

平时收藏密室中。

一般人轻易见不到，

越这样显得越贵重。

他有位邻居叫寿量，

有一颗特大的鱼眼睛，

他以为也是颗大珍珠，

也把它藏在密室中。

有人要来看一看，

他连连摆手说不行，

还说满愿的珍珠我也有，

从今后不能由他独逞能。

说起来事情真够巧，

不久后他俩得了同一种病。

医生给他们诊断后，

配药时要珍珠粉末当药引用。

他们俩把收藏的珍珠齐拿出，

寿量的珠假不能用。

“鱼目混珠”这成语，

常比喻以假乱真、以次充好把人哄。

Pass Away Fish Eyes as Pearls

There was an ancient book entitled“The Book of the Clear Jade”，and in it there was a very terrific story.It tells that there was a man named Man Yuan.One day he merrily bought a very big pearl.This pearl had a diameter of one inch，and was carefully stored in his secret cellar.That common people couldn't see it，made the pearl even dearer.

Man Yuan's next door neighbor named Shou Li⁃ang，who has a huge fish eye，he assumed that it was a big pearl，too.He also put it in his cellar secretly.If anyone came to try to take a look，he would repeat⁃edly shake his head.And he said that what Man Yuan had he had too.From that day on he could share the glory of owning a rare treasure.

It happened just one of these days，they contract⁃ed the same ailment at the same time.The doctor di⁃agnosed them and prescribed for them，they both should have pearl powder as the medicinal usher，so they both took out their treasures at once，but Shou Liang's pearl just didn't work.“Pass Away the Fish Eyes as Pearls”became an idiom，which means to pass off something sham as genuine.