《指桑骂槐》出处、故事、英文翻译、注释

10.指桑骂槐

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【出处】《三十六计》第二十六计：大凌小者，警以诱之。刚中而应，行险而顺。明代兰陵笑笑生《金瓶梅词话》：“他每日那边指桑树骂槐树，百般称快。”《官场现形记》第十三回：“只有文爷见了统领，听了隔壁闲话，知道统领是指桑骂槐，已经受了一肚皮的气。”

【成语故事】前汉时期，韩信曾命令手下樊哙和周勃带领一万多名士兵在三个月内修好栈道。但是，先前被烧毁的栈道断断续续共有300 多里，加上这个地方地势险要，整个修复工程十分艰难。这些士兵没日没夜地辛辛苦苦干了十几天，也只完成了一小段。这些人不知修栈道的真正意图，于是经常抱怨发牢骚。另外，因为韩信加入汉军的时间不长，他在军中的威信不高，很多人对他出任大将军很不满，尤其是他手下的樊哙，更是对他大为不满。有一次，韩信来视察，樊哙当着他的面对部下大声骂道：“像你们这样，这么大的工程，即使用10 万劳力，用一年时间，也是很难完成的啊。”韩信听到了这句话，意识到自己在军中的威信正遭受严重的挑衅。眼看着工期不得不延长了，延期的直接结果就是延误战斗的时机，这样是万万不行的。于是，韩信断然决定，对樊哙、周勃等头领作出撤职处分，以警告其他人。从那以后，军队里的其他人再也不敢有怨气，再也不敢消极应付修建的工作了。最后，修复栈道的工程也终于如期完成了。

【寓意】该成语原意是指对着桑树骂槐树，以宣泄心中的不满。现常常用来喻指当着某人的面指责另外一个人，实则是在抱怨对面前的人的不满。也可以指表面上是骂或者指责这个人，实际上是在骂或者指责另外一个人。

指桑骂槐
To Make an Oblique Censure

10.To Make an Oblique Censure

【Idiomatic Story】 During the early times of the Han Dynasty，General HAN Xin once ordered two of his subordinate officers FAN Kuai and ZHOU Bo to finish the task of repairing the burnt plank road within three months with an army of over 10，000 soldiers.But it was a very hard task for them，because the burnt plank road covered about 300 miles and the natural conditions was formidable.They worked day and night but they had only completed a small part of the task in about half a month.Complaints against General HAN Xin could be heard because the soldiers knew little about the intention and plan of the reconstruction program.General HAN Xin had not earned his prestige and authority among the officers and soldiers because he had just come to run the troop，so many officers felt dissatisfied with him，especially his inferior officer FAN Kuai showed full dissatisfaction with him.

One day，General HAN Xin came for an inspection visit.FAN Kuai shouted angrily to his men in front of HAN Xin，“How can you complete such a large program like this? You still can not complete it even if you are given 100，000 labors in a year，how about 10，000 of you within 3 months?”

On hearing this，General HAN Xin was aware of being challenged in prestige and authority in the army.And he found the plank road repairing program could be delayed if he did nothing to change the situation，and that would result in missing the right chance.In order to warn others，General HAN Xin decisively dismissed the irresponsible officers like FAN Kuai and ZHOU Bo and replaced them with the right persons.

From then on，no complaints could be heard and slackness could not be seen again.Finally，the plank road repairing program was completed in due time.

【Implied Meaning】It originally means to complain or blame the locust tree in front of the mulberry tree.Now it is usually used to refer to those who blame the one at present by scolding someone else.