Chinese idiom

叶公好龙yè gōng hào lóng

Ye Gong Adores Dragon

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Story:

叶公好龙yè gōng hào lóng

Ye Gong Adores Dragon

春秋楚国沈诸梁,自称“叶公”。

chūn qiū chǔ guó shěn zhū liáng ,zì chēng “yè gōng ”。

据说,这位叶公爱龙成癖,家里的梁、柱、门、窗上都雕着龙,墙上也画着龙。          

jù shuō ,zhè wèi yè gōng ài lóng chéng pǐ ,jiā lǐ de liáng 、zhù 、mén 、chuāng shàng dōu diāo zhe lóng ,qiáng shàng yě huà zhe lóng 。

就这样,叶公爱好龙的名声,被人们传扬开了。

jiù zhè yàng ,yè gōng ài hǎo lóng de míng shēng ,bèi rén men chuán yáng kāi le 。

天上的真龙,听说人间有这么一位叶公,对它如此喜爱,很受感动,

tiān shàng de zhēn lóng ,tīng shuō rén jiān yǒu zhè me yī wèi yè gōng ,duì tā rú cǐ xǐ ài ,hěn shòu gǎn dòng ,

决定去叶公家对他表示谢意。

jué dìng qù yè gōng jiā duì tā biǎo shì xiè yì 。

人们也许会想叶公看见真龙时会有多高兴。

rén men yě xǔ huì xiǎng yè gōng kàn jiàn zhēn lóng shí huì yǒu duō gāo xìng 。

实际上,当叶公看见那条龙时,顿时吓得魂飞魄散,赶紧逃走。

shí jì shàng ,dāng yè gōng kàn jiàn nà tiáo lóng shí ,dùn shí xià dé hún fēi pò sàn ,gǎn jǐn táo zǒu 。

从此人们明白了叶公爱好的其实并不是真龙,

cóng cǐ rén men míng bái le yè gōng ài hǎo de qí shí bìng bù shì zhēn lóng ,

而是似龙非龙的东西而已。

ér shì sì lóng fēi lóng de dōng xī ér yǐ 。

English:

Long ago, there was a person named Chu Zhuliang who addressed himself as “Lord Ye.” It was said that this Lord Ye was very fond of dragons. The walls of his house had dragons painted on them, while the beams, pillars, doors, and windows were all carved with the creatures. As a result, word of his love for dragons spread.

When the real dragon in heaven heard of this Lord Ye, he was deeply moved. He decided to visit Lord Ye to thank him.

You might think Lord Ye was very happy to see a real dragon. But, actually, at very the sight of the creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could.

From then on, people knew that Lord Ye only loved pictures or carvings that looked like dragons, but not the real thing.

The Idiom

The Chinese idiom “yè gōng hào lóng ”literally means ‘Ye Gong adores the dragon;’ but people in China understand it to refer to someone who only pretends to adore something outwardly. If put to the test, the devotee will quickly show his true colors.

Example: ‘I thought you’ve been saying all your life that your biggest dream is to travel to space. But when NASA invited you to go on a test mission, you shied away. That’s so yè gōng hào lóng

key words:

龙       lóng                             dragon

门       mén                             door

窗       chuāng                       window

墙       qiáng                           wall

画       huà                              paint

听说   tīng shuō                    heard of

喜爱   xǐ ài                              adore

感动   gǎn dòng                    move

决定   jué dìng                           decide

也许   yě xǔ                           perhaps

高兴   gāo xìng                      happy

逃走   táo zǒu                        run away

Editor:WANG YAN