Chinese idioms: 鸡鸣狗盗 Jī Míng Gǒu Dào

鸡鸣狗盗 Jī Míng Gǒu Dào
Zhànguó shíqī, QíGuó de MèngChángjūn xǐhuān zhàojí ménkè, bùguǎn zhè gè rén shìbúshì yǒu cáinéng, zhǐyào yuànyìdōu kěyǐ zuò tā de ménkè. Jùshuō tā de ménkè céngjīng yídù dádào le sānqiān rén.
战国时期，齐国的孟尝君喜欢召集门客，不管这个人是不是有才能，只要愿意都可以做他的门客。据说他的门客曾经一度达到了三千人。
In the Warring States Period, Lord Meng Changjun of the state of Qi liked to summon followers for himself. Whether talented or not, anyone could be a follower of Meng as long as he was willing. It was said that his followers amounted to three thousand at one time.

Yǒu yí cì Mèngchángjūn dàilǐng ménkèmen chūshǐ QínGuó,Qínzhāowáng xiǎng liú tā zài QínGuó zuò guan. Kěshì QínGuó de dàchénmen rènwéi Mèngchángjūn búhuì zhēnxīn wèi QínGuó bànshì，liúzhe tā huì duì QínGuó búlì, yīnggāi shāle tā. Yúshì, Qínzhāowáng jiù bǎ Mèngchángjūn ruǎnjìn qǐlái, zhǐ děng zhǎo gè jièkǒu shā diào tā.
有一次孟尝君带领门客们出使秦国，秦昭王想留他在秦国做官。可是秦国的大臣们认为孟尝君不会真心为秦国办事，留着他会对秦国不利，应该杀了他。于是，秦昭王就把孟尝君软禁起来，只等找个借口杀掉他。
Once, Meng Changjun led his followers to the state of Qin. Emperor Zhao of Qin wanted him to be his official. But the ministers of Qin believed Meng Changjun would not work for their state wholeheartedly and that they should kill him because he would be harmful to Qin. As a result, Emperor Zhao imprisoned Meng Changjun, buying time to come up with an excuse to kill him.

Dāngshí, QínGuó yǒu gè fēizǐ hěn shòu Qínzhāowáng chǒng’ài, tā shuō shénme zhāowáng dōu tīng. Mèngchángjūn jiù xiǎng qǐng tā bāngmáng. Fēizǐ dāyīngle, dàn tiáojiàn shì yào nà jiàn yǐjīng Xiàn gěi zhāowáng de hú pí yī. Mèngchángjūn hěn wéinán. Zhènghǎo yǒu gè ménkè shàncháng zuān gǒudòng tōu dōngxī, Mèngchángjūn jiù pài tā jiù bǎ nà jiàn húpí yī tōu chūlái xiàngěile zhè gè fēi zǐ. Fēi zǐ shuìfúle zhāowáng bù shā Mèngchángjūn, bìng zhǔnbèi guò liǎng tiān wèi tā jiànxíng. Mèngchángjūn què bùgǎn zài děng, dāngwǎn jiù dàizhe ménkèmen táozǒule. Tāmen dàodá chéngmén shí, háishì bànyè. ànzhào guīdìng, jī jiàole cáinéng dǎkāi chéngmén ，zěnmebàn ne? Mèngchángjūn de lìng yī gè ménkè zhènghǎo huì xué jījiào, tā jiàole jǐ shēng, chéngguān wài de jī tīngdào jiàoshēng yě gēnzhe jiàole qǐlái, shǒu chéng de shìbīng jiù dǎkāile chéngmén, tāmen chénggōng táohuí le Qíguó.
当时，秦国有个妃子很受秦昭王宠爱，她说什么昭王都听。孟尝君就想请她帮忙。妃子答应了，但条件是要那件已经献给昭王的狐皮衣。孟尝君很为难。正好有个门客擅长钻狗洞偷东西，孟尝君就派他就把那件狐皮衣偷出来献给了这个妃子。妃子说服了昭王不杀孟尝君，并准备过两天为他饯行。孟尝君却不敢再等，当晚就带着门客们逃走了。他们到达城门时，还是半夜。按照规定，鸡叫了才能打开城门，怎么办呢？孟尝君的另一个门客正好会学鸡叫，他叫了几声，城关外的鸡听到叫声也跟着叫了起来，守城的士兵就打开了城门，他们成功逃回了齐国。
At that time, there was an imperial concubine who was highly favored by Emperor Zhao . He listened to whatever she said. Meng Changjun wanted to seek her help and she agreed under the condition that she received the fur clothing Meng had already sent to Emperor Zhao. Meng was very troubled. It so happened that one of his followers was good at pilfering, so Meng sent him to steal the clothing for the imperial concubine. The concubine persuaded the emperor not to kill Meng and he decided to give him a farewell dinner in two days. But Meng dared not to wait and led his followers to run away that night. It was still midnight when they got to the gate. According to the rule, the gate was not to be opened until the cocks crowed. What would they do? Another follower of Meng happened to be able to imitate a cock’s crow. The cocks outside the gate began to crow when they heard the follower’s noise. The soldiers guarding the city opened the gate and they successfully escaped back to Qi.

Words:
战国时期 (Zhànguó Shíqī) ： the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) n.
召集 (zhàojí) ： to convene v.
门客 (ménkè) ： idea man, hanger-on of an aristocrat n.
出使 (chūshǐ) ： serve as an envoy abroad v.
大臣 (dàchén) ： minister (of a monarchy) n.
软禁 (ruǎnjìn) ： to put under house arrest, detain a person v.
宠爱 (chǒng’ài) ： to favor v.
献给 (xiàngěi) ： to present, to dedicate v.
狐皮 (hú pí) ： fox fur n.
为难 (wéinán) ：adj. (feel) awkward
擅长 (shàncháng) ： be good at, be skilled at v.
说服 (shuìfú) ：to convince v.
饯行 (jiànxíng) ： give a farewell dinner v.
守城 (shǒu chéng) ：to guard the city v.
Meanings:
“鸡鸣狗盗”的字面意思是学雄鸡叫，装狗偷东西。比喻那些没有真才实学，只有微不足道本领的人，也指偷偷摸摸的行为。多用作贬义。
The literal meaning of “鸡鸣狗盗”is “to crow like a cock and steal like a dog.” It is used as a figure of speech to describe trivial skills or tricks. It also refers to the behavior of a sneak in a derogatory way.

Sentences:
1．Bù zhīdào tā xiànzài shì zěnme huíshì, zǒng ài guānxīn yìxiē jīmíng gǒudào de rén hé shì.
不知道他现在是怎么回事，总爱关心一些鸡鸣狗盗的人和事。
I don’t know what’s going on with him; he’s always into shady people and things.

2．Nǐ bù xiǎngxiǎng zìjǐ zěnme nǔlì, yìxīn xiǎng qiètīng qítā gōngsī de nèibù xìnxī. Zuò zhèzhǒng jīmíng gǒudào de shì, zhǐhuì diū zánmen gōngsī de liǎn.
你不想想自己怎么努力，一心想窃听其他公司的内部信息。做这种鸡鸣狗盗的事，只会丢咱们公司的脸。
Instead of thinking about what efforts you should be making, you poured your heart into eavesdropping on private information of other companies. This kind of sneaky behavior puts our company to shame.