Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 门可罗雀 (Ménkěluóquè)

Hàndài chūqī, Xiàguī（guī ）xiàn de Zhái Gōng céng shuō guò, tā kāishǐ zuò tíngwèi （gǔdài de yì zhǒng guānzhí）shí, jiā zhōng yǒu hěn duō kèrén lái bàifǎng; děng hòu lái guānzhí méi le, jiā mén wài jiù biàn dé fēicháng lěngqīng, dōu kěyǐ nòng yì yī zhāng wǎng bǔ què le （luó ：zhāng kāi wǎng bǔ zhuō ）. Zài dào hòulái, Zhái Gōng huīfù le guānzhí, hěn duō rén yòu xiǎng lái tā jiā bàifǎng. Zhái Gōng jiù zài dà mén shàng xiě le yí jù huà, yìsī shì: zhī yǒu shēngsǐ huànnán shí, yǒu pínfù hé guìjiàn de chājù shí, cái néng xiǎnchū yǒuqíng de zhēn wěi.
汉代初期，下邽（龟）县的翟公曾说过，他开始做廷尉（古代的一种官职）时，家中有很多客人来拜访；等后来官职没了，家门外就变得非常冷清，都可以弄一张网 捕雀了（罗：张开网捕捉）。再到后来，翟公恢复了官职，很多人又想来他家拜访。翟公就在大门上写了一句话，意思是：只有生死患难时，有贫富和贵贱的差距 时，才能显出友情的真伪。

In the early Han Dynasty, Zhaigong of the Xia Gui town once said when he started to take the official position as a Tingwei, there were numerous visitors in his house; the time he lost his job, nobody came to visit him and even one was able to catch birds by a net at the door. Later, he was reinstated so many people remembered him again and wanted to visit him. Thus, Zhaigong wrote a sentence on his door to the effect that only through death and adversity, through poverty and humble status, one could tell true friendship from untrue.

Words：
拜访bàifǎng： visit, call on(v.)
官职guānzhí： official position(n.)
冷清lěng qing： quiet(a.)
恢复huīfù： recover(v.)
患难huànnàn： misfortune, sorrows, woe(n.)
差距chājù： gap, difference(n.)
真伪zhēnwěi： true or false(n.)

Meanings：

原指大门外没什么人来来往往，安静得都可以弄一张网捕雀了。后来用来形容门庭十分冷落，宾客稀少。

The idiom originally means there are rarely visitors coming and going in front of the door and it is so quiet that one can even catch birds with a net there. It is then extended to indicate that the place is unfrequented; visitors are few and far between.

Sentences：

1.Zhè jiā xiǎochī diàn de xiǎochī wèidào bù zěnme hǎo, suǒyǐ shēngyì lěngqīng, ménkě-luóquè.
这家小吃店的小吃味道不怎么好，所以生意冷清，门可罗雀。

The food of the snack bar is not so tasty, so there are few customers here and even 门可罗雀.

2.Tóngyàng shì zài zhè tiáo jiē shàng de diànyǐngyuàn, yì jiā rènào fēifán, lìng yì jiā què ménkě-luóquè.
同样是在这条街上的电影院，一家热闹非凡，另一家却门可罗雀。

I wonder why one cinema is prosperous like that, but the other in the same street is so deserted and even 门可罗雀.