Chinese story 【故事】这里没有银子

这里没有银子

 

                     长  路/文

                     毅  忠/译

 

                        No Silver Buried Here

、

 

　　1、张三家里很穷，从来没有银子。

　　Zhang San was very poor. He had never got any silver in his home.

2、有一天，他得到了三百两银子，想把它们放在一个安全的地方。
One day, he got 300 taels of silver and decided to put it in a safe place.

3、晚上，张三把银子埋在了地里，还在上面插了一个木牌，上面写着：这里没有银子。

Overnight, Zhang buried his silver in the ground and put up a note, saying: "No Silver Buried Here."

4、第二天，邻居王二看到木牌，知道下面一定有银子，于是把银子偷走了。

The next day, his neighbor, Wang-Er saw the note. He thought that there must be silver here. Then he stole it.

5、王二担心被人发现，也在那个地方插了一个木牌，上面写着：王二没有偷银子。

Not wanting others to suspect him, Wang-Er put another sign there that said: "Your Neighbor Wang-Er Did Not Steal Them."

　

New Words

　　①穷：poor  ②银子：silver ③两：tael ④安全：safe ⑤埋：bury ⑥邻居：neighbor ⑦偷：steal

　

Language Tips

　　中国有一个成语"此地无银三百两"就是出自这个故事。"此"是这个的意思；"地"指地方；"无"是没有；"银"是银子。比喻本想掩盖事实，但手段笨拙，反而使事情彻底暴露。

The Chinese idiom, "此地无银三百两"（No 300 Taels of Silver Buried Here）, comes from this story. Here"此"means "this","地"refer to the "place", "无"means "no" and "银"is the "silver". This idiom means that a clumsy denial only results in self-exposure, a metaphor for one's overkilling to worsen a situation rather than bettering it.

 

Practice

 

1.True or false.

 

  (    ) ⑴ 张三家很穷。

  (    ) ⑵ 张三得到了二百两银子。

  (    ) ⑶ 张三把银子埋在了地里。

  (    ) ⑷ 王二在木牌上写着：这里没有钱。

  (    )（5）王二偷走了银子。

  (    )（6）王二在木牌上写着：王二没有偷银子。