◎Micky
Track 2
“众志成城”出自左丘明《国语·周语下》中的“众心成城,众口铄金”,“众心成城”后演变为“众志成城”,原义是大家同心协力,就像城墙一样牢固,比喻大家团结一致,就能克服困难,获得成功。
In the Spring and Autumn Period, King Jing of Zhou ordered the whole country to1)castlarge coins and2)abolishsmall coins in the twenty-first year of his3)reign, which caused great losses to the people.
In the twenty-third year of his reign, King Jing of Zhou collected copper from the people to cast two big bells. One year later, the big bells were cast. King Jing of Zhou was very happy when he heard the sound of the bells. He said to the musician Zhou Jiu beside him, “Listen!How4)harmoniousthe bells sound.”
Zhou Jiu understood the sufferings of the5)civiliansvery well and said to the King, “These are not harmonious. If the civilians like the idea of casting the bells, the bells are harmonious. But today, the bells you forged are on the basis of harming the interests of the people.How can you say that the bells are harmonious? As the saying goes,‘All hearts make a city, and all words melt metal.’ It means that what people approve of will be successful and will be as solid as a castle,and nothing that people6)revilewill not fail. Even if it is as solid as metal, it will be melted.”
1) castv.浇铸
2) abolishv.废除
3) reignn.当政期
4) harmoniousadj.和谐的
5) civiliann.平民;老百姓
6) revilev.痛斥
1. King Jing of Zhou ordered to cast ______ coins and abolish ______ coins.
2. All ______ make a city, and all ______ melt metal.
春秋时期,周景王在位第二十一年时,他下令全国铸造大钱,废除小钱,给人民造成了巨大损失。
周景王在位第二十三年时,他从民间收集铜,铸造两口大钟。一年后,大钟铸好。周景王听到钟声时,他非常高兴,对一旁的乐师州鸠说:“你听,这钟声多和谐呀。”
州鸠深知景王铸钟给百姓带来的苦难,便回答说:“这算不得和谐。如果天下的老百姓都为这件事高兴,那才算得上和谐。可是,您为了造钟,弄得民穷财尽,您怎么能说和谐呢?俗话说:‘众心成城,众口铄金。’大家万众一心,什么事情都能办成,都能像城堡一样坚固;大家都反对,任何事情都会失败,即使坚固如金属也会被销熔。”
In the story, King Jing of Zhou acted capriciously without regard to the interests of the people, and without the support of the people, he could only end up in his own destruction. And later people used the idiom of “our wills unite like a fortress” to describe the fact that as long as people are untied, they will be strong.
在故事中,周景王不顾人民的利益,任性行事,没有人民的支持,他只能自取灭亡。后来,人们用“众志成城”这个成语来形容人们只要团结起来,就会变得强大。