爱华网
Outshine the Moon and Put the Flowers to Shame
闭月羞花
In the period of Emperor Xian in the Kingdom Han, Wang Yun, a favorite subordinate, had a female singer called Diaochan. On one full-moon night in the garden, she tried to pay homage to the moon, but the moon hid quietly into the clouds .So Wang Yun said with deep feeling,” she is more beautiful than the moon!” After that, “Outshine the Moon” became Diaochan’s alias.
东汉献帝时期,宠臣王允有个著名歌伎叫貂蝉.在一个满月的夜晚,貂蝉想到花园中去拜月,但月亮却悄悄地躲到了云彩里.于是王允深深地感叹说:”她比月亮还漂亮!”从此,”闭月”就成了貂蝉的别名.
In the period of Kingdom Tang, Yang Yuhuan was chosen to become an Imperial Concubine at the Palace of Emperor because of her extraordinary beauty. One day, while she was enjoying the sight of the flowers, her hand touched a flower. Immediately, the flower closed itself. Right then, Yang yuhuan’s maids of honor believed that this happened because the flower realized itself as a less beauty than Yang. So this came the famous episode of Yang Yuhuan’ so-called “Put the flowers to shame” in the history.
在唐代,杨玉环以其美貌被选入宫,成为贵妃.一天当她赏花时,无意间手碰到了一朵花,那花立即自动闭合了.跟随她的宫女们认为,这是因为那花自知自己没有杨玉环漂亮.于是在历史上就有了杨玉环”羞花”的著名传说.
Fish Sink and Wild Gooses Drop Down
沉鱼落雁
In the period of Chun-Qiu, there was a beauty called Xishi in the Kingdom Yue. She used to wash silk in the creek everyday. The fish in the creek saw Xishi and felt themselves were ugly to be seen by her. They didn’t have the nerve to show their faces. One by one, they stayed on the bottom of the water. Because of this, Xishi became the legendary beauty had made the fish sink”.
春秋时期,越国有个美女叫西施.西施每天都去小河里洗蚕丝.河里的鱼看到西施后,都觉得自己太丑无法与西施相见.它们再也不敢露面了,一个接一个地潜入河底.因此西施就成了传说中的”沉鱼”美女.
In the period of Kingdom Han, the beauty, Wang Zhaojun was to marry the Emir of a northern tribe for peace. On the way, some wild geese flying in the sky saw Wang. They were so startled for her beautiful that they forgot to flap their wings and continue to fly. Tragically they all dropped down the sky and died. After this incident, that, people came to associate Zhaojun as the beauty whose heavenly beauty had caused the wild gees drop from the sky.
西汉时期,美女王昭君被送往北方与匈奴王和亲,在路上,一些正在天上飞翔的大雁看到了王昭君,为她的美貌所震惊,忘记了扇动翅膀继续飞行,结果纷纷从天上掉下来.对此,人们把”落雁”归咎于王昭君的超凡之美.
Diaochan, Yang Yuhuan, Xishi and Wang Zhaojun are hailed as the “four famous beauties” in the ancient Chinese history. These days, people often use the two legends above to describe a woman’s femininity and beauty.
貂蝉、杨玉环、西施和王昭君被称为中国古代历史上的“四大美女”。今天，人们常用这两个成语来形容女人的高雅气质和美丽容貌。
（源自网络）
