成语双语故事：得寸进尺

 

　　go too far
　　得寸进尺
　　During the late Zhanguo period， there were seven kingdoms on the mainland of China. Among the seven kingdoms， the Qin kingdom was the most powerful one. The ruler of Qin wanted to conquer the other kingdoms to be the ruler of all.
　　战国末期，七雄争霸。其中秦国最强大，并图谋统一天下。
　　The Emperor of Qin intended to attack the Qi kingdom by going through the kingdoms of Han and Wei.
　　秦昭王准备越过韩、魏两国打齐国。
　　But his subordinate Fan Ju said： “The Qi kingdom is still powerful now and far away from our kingdom.
　　但策士范雎说：“现在齐国势力还算是强大，但离秦国很远。
　　Even if we win the battle， we must guard the land of Qi by passing through the kingdoms of Han and Wei.
　　即使打胜了，也必须越过韩、魏两国才能到达，很难守住。
　　What if we slowly expand the amount of land we control from here？ So we can firmly control every inch of land we conquer. And in the end we will be the ruler.”
　　所以不如慢慢向外拓展，这样所得的每一寸一尺土地，都 将稳稳当当地为秦国所拥有，这样就能逐渐统一天下了。”
　　The Emperor adopted his suggestion， and won many battles.
　　秦昭王便采用了这个策略，果然在许多战役中取得胜利。
　　现在我们通常会用“得寸进尺”来表达一个人“做事做的太过分”，英语中常用“go too far”，比如：
　　I didn‘t mind at first， but now you’ve gone too far.
　　起先我并不在意，但现在你已经得寸进尺了。