成语双语故事：抱薪救火

 

　　to add insult to injury/to add fuel to the fire
　　抱薪救火
　　In the last years of the Warring States period (战国， 475-221BC)， the State of Qin (秦国) attacked the State of Wei (魏国) on a large scale repeatedly and occupied large areas of land， for the State of Wei was too weak to defend itself.
　　战国末期，秦国向魏国接连发动大规模的进攻，魏国无力抵抗，大片土地都被秦军占领了。
　　In 273 BC， the Qin army launched another attack upon the State of Wei with a momentum more vigorous than ever. The king of the State of Wei summoned his officials，and asked with a worried look if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army.
　　到公元前273年，秦国又一次向魏国出兵，势头空前猛烈。魏王把大臣们召来，愁眉苦脸地问大家有没有使秦国退兵的办法。
　　After years of chaos caused by the wars，the officials trembled when fighting was mentioned， and no one dared to speak of “resistance”.
　　大臣们由于经过多年的战乱，提起打仗就吓得哆嗦，谁也不敢谈“抵抗”二字。
　　At the critical moment when a large enemy force was approaching the border， most of the officials persuaded the king to sue for peace， at the cost of giving away to the State of Qin the large area of land north of the Huanghe River
　　(huáng hé 黄河) and south of the Taihang Mountain (tài háng shān 太行山).
　　在这大兵压境的危急时刻，多数大臣都劝魏王，用黄河以北和太行山以南的大片土地为代价，向秦王求和。
　　However Su Dai (sūdài 苏代)， a counsellor， did not agree. He hurried up to the king and said：“Your Majesty， they don‘t think about the interests of the country at all.It is just because they are cowardly and afraid of death that they ask you to sue for peace by betraying the country.Of course you can temperarily satisfy the ambition of the king of the State of Qin is insatiably greedy. It will never stop assaulting us until our land is totally given away.”
　　谋士苏代听了这些话，很不以为然，忙上前对魏王说：“大王，他们是因为自己胆小怕死，才让您去卖国求和，根本不为国家着想。您想，把大片土地割让给秦国虽然暂时满足了秦王的野心，但秦国的欲望是无止境的，只要魏国的土地没割完，秦军就不会停止进攻我们。”
　　Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water， but he would not listen. Instead， he carried a faggot to put out the fire， only to make the fire fiercer. That was because he didn’t know that，instead of putting out the fire， faggots could only make it burning more vigorously. Isn‘t it equivalent to carrying faggots to put out a fire if you agree to sue for peace at the cost of the land of the State of Wei？“
　　说到这里，苏代讲了一个故事：“从前有一个人，他的房子起火了，别人劝他快用水去浇灭大火，但他不听，偏抱起一捆柴草去救火，是因为他不懂得柴草不但不能灭火反而能助长火势的道理。大王若同意拿着魏国土地去求和，不就等于抱着柴草救火吗？”
　　Though Su Dai’s argument was very convincing， the king accepted the suggestion of those officials and gave away to the State of Qin a large area of the land of the State of Wei.
　　尽管苏代讲得头头是道，但是胆小的魏王只顾眼前的太平，还是依大臣们的意见把魏国大片土地割让给秦国。
　　The State of Wei was finally destroyed by the State of Qin. This story appears in the Historical Records Written by Sima Qian. The set phrase“carrying faggots to put out a fire”is used to mean adopting a wrong method to save a situation and ending up by making it worse.
　　到公元225年，魏国最终被秦国灭掉了。这个故事出自司马迁的《史记》，“抱薪救火”就是指“用错误的方式去挽救现状，最终只会令状况更糟糕”。
　　英文中“抱薪救火”的相应说法可以用“to add insult to injury”，“insult”是“言语侮辱”的意思，试想当一个人已经受伤了，你可能本想用激将法，但最后却适得其反，越帮越忙，变成了“在伤口上撒盐”，那就是“抱薪救火”啦~
　　同时也可以用“to add fuel to the fire”来表达“抱薪救火”的意思，其实“to add fuel to the fire”的直译是“火上浇油”，但实际表达的含义是相近的~