There was a state called zhou (周) in the chinese history.
中國(guó)歷史上有一個(gè)國(guó)家名叫“周”。
One day, the king of zhou asked his officials for advice on deal with prisoners of war.
一天,周王問他的官員,應(yīng)該怎樣處理戰(zhàn)俘。
An official said, "i once heard if you love someone, you are intended to love even the crows on the roof of his house; if you hate someone, you are intended to hate even the walls and the parapets of his. The prisoners of war were enemies fighting against us. In my opinion, we'd better kill them all."
一個(gè)官員說(shuō):“我以前曾聽說(shuō):如果喜歡某個(gè)人,就連停留在那人住的屋頂上的烏鴉都喜歡;如果厭惡某個(gè)人,就連那人家里的墻壁和圍墻都厭惡。戰(zhàn)俘是我們的敵人,和我們是對(duì)立的,我覺得最好把他們?nèi)繗⒘恕?rdquo;
But the king didn't agree with him."I think we should treat the prisoners of war differently by differing them into those who are guilty and those who are not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters." Another official put forward his suggestion.
周王認(rèn)為這樣做不行。另外一個(gè)官員也提出了自己的意見:“依我看應(yīng)該把戰(zhàn)俘區(qū)分對(duì)待,把有罪的和無(wú)罪的、好的和壞的區(qū)分開來(lái)。有罪的戰(zhàn)俘要處死,不能留下禍患。”
The king didn't think it was a proper way, either.
周王認(rèn)為這樣做也不大妥當(dāng)。
Then a third one said, "Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support themselves by their own labor. Moreover, you should keep strictly the rules for reward and punishment and treat your relatives and friends impartially.The people are sure to believe in you if you administer our country by morals and laws."
接著,又有一個(gè)官員說(shuō):“大王,我認(rèn)為應(yīng)該把這些戰(zhàn)俘全都放了,讓他們回到自己的家里,耕種田地,自食其力。而大王對(duì)自己的親人和朋友,也要賞罰分明,不能偏心。通過道德和法律來(lái)治理國(guó)家,人民肯定會(huì)對(duì)大王信服的。”
The king thought the official's proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it.As a result, the domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became more stable and stronger.
周王聽后覺得很有道理,就按這個(gè)辦法去做,結(jié)果國(guó)家真的很快安定下來(lái)了,變得越來(lái)越穩(wěn)定和強(qiáng)大。
The idiom is then used to mean that if you love someone,you'll love people and things relative to him as well.
成語(yǔ)“愛屋及烏”后來(lái)就被用來(lái)比喻:因?yàn)橄矏垡粋€(gè)人,連帶和他有關(guān)的人或事物也喜愛、關(guān)心。
【文化鏈接】
“愛屋及烏”的英語(yǔ)表達(dá)大家也一定都有所耳聞了吧~就是“Love me, love my dog.”字面意思就是“愛我,就要愛我的狗”,比喻一個(gè)人如果喜歡一樣事物或者人,他就會(huì)喜愛關(guān)于這個(gè)事物或是人的一切,也就是“愛屋及烏”的意思啦~