用英語(yǔ)說(shuō)成語(yǔ):結(jié)草銜環(huán)（雙語(yǔ)）

During the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū 春秋時(shí)期,770-476 BC), there lived
in the kingdom of Chin a man named Wei Ke (wèi kē 魏顆), whose father had a young
and very beautiful concubine. After his father grew old and fell ill, he told
Wei Ke that after his death, his son was to marry the concubine into a suitable
family. Later, when his illness had grown worse and he was in a state of
delirium, he said that he wanted the girl to commit suicide and he buried with
him. Wei Ke felt that he should obey what his father had said when he was fully
conscious, and so he married the girl into a nice family. Later, Wei Ke was in a
battle which he was about to lose, when suddenly he saw an old man come tie a
knot in the grass in front of his enemy, His enemy's horse tripped over the
knot, and Wei Ke won the battle. That night, Wei Ke had a dream that the old man
came to him and said,"I am the father of the concubine, come to repay you for
not burying my daughter with your father."

During the Han dynasty, there lived a man named Yand Bau, who was very king
and sympathetic. When he was a boy, Yang Bau once came across an injured
sparrow. He saved the little bird, and treated its wounds. Many years later,
this little sparrow brought Yang Bau a ring of jade.

Therefore, "to knot the grass and carry a ring" means to repay someone for a
kindness.

知恩圖報(bào)、滴水之恩當(dāng)涌泉相報(bào)、感恩報(bào)德，至死不忘，一直被認(rèn)為是中華民族引以為傲的傳統(tǒng)美德。成語(yǔ)“結(jié)草銜環(huán)”的典故不僅向我們講述了成就這美德的兩個(gè)感人至深的故事，還告訴我們“善有善報(bào)”是一亙古不變的天理。

“結(jié)草”的典故見(jiàn)于《左傳.宣公十五年》。公元前
594年的秋七月，秦桓公出兵伐晉，晉軍和秦兵在晉地輔氏(今陜西大荔縣)交戰(zhàn)，晉將魏顆與秦將杜回相遇，二人撕殺在一起，正在難分難解之際，魏顆突然見(jiàn)
一老人用草編的繩子套住杜回，使這位堂堂的秦國(guó)大力士站立不穩(wěn)，摔倒在地，當(dāng)場(chǎng)被魏顆所俘，使得魏顆在這次戰(zhàn)役中大敗秦師。

晉軍獲勝收兵后，當(dāng)天夜里，魏顆在夢(mèng)中見(jiàn)到那位白天為他結(jié)繩絆倒杜回的老人，老人說(shuō)，我就是你把她嫁走而沒(méi)有讓她為你父親陪葬的那女子的父親。我今天這樣做是為了報(bào)答你的大恩大德!

原來(lái)，晉國(guó)大夫魏武子有位無(wú)兒子的愛(ài)妾。魏武子剛生病的時(shí)候囑咐兒子魏顆說(shuō)：“我死之后，你一定要把她嫁出去。”不久魏武子病重，又對(duì)魏顆說(shuō)：“我死之
后，一定要讓她為我殉葬。”等到魏武子死后，魏顆沒(méi)有把那愛(ài)妾?dú)⑺琅阍?，而是把她嫁給了別人。魏顆說(shuō)：“人在病重的時(shí)候，神智是昏亂不清的，我嫁此女，是
依據(jù)父親神智清醒時(shí)的吩咐。”

“銜環(huán)”典故則見(jiàn)于《后漢書(shū)﹒楊震傳》中的注引《續(xù)齊諧記》，楊震父親楊寶九歲時(shí)，在華陰山北，見(jiàn)一黃雀被老鷹所傷，墜落在樹(shù)下，為螻蟻所困。楊寶憐之，
就將它帶回家，放在巾箱中，只給它喂飼黃花，百日之后的一天，黃雀羽毛豐滿，就飛走了。當(dāng)夜，有一黃衣童子向楊寶拜謝說(shuō)：“我是西王母的使者，君仁愛(ài)救
拯，實(shí)感成濟(jì)。”并以白環(huán)四枚贈(zèng)與楊寶，說(shuō)：“它可保佑君的子孫位列三公，為政清廉，處世行事象這玉環(huán)一樣潔白無(wú)暇。”

果如黃衣童子所言，楊寶的兒子楊震、孫子楊秉、曾孫楊賜、玄孫楊彪四代官職都官至太尉，而且都剛正不阿，為政清廉，他們的美德為后人所傳誦。

后世將“結(jié)草”“銜環(huán)”合在一起，流傳至今，比喻感恩報(bào)德，至死不忘。

結(jié)草銜環(huán) 【翻譯】To Knot Grass and Carry a Ring.