狼狽為奸

be tarred with the same brush

狼狽為奸

A wolf and a jackal often went hunting together.

狼和狽經(jīng)常結(jié)伴去傷害牲畜。

Once they came to a sheepfold, the walls of which were too high for them to get over.

有一次，狼和狽一起走到一個羊圈外邊，柵欄很高，進不去。

Then the wolf stood on the back of the jackal. In this way the wolf climbed over the wall to where the sheep were.

狼就騎在狽的身上，終于爬進了羊圈。

This idiom is used to describe doing evil things in collusion with others.

這個成語比喻壞人相互勾結(jié)起來做壞事。

【文化鏈接】

“be tarred with the same brush”的英文解釋是“sharing the same characteristic(s); having the same good or bad points as someone else.”(有著某種好的或者壞的共同點)，所以它既可以表達“狼狽為奸”這樣壞的意思，也可以單純表達“有著某種共同的優(yōu)點”這樣好的意思。

這個短語的由來可能與“tarring of sheep”這個說法有關(guān)，牧羊人為了區(qū)分自己的羊，就會在羊身上用刷子刷上不同的標(biāo)簽以示區(qū)別。所以當(dāng)說“兩個人被同一個刷子刷過”也就是比喻“兩個人狼狽為奸，或者有著共同的優(yōu)點”。