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歇后语 Chinese allegories

(china.org.cn)
Updated: 2008-10-23 14:01

Two-part allegorical saying (of which the first part, always stated, is descriptive, while the second part, often unstated, carries the message)

Qí lǘ kàn chàng běn – zǒu zhe qiáo
骑驴看唱本 – 走着瞧
Reading a play while riding a donkey – wait and see

Qiān lǐ sòng é máo – lǐ qīng qíng yì zhòng
千里送鹅毛 -- 礼轻情意重
Goose feather sent from 500 kilometers away – a small gift sent from afar conveys deep feeling

Xiù cai yù dào bīng – yǒu lǐ jiǎng bù qīng
秀才遇到兵 -- 有理讲不清
A man with a pen encounters a man with a gun – you can't reach an agreement between the two kinds of people

Ròu bāo zi dǎ gǒu – yǒu qù wú huí
肉包子打狗 – 有去无回
Throw a meat-stuffed bun at a dog – something gone, never to return

Lǎo shǔ zuān jìn fēng xiāng lǐ – liǎng tóu shòu qì
老鼠钻进风箱里 -- 两头受气
A rat sneaks into a bellows – get blame from both sides; be caught between the hammer and the anvil

Gǒu yǎo lǚ dòng bīn – bù shí hǎo rén xīn
狗咬吕洞宾 – 不识好人心
Snarl and snap at Lu Dongbin (one of the eight immortals in Chinese mythology) – mistake a good man for a bad one

Dà shuǐ chōng le lóng wáng miào – zì jiā rén bú rèn zì jiā rén
大水冲了龙王庙 – 自家人不认自家人
The flood inundates the temple of the Dragon King – People on the same side fight each other by mistake

Tiě dǎ de gōng jī – yì máo bù bá
铁打的公鸡 -- 一毛不拔
Iron cock – stingy person