守株待兔

get on a gravy train

守株待兔

Once upon a time, there was a farmer.One day, while he was working in the fields, he saw ahare run into a tree stump accidentally and die of a broken neck.

從前，有一個(gè)農(nóng)夫。一天，在他耕田的時(shí)候，忽然跑過(guò)來(lái)一只野兔，恰好碰在一個(gè)樹(shù)樁上，脖子折斷死了。

The farmer took the hare home and cooked a delicious meal for himself.

農(nóng)夫把兔子拾回家去，美美地吃了一頓兔肉。

That night he thought: "I needn't work so hard. All I have to do is wait every day by the stump to pick up the hare that runs into it."

當(dāng)晚，他就想：“我何必辛辛苦苦的種地呢?每天在樹(shù)樁旁等著撿撞死的野兔就好了”。

So from then on he gave up farming, and stood by the tree stump waiting for the hare to come and run into it.

于是他從此不再耕種，每天在樹(shù)樁旁等待野兔的到來(lái)。

But from then on, he never saw another hare run into the tree stump.

但是，從那以后，他再?zèng)]有發(fā)現(xiàn)一只野兔撞在樹(shù)樁上。

【文化鏈接】

“守株待兔”其實(shí)比喻那些“不勞而獲的人”，英語(yǔ)中可以用短語(yǔ)“get on a gravy train”來(lái)表達(dá)相應(yīng)的意思。

這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)自美劇《老友記》，總是混吃喝的Joey和Monica交換公寓后依然大大咧咧地到別人冰箱里拿吃的。這時(shí)，Monica說(shuō)：Umm, excuse me, we switched apartments. You can't eat our food anymore, that gravy train had ended. (我說(shuō)，我們好像換過(guò)公寓了吧? 你再也不能吃我們的東西了，吃白食的好日子結(jié)束了。)

Gravy，既有“肉汁”的意思，也有“外快;輕易得到的錢財(cái)”之意。漢語(yǔ)里我們常說(shuō)某人“富的流油”，這里gravy train中的gravy也有“肉汁”的意思，大家不妨拿來(lái)聯(lián)想記憶一下，(get on) a gravy train, 就是“不勞而獲;輕易得到”的意思，也就可以翻譯成“守株待兔”。

我們來(lái)看幾個(gè)例子：

I wouldn’t like loafing. I don't want to get on a gravy train.

我不愿虛度光陰，我不要守株待兔。

After about three months, though, the gravy train stops and the young foxes must find their own meals.

這種守株待兔的生活只會(huì)持續(xù)約三個(gè)月，此后，小狐貍必須自己覓食。