cast pearls before swine
對牛彈琴
During the Warring States Period， there was a musician named Gongming Yi， who played musical instruments very well.
戰(zhàn)國時代，有一個叫公明儀的音樂家，他很會彈琴。
There were a great number of people fond of listening to him play， and respected him very much.
很多人都喜歡聽他彈琴，人們很敬重他。
One day， Gongming Yi saw a cow when he was having fun in the countryside.
一天，公明儀在郊外游玩時，看到了一頭牛。
He thought， “Everybody compliments my music. Why don‘t I play some music for this cow?”
他想：大家都贊揚我的琴技，不如我給牛也彈一曲吧!
He played a piece of elegant quaint music for the cow， but the cow just kept grazing the grass with its head down.
他給牛彈奏了一曲古雅的曲子，牛埋頭吃草不理他。
He played another piece of joyful music， but the cow still kept its head down to graze the grass and totally ignored him.
他又彈奏了一曲歡快的曲子，牛依然埋頭吃草不理他。
Gongming Yi was so disappointed and started to question his ability.
公明儀拿出自己的全部本領(lǐng)， 結(jié)果牛還是不理他。公明儀非常失望，開始懷疑自己的琴技。
A passerby said to him，“It’s not because your ability is bad. It is because the cow can not understand music at all.”
路人說：“不是你彈的琴不好，而是牛根本聽不懂啊!”
“對牛彈琴”現(xiàn)在常用來比喻對愚人談?wù)摳呱畹牡览恚踪M口舌，英文中可以用“cast pearls before swine”來表達相應(yīng)的意思，也就是“即使把珍珠丟到豬的面前，豬也不會珍惜在意”，同時也頗有“明珠暗投”的意味。來一起看一個例句：
Don‘t waste your time and breath. It’s not worth casting pearls before swine!
別浪費你的時間和精力了，不值得和他對牛彈琴!
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