趣味英語：說話要小心“隔墻有耳”
【成語來源】
walls have ears
隔墻有耳
Once upon a time, there was a curious man.
從前，有一個好奇心很重的人。
He liked to gossip about other peoples' privacy.
他總是喜歡四處打聽別人的秘密。
He knew too many secrets and found it hard to keep them all.
他知道的秘密太多了，憋在心里很難受。
One day he drank several cups of wine, and while drunk spilled all the secrets.
一天，他喝了幾杯酒，結果把自己打聽到的事情全部說了出來。
To his surprise, the man next door heard all he said.
他沒想到，隔壁房間里的人聽見了他說的話。
Very soon, everyone knew of his bad habit of gossiping.
沒過多久，所有人都知道了他多嘴的壞毛病。
The walls may not have ears, but the person next door does. "This idiom is often used to alert people to be careful about their words.
墻壁雖然沒有耳朵，但是隔在墻另一頭的人有，這個成語現在常常用來告誡人們要謹言慎行，不要說三道四。
【文化解析】
“隔墻有耳”形容了“墻上長了耳朵”的樣子，巧的是，英語中還真的有“walls have ears”(墻壁長耳)。
據載，“walls have ears”首見于希臘。傳說古希臘國王Dionysius(狄奧尼西奧斯，統治著西西里最富庶的城市Syracuse)實施獨裁，其手中至寶 ——耳狀巖洞，可以連通整個皇宮。憑借“耳朵”巖洞，皇宮里便沒有秘密，所有言語全在狄奧尼西奧斯的監聽范圍之內。
也有說法認為，“walls have ears”始于巴黎盧浮宮。盧浮宮原為法國王宮，據說其墻壁中安裝有神秘的傳聲管道，可供偷聽使用。王后凱瑟琳攝政時期，就是靠這種“有耳”的墻壁來偷聽可疑大臣的言談的。
大約在17世紀20年代，“walls have ears”正式進入英語詞匯，用以比喻秘密也會泄露，或是告誡人們說話留心，免得被偷聽。
我們一起來看兩個例句：
Be careful what you say; the walls have ears!
說話要小心，隔墻有耳啊！
Hedges have eyes and walls have ears.
籬笆有眼，隔墻有耳。
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