朝三暮四
朝三暮四
從前，宋國(guó)有一個(gè)老人，他在家中養(yǎng)了許多猴子。老人每天都會(huì)給每只猴子八顆栗子，早晚各四顆。后來(lái)，猴子越來(lái)越多，老人也越來(lái)越窮，所以他想每天只給猴子七顆栗子，于是他就和猴子們商量：“從今天開(kāi)始，我每天早上給你們四顆粟子，晚上給你們?nèi)w栗子，行不行？” 猴子們想了一想，晚上怎么少了一顆呢？于是大叫起來(lái)，非常不愿意。老人一看，連忙說(shuō)：“那么我早上給你們?nèi)w，晚上再給你們四顆，可以了吧？” 猴子們聽(tīng)了，以為晚上的粟子已經(jīng)由三個(gè)變成四個(gè)，跟以前一樣，就高興地同意了。
朝三暮四：原意是指實(shí)質(zhì)不變，用玩弄手段，改換名目的方法使人受騙上當(dāng)。后引申為，說(shuō)話、辦事反復(fù)無(wú)常、不負(fù)責(zé)任。
Three at Dawn and Four at Dusk
Once upon a time, there lived an old man in Song Kingdom, who raised a lot of monkeys at home. The old man fed each monkey eight acorns every day, four in the morning and four in the evening. Later he fed so many monkeys that he had not enough acorns. So he wanted to feed monkeys seven acorns each day. Then he discussed with his monkeys, “From today on, I will give each of you four acorns in the morning and three acorns in the evening. Is that O.K.?” Hearing this, all the monkeys got angry. How come lack one in the evening? Then the old man changed to say, “I'll give each of you four acorns in the morning and three acorns in the evening.” Thinking that there were still four in the evening, all the monkeys became happy again.Three in the morning, four in the evening: The idiom originally means to fool others by playing tricks.
It later extends to mean changing one’s mind frequently or not being responsible.Other expressions: to play fast and loose or to chop and change.
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