Chinese practice
如魚得水
(ru2 yu2 de2 shui3)
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙攝
中文成語「如魚得水」原出自史書《三國志》,講的是東漢與三國時期的故事。故事中,劉備曾三次造訪熟諳政治的軍事家諸葛亮,最後將諸葛亮延為己用。這就是著名的三顧茅廬。但三顧茅廬後,諸葛亮與劉備的感情交好,導致劉備的兩名大將關羽及張飛對此多有怨言。小說中,劉備便跟這兩員大將說:「孤之有孔明,猶魚之有水也。願諸君勿復言。」亦即:我得到孔明,就好像魚能在水裡游泳一樣,兩位就請不要再多說了。換句話說,劉備找到了他的最佳拍檔。「如魚得水」後來便用來表示你找到了一個很得心應手或很自在的環境。(台北時報詹豐造譯)
他從小就喜歡攝影,能在雜誌社工作根本就是如魚得水。
(He’s been into photography since he was young. He will take to working in this magazine like a duck takes to water.)
不喜歡讀書、只喜歡運動的小王,進入體育大學就讀簡直如魚得水。
(Wang isn’t very academic. He prefers sport. He will get on very well in this sports university.)
英文練習
Like a duck takes to water; like a fish out of water
The Chinese idiom 如魚得水 originally comes from an ancient Chinese history “三國志” or Records of the Three Kingdoms, relating the events of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. The warlord Liu Bei went to visit the statesman and renowned military strategist Zhuge Liang, also known as Kong Ming, and eventually recruited him as a general. Two of his other generals, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, complained about this appointment, to which, in the Records, Liu Bei replied,
「孤之有孔明,猶魚之有水也。願諸君勿復言。」: “Having Kong Ming with me, it’s as if I am a fish that has found water. I do not wish to hear anything else on the matter.” The idea was that Liu Bei had found his perfect complement and, by extension, 如魚得水 can be used when talking about being in a situation or environment in which you feel comfortable and at ease.
Interestingly, in English, we have a comparable phrase, but we invoke the duck. “Like a duck takes to water” refers to doing a certain activity as if it were second nature to you, or as if you have had a lot of experience in it, irrespective of whether it is actually new to you or not. And, in fact, another, similar, idiom, “like a fish out of water,” refers to the exact opposite of 如魚得水: it means being in an environment, or doing an activity, that is completely alien to you, or that you are uncomfortable with. You might sometimes see the phrase, “like a fish takes to water,” but this is in all likelihood a case of mixing the aforementioned two metaphors.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
We’re very pleased with his progress. He’s taking to the job like a duck takes to water.
(我們對他的進步感到非常滿意。他做這份工作可以說是如魚得水。)
I avoid going to large social gatherings like the plague. I’m like a fish out of water.
(在大型社交場合我總是格格不入,避之唯恐不及。)
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