此地无银三百两 There is no Money Here (Chinese Idiom)
cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng 此地无银三百两
gǔ shí hou , yǒu yí ge hěn qióng de rén, jiào zhāng sān. yǒu yí cì, tā yì wài de dé dào le sān bǎi liǎng yínzi .
古时候 ,有一个很穷的人,叫张三。有一次,他 意外 地得到了三百 两银子 。
tā yòu xǐ yòu yōu , bù zhī dào fàng zài nǎr. tā bù néng fàng zài jiā lǐ, yīn wéi tā de jiā lǐ méi yǒu cún fàng de dì fāng.
他 又喜又忧 ,不知道放在哪儿。他不能放在家里,因为他的家里没有存放的地方.
tā yě bù néng tiān tiān dài zài shēn shang, yīn wéi hěn bù fāng biàn, yě hěn róng yi diū. gāi zěn me bàn ne?
他也不能天天带在身上,因为很不方便,也很容易丢。该 怎么办 呢?
tā cóng bái tiān xiǎng dào wǎnshang, yòu cóng wǎnshang xiǎng dào líng chén . zhōng yǔ tā xiǎng dào le yí ge bàn fǎ .
他从白天想到晚上,又从晚上想到 凌晨 。终于他想到了一个 办法 。
tā zhǎo lái le yíge dà xiāng zi, bǎ sān bǎi liǎng yín zi fàng zài xiāng zi zhōng, rán hòu mái zài fáng zi hòu miàn de yí kuài dì xià.
他找来了一个大箱子,把三百两银子放在箱子中,然后 埋 在房子后面的一块地下。
kě shì tā hái shì bú fàng xīn , pà bié rén zhī dào zhèr yǒu yín zi.
可是他还是不 放心 ,怕别人知道这儿有银子。
yú shì tā zhǎo lái yì gēn mù gùn, zài shàng miàn xiě le “cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng ”qī ge zì, chā zài mái yín zi de dì fāng, zhè cái gāo gāo xìng xìng de zǒu le.
于是他找来一根木棍,在上面写了 “此地无银三百两”七个字,插在埋银子的地方,这才高高兴兴地走了。
dì èr tiān, tā de lín jū wáng èr chū lái sàn bù, kàn dào le mù gùn shang de zì, mǎ shàng míng bái le shì zěn me huí shì.
第二天,他的邻居王二出来散步,看到了木棍上的字,马上明白了是 怎么回事 。
tā jí máng pǎo huí jiā, ná lái tiě qiāo , hěn kuài jiù wā dào le yín zi. tā bǎ yín zi ná huí jiā, xīn lǐ què hěn jǐn zhāng .
他急忙跑回家,拿来 铁锹 ,很快就 挖 到了银子。他把银子拿回家,心里却很 紧张 。
tā xiǎng: zhāng sān huì bú huì zhī dào shì wǒ tōu le tā de yín zi? yú shì, tā ná qǐ bǐ, huí dào cáng yín zǐ de dì fāng, zài mù gùn de lìng yí cè rèn zhēn de xiě shàng:“ gé bì wáng èr bú céng tōu ”!
他想:张三会不会知道是我偷了他的银子? 于是,他拿起笔,回到藏银子的地方,在木棍的 另一侧 认真地写上:“ 隔壁 王二不曾偷”!
rán hòu tā yòu bǎ mù gùn xiǎo xīn de chā huí yuán chù, fàng xīn de huí jiā le.
然后他又把木棍小心地插回原处,放心地回家了。
“cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng ”, běn lái de yì si jiù shì zhè ge dì fāng méi yǒu sān bǎi liǎng yín zi.
“此地无银三百两”,本来的意思就是这个地方没有三百两银子。
hòu lái rénmen yòng zhè ge chéng yǔ bǐ yù zuò shì yú chǔn, xiǎng yǐn mán shì qing fǎn ér bèi chè dǐ bào lù.
后来人们用这个成语比喻做事 愚蠢 ,想 隐瞒 事情反而被彻底 暴露 。
Vocabs:
cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng 此地无银三百两: (idiom) wishing to hide something, but in reverse making it more obvious
gǔ shí hòu 古时候: in the old/ancient times
yì wài 意外: accidentally
liǎng 两: measurement for weight. 1 两 = 50 grams
yín zi 银子: silver (money in general in the old times)
yòu xǐ yòu yōu 又喜又忧: both happy and worried (又..又…: and..and..)
zěn me bàn 怎么办: what to do (phrase)
bàn fǎ 办法: solution, method
mái 埋: to bury
fàng xīn 放心: to set one’s mind at rest, to relax, to not worry
zěn me huí shì 怎么回事: what’s up, what’s going on (phrase)
tiě qiāo 铁锹: shovel
wā 挖: to dig
jǐn zhāng 紧张: nervous
lìng yī cè 另一侧: the other side
gé bì 隔壁: neighbour, next door
yú chǔn 愚蠢:silly, stupid
yǐn mán 隐瞒: to hide, to cover
bào lù 暴露: to reveal, to be visible
Show English Translation
In the ancient time, there was a very poor man. His name is ZhangSan. One time, he accidentally got 300 liang of silver (liang: Chinese weight unit; 1 liang = 50 grams).
He was happy as well as worried, and didn’t know where to put it. He couldn’t put it at home, because his home didn’t have a place to store things.
He also couldn’t bring with him every day, because it wouldn’t be convenient, and would be lost easily. What to do?
He thought from day time till night, then from night till dawn. Finally he thought of a good solution.
He found a big box, and put the 300 liang silver into the box, and then buried it in a piece of land behind his house.
But he still couldn’t set his mind at rest, fearing that someone else would know there was silver here.
Therefore, he found a wooden stick, and wrote on it 7 words: “this place has no 300 liang silvers.”, and stuck the wooden stick where the silver was buried. Then he left happily.
The next day, his neighbour Wang Er came out to take a walk. He saw the words on the wooden stick, and immediately understood what was going on.
He hurried running back home, brought a shovel, and quickly dug out the silver. He took the money back home, but was very nervous in his mind.
He thought: Would ZhangSan know that I stole his money? Therefore, he took his pen, went back to the place where money was buried, and on the other side of the wooden stick carefully wrote down: the neighbour Wang Er didn’t steal it.
Then he put back the stick to the original place, and went back home relaxed.
“cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng ”, the original meaning of this idiom is to say this place has no 300 liang of silvers.
Later on, people use this idiom to describe doing stupid things and wishing to cover up something, but in reverse, making it even more obvious.
Homework: (if you leave your answer in the comments below, we’ll correct it for you)
1) wéi le cáng tā de yín zǐ, zhāngsān xiǎng dào le yí ge shén me bàn fǎ? 为了藏他的银子,张三想到了一个什么办法?
2) zhāng sān zài mù gùn shàng xiě le shén me? 张三在木棍上写了什么?
3) zhāng sān de lín jū kàn dào le mù gùn, zuò le shén me? 张三的邻居看到了木棍,做了什么?
English