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He thought, "Everybody compliments my music. Why don"t I play some music for this cow?"他想：大家都赞扬我的琴技，不如我给牛也弹一曲吧!
He played a piece of elegant quaint music for the cow, but the cow just kept grazing the grass with its head down.他给牛弹奏了一曲古雅的曲子，牛埋头吃草不理他。
He played another piece of joyful music, but the cow still kept its head down to graze the grass and totally ignored him.他又弹奏了一曲欢快的曲子，牛依然埋头吃草不理他。
Gongming Yi was so disappointed and started to question his ability.公明仪拿出自己的全部本领， 结果牛还是不理他。公明仪非常失望，开始怀疑自己的琴技。
A passerby said to him,"It"s not because your ability is bad. It is because the cow can not understand music at all."路人说：“不是你弹的琴不好，而是牛根本听不懂啊!”
【文化链接】
“对牛弹琴”现在常用来比喻对愚人谈论高深的道理，白费口舌，英文中可以用“cast pearls before swine”来表达相应的意思，也就是“即使把珍珠丢到猪的面前，猪也不会珍惜在意”,同时也颇有“明珠暗投”的意味。来一起看一个例句：
Don"t waste your time and breath. It"s not worth casting pearls before swine!
别浪费你的时间和精力了，不值得和他对牛弹琴！
看故事学英语：孔融让梨Kong Rong gave away bigger pears
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a person called Kong Rong. He was very smart ever since he was a little boy. He had five older brothers and one younger brother.
东汉时候，有个叫孔融的人。他小时候很聪明，有五个哥哥，一个弟弟。
One day his father bought some pears, picking one of the largest and giving it to Kong Rong deliberately. But Kong Rong shook his head and picked up the smallest one.
一天爸爸买了一些梨子，特意捡了一个最大的给孔融，孔融却摇头不要，拿了一个最小的梨。
His dad was very curious, and asked: “Why?”
爸爸很好奇，就问：“为什么呢？”
Kong Rong said: “I am younger, so I should eat the smaller pear, and brothers should eat the bigger ones.”
孔融说：“我年纪小，我吃小梨，大的给哥哥吃。”
His dad was very glad after hearing his words, but asked further: “What about your younger brother who is younger than you are?”
爸爸听后很高兴，又问：“那弟弟比你还小呀？”
Kong Rong said: “I am older than him, so I should leave the bigger one to my little brother.”
孔融说：“我比弟弟大，我是哥哥，我应该把大的留给小弟弟吃。”
Later, Kong Rong became a great scholar.
后来，孔融成为了一个很有学问的人。
【文化链接】
“孔融让梨”这个故事告诉我们，凡事应该懂得谦让的礼仪，英语中表达“谦让谦逊”等意思可以用“modest”，有一句叫做“Modest is Hottest”，也就是“谦虚最迷人”~
看故事学英语：得寸进尺go too far
During the late Zhanguo period, there were seven kingdoms on the mainland of China. Among the seven kingdoms, the Qin kingdom was the most powerful one. The ruler of Qin wanted to conquer the other kingdoms to be the ruler of all.战国末期，七雄争霸。其中秦国最强大，并图谋统一天下。The Emperor of Qin intended to attack the Qi kingdom by going through the kingdoms of Han and Wei.秦昭王准备越过韩、魏两国打齐国。But his subordinate Fan Ju said: "The Qi kingdom is still powerful now and far away from our kingdom.但策士范雎说：“现在齐国势力还算是强大，但离秦国很远。Even if we win the battle, we must guard the land of Qi by passing through the kingdoms of Han and Wei.即使打胜了，也必须越过韩、魏两国才能到达，很难守住。What if we slowly expand the amount of land we control from here? So we can firmly control every inch of land we conquer. And in the end we will be the ruler."
所以不如慢慢向外拓展，这样所得的每一寸一尺土地，都 将稳稳当当地为秦国所拥有，这样就能逐渐统一天下了。”The Emperor adopted his suggestion, and won many battles.秦昭王便采用了这个策略，果然在许多战役中取得胜利。