经典励志的英文小故事

有时间的时候多看看经典励志的英文小故事，这样有利于提高自己的阅读理解能力，那么经典励志的英文小故事都有哪些呢?一起来看看吧。

经典励志的英文小故事：惊弓之鸟

A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string

During the time of the Warring States (475-221 BC)， there lived a well-known archer named Geng Ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.

One day, as he was standing by the side of the King of Wei, a flock of swan geese were flying over. With confidence, Geng Ying said to the king, "The twang of my bow-string might bring down a bird." The King doubted much. Just then a solitary swan goose appeared, low and slow in its flight, sad and dolorous in its cry. Instantly Geng Ying bended his bow and forcibly pulled the bowstring. Twang! High up went he shrilling sound into the air and down fell the bird to the ground. The king admired with bewilderment. Gang Ying then explained: "The bird was flying low and slow, because it was already hurt; it was crying in a bitter tone, because it had lost its companions. Due to the fact that it was already hurt and sad at heart, the twang of my strong bow, that birds dreaded most, startled it. The shrilling sound made its heart beat fast, its wings weak, its balance uneven. Thus it fell down just as commonly as a man drops his chop-sticks, at the thunder-stroke, at a dinner table." Henceforth comes the idiom "A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string", illustrating a case where a man who had been previously and repeatedly frightened became numb and stupefied by a new thing of the same nature not knowing how to face the new situation.

惊弓之鸟

战国时期，有个杰出的弓箭手，叫做更赢。他的射箭本领在当时可称是举世无双。有一天，他和魏王并肩站着，天空中忽然飞过一群鸿雁。更赢很自信的对魏王说："我可以用弓声就把飞鸟给打下来。"魏王很怀疑。正在那是，一只孤雁很低很慢的飞过。鸣声凄惨。更赢见了，就张着弓，扣着弦，砰的一声，直入云宵。那孤雁果然应声落地。魏王惊叹之余，不明白这是怎么回事。更赢解释说："那孤雁飞得低且慢，因为它已经受过伤;它鸣叫的声音悲而哀，因为它离了群。身伤心碎，使它心跳加速，两翼无力，体重失去平衡，正如人们吃饭时，突然听见雷声，筷子落地的情况一样自然而平常。

后人根据上面的故事，做成了"惊弓之鸟"这个成语，形容先前多次受过惊吓的人，忽然遇到同样可怕的事物，就吓得魂飞魄散，惊惶失措，不知如何去应付新的环境。

经典励志的英文小故事：网开一面

Give the wrong-doer a way out

Beginning with Yu the GREat, the Xia Dynasty had lasted about four hundred years before Jie became the supreme ruler.

And that was in the 18th century BC. Jie was extremely tyrannical and dissolute. This aroused GREat resentment among the people. Tang, the Chief of the tribe Shang took advantage of this situation to overthrow the Xia Dynasty and established the Shang Dynasty in the early 17th century BC. Among the preparations for the overthrow had been the winning over of popular support.

One day, Tang was having a walk in the open country. He saw a man catching birds with a big net spread in a box-like and mumbling: "Come on, birds! Come into my net. All of you, whether you are flying high or low, east or west. Come into my net!"

Tang walked over and said to the man, "This method is ruthless! You'll spare no birds this way!" With these words, he cut the net down on three sides. Then he murmured in a light voice as if praying: "Oh, birds! Fly to the left or right as you like. And if you're really tired of your life, come into this net!"

When chiefs of other tribes heard about this, they were all moved. They said, "Tang is a good king indeed. He is so kind even to birds and beasts. He must be more merciful to human beings." And very soon, about forty tribes pledged allegiance to Tang.

From that story came the idiom "Open the net on three sides". Later, people changed it into "Give the wrong-doer a way out."， indicating to be lenient to the wrong-doers.

网开一面

从大禹到桀，夏朝一共持续了四百多年的历史。

那是在公元前十八世纪。桀是个极端残暴，放荡的人。他激起了人民的极度不满。部落商的领袖汤利用这个形势，推翻了夏朝，并在公元前十七世纪早期建立了商朝。在准备这场推翻夏朝的行动中，汤赢得了广泛的支持。

一天，汤在一片开阔的田野里散步。他看见一个人正在捕鸟。那人支开一张像笼子般的大网，喃喃的说："来吧，鸟儿们!飞到我的网里来。无论是飞得高的还是低的，向东还是向西的，所有的鸟儿都飞到我的网里来吧!"

汤走过去对那个人说："你这种方法太残忍了!这样作你连一只鸟也不放过!"

一边说着，汤砍断了三面网。然后，像做祈祷那样，他轻轻的低声说道，"哦，鸟儿们，喜欢向左飞的，就向左飞;喜欢向右飞的，就向右飞;如果你真的厌倦了你的生活，就飞入这张网吧!"

其它部落的首领得知这件事后都非常感动。他们说："汤真是一位贤王啊。他对鸟兽都如此仁慈，何况是对人呢?" 不久就有四十多个部落宣誓效忠汤。

"网开三面"这个成语就是由此而来的。后来，人们把它改为"网开一面"，表示宽容的对待做错事的人。

经典励志的英文小故事：大公无私

Perfectly impartial

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), a very noble official caled Qi Huangyang lived in the State of Jin. One day, the king summoned him to court and asked, "Now that the magistrate position of Nanyang county is vacant, who do you think is suitable for the post?"

"Xie Hu is the right man for the job," Qi replied without hesitation.

Surprised, the king asked, "Did you say Xie Hu? I thought he's your enemy. Why did you recommend him to take such an important position?"

Smiling, Qi Huangyang said, "Your Majesty didn't ask me my personal opinions o Xie Hu. You simply asked me who I thought would be competent for the position. Therefore I recommended Xie Hu.

the king followed Qi's advice and made Xie Hu magistrate of Nanyang county. And sure enough, Xie Hu administered the county very well and won respect from local people and his colleagues.

Some days later, the king again asked Qi Huangyang for his opinions. This time, the king was trying to find a suitable candidate for a court judge position. Qi Huangyiang recommended Qi Wu for the job. Once again, the king was surprised again by the recommendation because Qi Wu was the son of Qi Huangyang. The king asked: "Who do you recommend your son? Aren't you afraid people will gossip?"

Qi Huangyang replied, "Your Majesty, you asked me who was the most capable person for the position of a judge, and I think Qi Wu is."

Although the king was a bit hesitant about making Qi Wu the judge, he nevertheless gave him the position. As it turned out, Qi Wu was an upright and talented judge, who people GREatly respected.

Qi Huangyang's actions were praised by Confucius who said, "Qi Huangyang was right. He recommended people according to their abilities and talents, not because of personal sentiments， not because of fearing others' gossip. Therefore, people like Qi Huangyang are referred to as people "without selfish motives".

From Confucious' comment came the idiom "Unselfish". Anyone who handles affairs fairly and impartially can be described as "Unselfish; Perfectly impartial".

大公无私

春秋时，晋国有位品格非常高尚的大臣祁黄羊。有一次，晋王召祁黄羊入宫问他："南阳县缺个县令，你看，应该派谁去当比较合适呢?」祁黄羊毫不迟疑地回答说："解狐去，最合适了。"平公惊奇的问他："你是说解狐? 他不是你的仇人吗?你为什么还要推荐他担任这么重要的职位?"

祁黄羊笑着说："陛下只问我什么人能够胜任这个职位，并没有问我对解狐的个人看法呀!因此我推荐解狐。"于是，晋王采纳了他的建议，派解狐到南阳县去上任了。当然，解狐到任后，治理有方，他的同僚和当地百姓都尊敬他。

过了一些日子，平公又向祁黄羊征求意见。这回，晋王想找个合适的人选担任朝廷法官。"祁黄羊推荐了祁午。平公又奇怪起来了，因为祁午是祁黄羊的儿子。他问道："你怎么推荐你的儿子，不怕别人讲闲话吗?"祁黄羊说："陛下只问我谁最是合适的，我认为祁午是。"

尽管晋王还有些犹豫，他还是派了祁午去做法官。事实证明，祁午是个正直，有才能的法官，很受人们的爱戴。孔子听说这两件事，十分称赞祁黄羊。孔子说: "祁黄羊是对的。他推荐人，完全是以才能做标准，不因为个人偏见，便不推荐他;也不因为怕人议论，便不推荐。像黄祁羊这样的人，才够得上说"大公无私"啦!"

"大公无私"这个成语就是由孔子的评论而来的，用来形容那些公正无私处理事物的人。

经典励志的英文小故事：大义灭亲

Uphold justice at the cost of one's blood relation

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), there was many dukedoms under the king of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. These dukedoms often fought one another to expand their territories. And within a dukedom, the struggle for power frequently occurred. A typical case was the murder of the Duke of Wei by his younger brother Zhou Xu.

Zhou Xu committed the crime with the help of an important official called Shi Hou. Eventually, Zhou Xu became duke himself. Then he launched wars against other dukedoms and the people suffered. There were complaints and resentments all around.

When he learned about this, Zhou Xu was worried. He talked with Shi Hou about how to stabilize the situation and win back people's confidence. Shi Hou said:"That's easy. I'll ask my father to speak for us. He is highly esteemed by all the officials and the people. I'm sure he'll help us out."

Shi Hou's father, Shi Que, had been a high-ranking official serving under the former duke. He resigned when Zhu Xu seized power. He hated Zhou Xu for his murder of the former duke. He also hated his own son, Shi Hou, for his part in the murder.

Now, Shi Hou came and asked him for help. the father said, "A duke' ascendance to power should be granted by the king. If the king approved it, all the problems will be solved."

"But how can we bet the king's approval?" Shi Hou asked his father. The old man said, "The Duke of Chen is trusted by the king and his dukedom has good relationship with ours. If you and Zhou Xu go to the Duke of Chen and ask him for help, I'm sure he is willing to say a good word for you before the king."

Shi Hou passed his father's word to Zhu Xu and they went to the Dukedom of Chen. But before they arrived, the old man sent an express letter in secret to the Duke of Chen asking him to kill the two murderers.

As soon as Zhou Xu and Shi Hou arrived in the Dukedom of Chen, they were arrested. Some officials from Wei made a special trip to Chen to kill the two men. They put Zhou Xu to death but hesitated to kill Shi Hou because of his father. When the old man learnt about this, he said firmly :'My son has also committed the murder of the duke. What's the good to have him in the world!" he sent his own man to Chen and beheaded Shi Hou. Later historians commented: "To safeguard the interest of the country, Shi Que did not bend the law for the benefit of his relative. It's really a case of cutting off consanguinity for the sake of righteousness!" Hence comes the idiom "Uphold justice at the cost of one's blood relation".

大义灭亲

春秋时期，在东周周天子的统治下有许多小公国。这些国家常常为了扩大自己的领土而互相争斗。而且，在一个公国内部，权力之争也时常发生。卫国的州吁杀害自己的哥哥――卫国的公爵就是一个典型的例子。

在一个重要的大臣石厚的帮助下，州吁杀害了他的哥哥。最后，他作了卫国的公爵。接着，他发动了同其他公国的战争，使卫国人民经受了很多痛苦。人们怨声载道。

州吁对此也很担忧。他与石厚商量如何巩固政局，赢得百姓的信任。石厚说："这个容易。大臣和百姓们都十分尊敬我的父亲，我去请他出来为我们说话。这样我肯定他能帮我们解决这个问题。"

石厚的父亲石碏曾是前任公爵的上卿。州吁夺权后，他辞去了官职。他痛恨州吁杀害了前任公爵。 同时，他也恨自己的儿子石厚，因为他参与了这场谋杀。 现在，石厚来向他求助。石碏说："诸侯接位，应该得到周天子的许可。只要他同意了，所有的问题都好解决。

"可是怎么让周天子会同意吗?" 石厚问。老人说："陈国公爵受到周天子的信任，而且陈国和我国关系很好。如果你和州吁先去陈国,向他求助，我肯定他会乐意在周天子面前为你们说好话的。"

石厚把他父亲的主意告诉了州吁，然后他们来到了陈国。但在他们到达前，石碏已经秘密快信送至陈国公爵，要求他杀死这两名凶手。

州吁和石厚一到陈国，就被抓了起来。卫国的大臣特地到陈国去执法处死这两个人。他们斩了州吁，但对石厚是否要被斩首很迟疑，因为他毕竟是石碏的亲儿子。 当老人得知这个情况后，他坚定的说："我儿子杀卫公有罪，留他在这世上何用?" 他派家臣去陈国斩了石厚。

后来，史学家们评论道："为了维护国家的利益，石碏不因亲人而违法。实在是大义灭亲呀!"成语"大义灭亲"由此而来。