To Sun Something for One Day and Then Freeze It for Ten Days一曝十寒

張波

“一曝十寒”出自《孟子·告子上》：“雖有天下易生之物也，一日暴之，十日寒之，未有能生者也。”比喻沒有恒心，努力少，荒廢多。

Mencius lived during the Warring States Period. He was not only veryknowledgeable but also very 1）eloquent. He often used very vivid analogiesto persuade kings of that period to do good deeds.

Everyone said that the King of Qi was stupid， without his own ideas，and was easily influenced by his 2）wicked ministers. This greatly displeasedMencius， so he went to the King of Qi and said， “Don’t think I’m saying you’ renot intelligent. Everyone knows that plants all need sunlight to grow. If youexpose them to sunlight for a day， and then keep them in dark for ten days，even those plants which grow easily will not do well. In the same way， thetime that I am here with you is not very long. You may develop the will to dogood things， but then as soon as I leave， those other people come and leadyou 3）astray， and the good will which had just begun to 4）sprout is againdestroyed.” Followingthis， Mencius drewseveral more analogies，urging the King of Qito completely devotehimself to governing hiscountry.

1） eloquent adj. 雄辯的；有口才的

2） wicked adj. 邪惡的；惡毒的

3） astray adv. 走錯方向；誤入歧途

4） sprout v. 發芽；出現

孟子生活在戰國時期。他不但學問高深，而且能言善辯，往往能以生動的比喻說服執政者改變主意。

每個人都認為齊王昏庸、沒有主見，輕信小人讒言。孟子對這些輿論很不滿，于是對齊王說：“您不要誤以為我說您不明智。天下人都知道，植物需要陽光的滋潤。如果您把它放在太陽底下曬一天，再放在陰冷的地方凍上十天，那么，即使那些容易生長的植物也不會長好。同樣地，我在您身邊的時間很短，即使您接受我一些好的建議，有了一點從善的決心，但只要我一離開，那些奸臣就會把您引入歧途，那從善的決心就會止于萌芽狀態。”接著，孟子又打了幾個比喻以督促齊王安心治理國家。

Fill in the blanks：

1. If you expose them to_________for a day， and then keep them in dark for ten days， even those plants which grow easily will not do well.

2. Mencius drew several more analogies， urging the King of Qi to completely_________himself_________governing his country.

Know More

The synonymous idioms of “to sun something for one day and then freezeit for ten days” are： give up halfway， be of two minds， have a beginning but noend.

和“一曝十寒”同義的成語有“半途而廢”“三心二意”“有始無終”。

參考答案：1. sunlight 2. devote; to