【正文】 《舊約。申命記》(Deuteronomy)第３２章“耶和華遇見他在曠野荒涼、野獸吼叫之地，就環(huán)繞他，看顧他，保護(hù)他如同保護(hù)眼里的瞳人?！痹谑ソ?jīng)其他地方也有類似的話。英文版《舊約。詩(shī)篇》(Psalm)第１７章有這樣的句子：“Keep me as the apple of the eye,hide me under the shadow of the wings” 成語the apple of one39。s eye是固定結(jié)構(gòu)，不得寫成the apple of the eye of…的形式；在搭配上，它常與動(dòng)詞be，keep,care for等連用。按其想象意義，它與漢語成語“掌上明珠”頗相似，但其比喻的對(duì)象較漢語“掌珠”更廣，因“掌珠”通常指心愛的女兒，而不能用與其他場(chǎng)合。eg:Little Mary is the apple of her father39。s eye Mind the reputation of your school as you care for the apple of your writing/Finger on the Wall不詳之兆；大禍臨頭這個(gè)成語的字面意思是“墻上的文字（或手指）”，而實(shí)際含義是a sign or warning of impending disaster（迫在眉睫的兇兆）；a sign that sth bad will happen。a feeling that ones number is up；等等。其語言外殼與內(nèi)涵是怎樣聯(lián)系起來的呢？還是出自《圣經(jīng)》據(jù)《舊約。但以理書》(Daniel)第５章記述：有一次古巴比倫(Babylonian)的國(guó)王伯沙撒(Belshazar)正在宮殿里設(shè)宴縱飲時(shí)，突然，不知從哪里出現(xiàn)了一個(gè)神秘的手指，當(dāng)者國(guó)王的面，在王宮與燈臺(tái)相對(duì)的粉墻上寫西了四個(gè)奇怪的單詞：MENE（彌尼）、MENE（彌尼）、ＴＥＫＥＬ（提客勒）、ＵＰＨＡＲＳＩＮＧ（烏法珥新）。國(guó)王張皇失措，驚恐萬分，誰也不懂墻上所寫的字是什么意思。后來叫來了被虜?shù)莫q太預(yù)言家但以理，才明白了這幾個(gè)字的意思就是大難臨頭。他說：“彌尼就是上帝已經(jīng)數(shù)算你國(guó)的年日到此為完畢；提客勒就是你被稱在天平里顯出你的虧欠；烏法珥新就是你的國(guó)分裂，歸與瑪代人和波斯人?！惫?，當(dāng)夜伯沙撒被殺，又６２歲的瑪代人大利烏取而代之。依次，“墻上的文字（或手指）”就表示身死國(guó)亡的兇兆。英語中這個(gè)成語有幾種表達(dá)方式：the writing/handwriting on the wall或a finger on the wall,通常與be，like等系動(dòng)詞連用；有時(shí)寫成see/read the writing on he wall的句型，表示提出警告,such as :Don39。t you see the writing on the wall, 有時(shí)候也可省略on the wall，只說Don39。t you see the writing？意思也是一樣的。eg:This inexplicable incident seemed,like the Babylonian finger on the wall,to be spelling out the letter of my judgement...In this house of his there was writing on every businesslike temperament protested against a mysterious warning that she was not made for 39。s emplyer had less and less work for him。John could read the writing on the writing on the wall is clear:if man behaves like an animal and allow hs population to increase while each nation steadily increases he coplexity and range of its environment,nature will take her course and the law of the Jungle will Bill39。s team lost four games in a row,he saw the handwriting on the an iota of沒有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)，絲毫也不iota是希臘字母表中第９個(gè)字母“Ｉ”的名稱。not an iota of 出自《新約。馬太福音》第５章：“律法的一點(diǎn)一畫都不能廢去，都要成全?！币?yàn)閕ota是希臘字母表中最小的一個(gè)字母，它有時(shí)可以寫作一短橫置于其他字母之上；遺漏這一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)對(duì)發(fā)音并無什么影響，只按規(guī)則不能減少而已?！陡Ｒ魰匪f的律法，系指“摩西律”，意即無論何人都不允許隨便廢去這戒律哪怕是最小的一條，甚至其中的一個(gè)字母，一個(gè)小小短橫也不得更動(dòng)或遺漏。由此，在語言中遺留下來這個(gè)成語，轉(zhuǎn)義表示not a bit of。not one jot or little。not at all等意思。iota在這里，相當(dāng)于漢語“小不點(diǎn)兒”的意思。Eg:Science deals with things in a practical means honest,solid knowledge,allowing not an iota of falsehood,and it involves herculean efforts and gruelling is not an iota of truth in the Salt of the Earth社會(huì)中堅(jiān)；民族精華；優(yōu)秀份子The Salt of the Earth這個(gè)成語，字面意思“世上的鹽”鹽是飲食中不可缺少的調(diào)味品，人體若缺鹽，健康就會(huì)受到影響，出現(xiàn)種種疾病。鹽還有殺菌、解毒、消炎、除污等多種功用，它既是“百藥之王”，又是工業(yè)之母，確是值得珍視的東西。在許多民族的習(xí)俗匯總，鹽被當(dāng)作敬客的高貴禮品。The Salt of the Earth一詞出自《圣經(jīng)》，據(jù)《新約。馬太福音》（Matthew）第５長(zhǎng)記載：耶穌對(duì)他的門徒說:“Ye are the salt of the earth:but if the salt have lost his savor,wherewith shall it be salted? ” 在這里，salt用于轉(zhuǎn)義，表示flavor；of the earth即of the world。這是耶穌登山垂訓(xùn)論“?！保v福音結(jié)尾的話，他把門徒比做“世上的鹽”，這是極高的稱贊。這句話在后世不斷引用變成了一個(gè)典故性成語，轉(zhuǎn)義為the most valuable members of sociey。the finest type of humanity。a person or a group of people having the best character 之意eg: He does a lot of good jobs and is considered to be the salt of the all are the salt of the hope is placed on you pearls before swine對(duì)牛彈琴；白費(fèi)好意To Cast pearls before swine的意思是“珍珠頭在豬玀前面”。swine是個(gè)舊詞，書面詞，即今為pigs,不過swine單復(fù)同行，本句為復(fù)數(shù)。這個(gè)成語源自《新約。馬太福音》第7章：“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,neither cast ye your pearls before swine,lest they trample them under their feet,and turn again and rend you”.由于to cast pearls efore swine,比喻確切，在后世不斷引用中而成為一個(gè)國(guó)際性成語，常用來表示to offer sth valuable or beautiful to those who can39。t appreciate it。to give what is precious to those who are unable to understand its value等意思，含有輕蔑嘲笑色彩。按其字面意義，這個(gè)成語與漢語成語“明珠按投”相似，但是寓意不同，基本上不對(duì)應(yīng)；按一比喻意義，它相當(dāng)于“對(duì)牛彈琴”，“向驢說經(jīng)”“一番好意給狗吃”“狗咬呂洞賓，不識(shí)好人心”等。She read them Shakespeare,but it was casting pearls before swine I won39。t waste good advice on John any more because he never listens to won39。t cast pearls before swine....and when I let the upper floor to Cap39。en Cuttle,oh i do a thankless thing,and cast pearls before swine wolf in sheep39。s clothing批著羊皮的狼；貌善心惡的人耶穌在加利利一帶傳道布教，收了很多信徒。有一天，他對(duì)門徒說:“Beware of false prophets,which e to you in sheep39。s clothing,but inwardly they are ravening wolves” eg: trusted the lawyer until she realized that he was a wolf in sheep39。s clothing One who teaches morality and practises immorality is a wolf in lamb39。s skine the sheep from the goats區(qū)別好壞，分清良莠 《新約。馬太福音》記述：“And before him shall be gathered all nations:and he shall separate them one from another,as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats”由于《圣經(jīng)》的影響，sheep和goat在英語中的形象截然不同，前者比喻好人，后者比喻壞人。英語中有關(guān)goat的成語，大多貶義。如：to play the goat=play the fool（瞎胡鬧）；to get sb39。s goat（觸動(dòng)肝火）；等等?！妒ソ?jīng)》說牧羊人要分辨綿羊和山羊，“把綿羊安置右邊，山羊左邊”。據(jù)說野山羊?；爝M(jìn)羊群里，引誘綿羊，故牧養(yǎng)人必須把它們區(qū)分開來，以免混淆。由此，人們用to separate the sheep from the goats這個(gè)成語，來比喻to separate the good from the wicked。to divide good or useful people from bad or useless英文典故精選 Apple of Discord爭(zhēng)斗之源；不和之因；禍根An Apple of Discord直譯為“糾紛的蘋果”，出自荷馬史詩(shī)Iliad中的希臘神話故事傳說希臘阿耳戈英雄(Argonaut)珀琉斯(Peleus)和愛琴海海神涅柔斯的女兒西蒂斯(Thetis)在珀利翁山舉行婚禮，大擺宴席。他們邀請(qǐng)了奧林匹斯上(Olympus)的諸神參加喜筵，不知是有意還是無心，惟獨(dú)沒有邀請(qǐng)掌管爭(zhēng)執(zhí)的女神厄里斯(Eris)。這位女神惱羞成怒，決定在這次喜筵上制造不和。于是，她不請(qǐng)自來，并悄悄在筵席上放了一個(gè)金蘋果，上面鐫刻著“屬于最美者”幾個(gè)字。天后赫拉(Hera)，智慧女神雅典娜(Athena)、愛與美之神阿芙羅狄蒂(Aphrodite)，都自以為最美，應(yīng)得金蘋果，獲得“最美者”稱號(hào)。她們爭(zhēng)執(zhí)不下，鬧到眾神之父宙斯(Zeus)那里，但宙斯礙于難言之隱，不愿偏袒任何一方，就要她們?nèi)フ姨芈逡恋耐踝优晾锼?Paris)評(píng)判。三位女神為了獲得金蘋果，都各自私許帕里斯以某種好處：赫拉許給他以廣袤國(guó)土和掌握富饒財(cái)寶的權(quán)利，雅典娜許以文武全才和勝利的榮譽(yù)，阿芙羅狄蒂則許他成為世界上最美艷女子的丈夫。年青的帕里斯在富貴、榮譽(yù)和美女之間選擇了后者，便把金蘋果判給愛與美之神。為此，赫拉和雅典娜懷恨帕里斯，連帶也憎恨整個(gè)特洛伊人。后來阿芙羅狄蒂為了履行諾言，幫助帕里斯拐走了斯巴達(dá)國(guó)王墨涅俄斯的王后絕世美女海倫(Helen)，從而引起了歷時(shí)10年的特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。不和女神厄里斯丟下的那個(gè)蘋果，不僅成了天上3位女神之間不和的根源，而且也成為了人間2個(gè)民族之間戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的起因。因此，在英語中產(chǎn)生了an apple of discord這個(gè)成語，常用來比喻any subject of disagreement and contention。the root of the trouble。dispute等意義這個(gè)成語最初為公元2世紀(jì)時(shí)的古羅馬歷史學(xué)家馬克?朱里?尤斯丁(Marcus Juninus Justinus)所使用，后來廣泛的流傳到歐洲許多語言中去，成為了一個(gè)國(guó)際性成語。eg: He throwing us an apple of discord,we soon quarrelled dispute about inheriting estate formed an apple of discord between problem seems to be an apple of discord between the Soviet union and the Heel of Achilles 亦作The Achilles39。 Heel唯一弱點(diǎn)；薄弱環(huán)節(jié)；要害The He