Going South by Driving the Chariot North(南轅北轍)
Once a man wanted to go to the south， but his carriage was heading north. A passer-by asked him： 'If you are going to the south， why is your chariot heading north? ' The man answered， 'My horse is good at running， my driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage， and I have enough money. ' The man didn't consider that the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were， the further he was away from his destination.
譯文
從前有個人要到南方去，他坐的車子卻向北方行駛。過路人說：“你去南方，車子怎么向北行駛呢?”他回答說：“我的馬很能跑路，我的車夫駕車的技術也很高明，加上我又帶了充足的路費。”這個人沒有考慮到，方向弄反了，他的條件越好，離他要去的地方就越遠。
寓意
后來人們就把這個故事概括為“南轅北轍”，比喻一個人的行為和他的目的正好相反。
The idiom derived from this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention.
marking his mark(刻舟求劍)
a man from the state chu was crossing the river. in the boat, his sword fell into the water by his carelessness. imediately he made a mark on the boat.“this is where my sword fell off.”he said. when the boat stopped, he jumped into the water to look for his sword at the place where he marked the boat. the boat had moved but the sword had not. is this not a foolish way to look for a sword?
譯文：
從前，一個楚國人在坐船過河時，不小心把他的劍掉入了水中。他馬上在船上做了個記號。“這是我的劍掉下去的地方。”他說。船停下來后，他就根據船上的記號跳入水中尋找他的劍。船在移動但他的劍并沒有。用這種方式來找劍難道不是非常愚蠢的嗎?
professed love of what one really fears(葉公好龍)
in the spring and autumn period (770-476bc), there lived in chu a person named ye zhuliang, who addressed himself as "lord ye". it's said that this lord ye was very fond of dragons. the walls had dragons painted on them. the beams, pillars, doors and the windows were all carved with them. as a result, his love for dragons was spread out. when the real dragon in heaven heard of this lordeeply moved. he decided to visit lord ye to thank him. you might think lord ye was very happy to see a real dragon. but, actually, at very the sight of the creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could. from then on, people knew that lord ye only loved pictures or carvings which look like dragons, not the real thing.
譯文：
春秋楚國葉諸梁，自稱"葉公"。 據說，這位葉公愛龍成癖，家里的梁、柱、門、窗上都雕著龍，墻上也畫著龍。 就這樣，葉公愛好龍的名聲，被人們傳揚開了。天上的真龍，聽說人間有這么一位葉公，對它如此喜愛，很受感動，決定去葉公家對他表示謝意。人們也許會想葉公看見真龍時會有多高興。實際上，當葉公看見那條龍時，頓時嚇得魂飛魄散，趕緊逃走。從此人們明白了葉公愛好的其實并不是真龍，而是似龍非龍的東西而已。
中國古典名著書名英譯
1.《三國演義》Three Kingdoms or Romance of The Three Kingdoms
2.《水滸傳》The Water Margin or the Outlaws of the Marsh
3.《西游記》Story of a Journey to the West or The Pilgrimage to the West
4.《紅樓夢》A Dream in Red Mansions or A Red-Chamber Dream
5.《聊齋志異》Strange Stories from a Scholar's Studio
6.《大學》The Great Learning
7.《中庸》The Doctrine of the Mean
8.《論語》The Analects of Confucius
9.《孟子》The Words of Mencius
10.《詩經》The Book of Songs
11.《書經》The Book of History
12.《易經》The Book of Changes
13.《禮記》The Book of Rites
14.《春秋》The Spring and Autumn Annals
15.《山海經》Mountain and Sea Classics
16.《戰國策》Stratagems of the Warring States
17.《史記》Records of the Grand Historian
18.《世紀新說》New sayings of the World
19.《西廂記》Romance of the Western Chamber
名篇經典
A Night Mooring By Maple
-----Zhang Ji
Moon's down ,crows cry and Frost fills all the sky. By maples and boat lights, I sleepless lie. Outside Suzhou Hanshang Temple is in sight. Its ringing bells reach my boat at midnight.
楓橋夜泊
-----張繼
月落烏啼霜滿天, 江楓漁火對愁眠。
姑蘇城外寒山寺，夜半鐘聲到客船。